If You Could Only Do One Green Thing in Your Life, What Would It Be and Why?

Image by Dominic Alves / Creative Commons

When it comes to going green or being more environmentally-friendly, there are many things people can and should do. Changes in how we live, however, all start with a change in how we think about the environment, how we think about the impact we are having on the world around us, how we think about going green in general, and more. But, where do we start? Well, that question got me wondering…if you could only do one green thing in your life, what would it be and why?

So, I asked. I went to some of my Twitter and/or Facebook friends (and fellow “greenies”) to ask them what they thought. I have to tell you…I loved their answers. Each one is different, even if slightly, from the next, but it gives you a good idea of some of the simple things people can do.

Lynn Hasselberger: “Retro-fit our house so we could live off the grid. Would lower our carbon footprint, wouldn’t have to support big coal/gas or worry about when the power goes out. I wonder what the world would be like if we all lived this way?!

Jerry James Stone: “Make food from scratch for me and my friends. Food is community and homemade meals from local and organic sources are a great way to have a conversation about the environment.

Paul Steele: “Crikey that’s hard…house wise i already have solar panels for the water, underground heating to heat the home. I wish I could be more off the grid than I already am.

Ree Saunders: “Solar power! Hook up my house for free electricity and push some back into the grid.

Julie Urlaub: “Well, a favorite statistic I use is that only 8% of what you DO is sustainable — the other 92% is in the supply chain — in other words, what you BUY so my ONE green thing would be to ONLY buy/purchase from sustainable businesses or those with sustainable supply chain practices.

Bethe Almeras: “Hmmmm — toss up. Recycling or buy locally/buy less. I guess go w/ recycling, since I naturally try and buy less.

Nan Fischer: “Wow, that’s hard! I guess have an energy efficient, passive solar, off-grid home. Geez, i want to say grow food, but I’m looking at the big picture. If you have a green home, you buy food, which is not always fresh or organic. If you grow your own food, you may have a house with high energy bills. So, I’m changing it to grow my own food.

Rich Massingham: “If I could do only one thing (above all else ; ) I would get off the grid. I understanding that green/renewable sources – wind/solar could help reduce 7 Tonnes of CO2 vs what the average household produces.

Stephanie Hicks: “Probably if I could do only one green thing, it would be to recycle. It kills me when people throw out soda cans and cardboard boxes. I (also) wish the schools would stop printing out so much stuff and use email instead.

Derek Markham: “Think and act locally – grow your own food if you can, buy local, buy less.

Leslie Quigley: “Reduce – reducing is an efficient way to minimize our carbon footprint and offers many ways to cut back on consuming habits/ethics, such as; home energy, food, materials, & travel. Ideally, less is more. Less waste + less pollution = happy planet & people!!

As for me, if I could only do one green thing, I would like to focus on sustainability. To provide more for myself, and my family, through natural means. In other words not have to rely so heavily on others for electricity, water, food, etc. To be honest, I am nowhere near that now, but it is something I would love to be able to do in the long run. For the immediate future, I’m focusing on REDUCE…you know, reduce, reuse, recycle. It is something I can do every day, and even the kids are getting the hang of it.

I know each person has their own viewpoint, and their own idea on what would make a difference in their life. There is no wrong answer to the question. With that in mind, I ask you…if you could only do one green thing in your life, what would it be and why? I look forward to hearing what you have to say too.

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