mercurial scribe

Welcome to Blog Action Day, where bloggers around the world are talking about something near and dear to us all - the environment.

Yes, I know, if you hear “go green!” one more time you’ll scream. But it’s important stuff! So, for a Mercurial Scribe special, we’re going to talk about how we mercurial types (I love ya!) can help promote change and limit your own waste…

1. Write using a computer or online program. Yes it uses energy, but all that manic writing in Word or Google Docs is a lot better than all the paper you would’ve crumpled up and probably burned once you read it sober.

2. Use your computer settings to your advantage. We’ve talked about this before, but set your computer to power down or hibernate after, say, a half hour of idleness. It uses less or no power that way, which is great since you’re not actively on it anyway!

3. Have kids? USE CLOTH DIAPERS. Yes, I know they’re a pain to your nose but it’ll be so much easier on the environment and your wallet! Did you know you’re supposed to toss the poo in the paper diapers in the toilet before tossing the diaper in the trash? Didn’t think so. You’re supposed to do this because otherwise all that human poo ends up in our landfills, eventually seeping into our drinking water.

Not only this, but did you know over the course of three years you’ll spend about $2,500-3,000 on paper/plastic diapers? Compare that to the $500-700 you’ll spend upfront to get 36 cloth diapers and the (I’m guesstimating here) extra $70 a year to wash them… $3,000 versus $910 over three years? C’mon now! I even did the math for you!

4. Getting the chills? Be it from your meds or the chilly fall air, put on a sweater or a blanket instead of cranking up the heat. You’ll use less energy and you’ll physically stay warmer.

5. Carry around your own coffee mug! It doesn’t matter if it’s a ceramic mug the kid made you or a handy dandy stainless steel mug-on-the-go from Starbucks, just use it. Wash it out and leave it in the car, so in your adventures about town, you can save a paper cup or two.

Also, try to do this for water and soda as well. There are some great bottles to be found around the web, so check them out!

6. Indulge in your sense of refinement and use cloth napkins instead of paper and dish towels instead of paper towels. Yes, you wash them but you can also channel your inner Ty Pennington and color coordinate. Trust me, we do this at our house and it makes a meal feel more like an event.

7. Eat your vegetables. Mom knew what she was talking about, so go vegetarian just twice a week and take a load of the ecosystem by doing so. Meat, particularly of the red variety, takes a lot of water and vegetation to support it just so you can eat it. So even if you are an avid meat-eater, cut it out twice a week to seriously help the environment. (I have a GREAT recipe for a pasta dish with eggplant and plum tomatoes if anyone wants… it’s delicious!)

8. Help your fellow beings. Write about it, talk about it, but most importantly, DO IT. Save the wounded dog you found and take him to the vet. Click on those cute buttons in the sidebar to the right to help fund good causes. Be polite to the rude lady with 23 items in the 10 item or less stand at the market. Maintain a garden, a tree or even just a few houseplants. Each time you benefit another living thing on this planet, it helps to benefit you and all those you come in contact with. Call it karma, call it reaping what you sow, call it whatever you like but know that that is how the universe works… the ripple effect. So use it to the environment’s advantage and help whenever and wherever you can.

That’s it for today folks! I hope these tips made you consider how you live and what you can do so we can leave our children a better world. And if you have any tips that I didn’t mention, leave a comment below.