by Alex Russell
Day to day there’s a lot you can do to reduce your own environmental impact, even if you live in an apartment. The great No Impact Man lives in a New York City apartment and look what he’s managed to do. It all starts with small changes to daily habits, so here’s a list of twelve easy things you can do to green your lifestyle wherever you live.
1. Get rid of your television.(A television can be a huge draw on power, both when you’re watching it and when you’re not. Get rid of it and see if you can hang.)
2. Get power strips to control every appliance cluster in the place, and turn them off when not in use.
(Most appliances draw power when they’re not even turned on. Be vigilant and see how low your electricity bill falls.)
3. Don’t use that dishwasher, and seriously consider how much water you use to wash dishes by hand.
(Most dishwashers consume ridiculous amounts of power. And it doesn’t take much water to wash dishes by hand, especially when they’re done right after dinner. Use a wet rag or sponge to wipe the dishes down and then quickly rinse them before stacking.)
4. Install flow restricters on every faucet and showerhead in the place.
(These are cheap and take moments to screw on. Visit your local hardware store to buy them and take them with you when you move.)
5. Switch to natural cleaners for your bathroom and kitchen.
(This tip taken from re-nest.com reminds us that healthy living is an important part of green living.)
6. Recycled toilet paper.
(Use at your own risk. Another tip from re-nest.com that might be more environmentally sustainable than it is comfortable.)
7. Ride your bike instead of driving.
(This has nothing to do with apartment-only living. But it’s green and good for us all.)
8. Switch all your bulbs indoors to compact fluorescents.
(You can do this even if you live in an apartment. Keep all the old bulbs and switch them back before you move out. This way you’ll reap the benefits of lower electricity bills and have something to take with you to your next apartment.)
9. Start a complex-wide composting program.
(Small yard tumbling composters are not that expensive and are easy to maintain. The compost they produce also helps enrich the grounds of any complex, something the owners would be happy about. Talk to neighbors about pitching in either to buy one or convince the landlord it’s a good investment.)
10. Make sure every load of laundry is a full one.
(Nobody washes just one shirt at a time, right?)
11. Buy only used furniture (no IKEA).
(Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose. It’s what we do first and foremost at Eco Encore, and it reduces the demand for new products that destroy our environment through the tolls of production. Go to flea markets, garage sales, Goodwill, it doesn’t matter. Even on craigslist you can find some gems if you look.)
12. Ditch those plastic shopping bags for reusables, or just ask for paper.
(I visited the local landfill once and almost every square inch was plastic from either garbage bags or shopping bags. Do you really need a plastic bag for that frozen pizza? Isn’t it fun to make recyclable hats out of paper shopping bags?)
