Greening in the New Year

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

In only a few days, we will ring in 2010.  Many of us will marvel at what we accomplished, but most of us will fret over that which was left on the table.  We will labor over the goals which were set and just narrowly missed, or those that seemed so lofty even eleven months ago that we knew there would be miles to go as the year closed.
 
For those of us that greeted 2009 with the desire to make significant progress towards a more sustainable future, we are now faced with an equally daunting task in 2010.  How do we save the planet this decade?
 
Ouch.  That's a big pie right there.  Pollution.  Carbon emissions.  Energy.  Waste.  Those are big.  Naysayers would pipe up to say that we can't make a big enough impact to cause significant change.
 
Hmmph.  Them thar's challenge words....
 
Let's play a numbers game here.  So, according to Google's data, there were 304,059,724 people in the US in July of 2008.  For ease of crunching, let's assume we're at around 305,000,000 right now. 

• If half of us gave up disposable cups:  Average cup weighs 5g each.  152,500,000 people not using 5g of waste a day.  762,500 kilograms out of the landfill each day.  278,312,500 kg out of the landfill a year.

Hmmmph.  No impact, eh?

• According to the 2007 census, there are 111,162,259 households.  Again, let's round to 112,000,000 for ease of math.  If each household goes to the grocery store once a week and bags their groceries in 6 plastic bags what could we save?  52 weeks x 6 bags = 312 bags per household a year.  In the US alone, we're using around 34,944,000,000 bags a year.  *cringe*  So, if we all brought our six reusable bags to the store each week, we'd divert literally TONS of trash from the landfills.

Seeing a trend here?

Do ONE thing in 2010.  You don't have to change everything about your lifestyle, nor give up some of the luxuries of life.  But you can do just one thing.  Choose one thing and stick to it throughout the year.  Here is a list of suggestions:

• Bring reusable bags to the grocery store every time you shop.
• Say no to bottled water completely.  Carry your reusable bottle and fill up at water fountains.  (Umm, this one saves you money!  Hello!)
• Avoid seafood that is over farmed or unsustainable.
• Use a coffee mug from home every day at work.
• Never put paper in the trash.  Recycle it (or hold onto it until you can get it into a recycle bin).

Make this your New Year's resolution and then make it a habit in your household.  Share the habit with friends and family and impress it upon your children.  Change the next generation and ensure these habits are carried into the future.

That's impact right there, boys and girls.   As was said so beautifully, be the change you wish to see.  Don't wait for someone else to do it first.  And certainly don't use that sad old excuse that one person can't make a difference.  You know it ain't true.  If the numbers don't convince you, let the stories of Ghandi and Dr. King remind you.

Have a wonderful New Year and go out there and make a difference!