Living Green, Saving Trees

GREEN SHOPPING TIPS

Fact: Paper Bags - To make 700 grocery bags, requires one 15- 20-yr old tree.
Fact: Plastic Bags - are not biodegradable and also end up in the ocean, killing or maiming marine animals.
Fact: If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 180-sheet virgin-fiber paper towels with 100% recycled paper towels, it could save: 1.4 million trees, 3.7 million cubic feet of landfill space, 526 million gallons of water, and prevent 89,400 pounds of pollution.

• Take your own cloth/canvas bags to the shop. If you take plastic bags, use them until they are worn out.
  
  
• Replace paper products with reusable ones (If you must use paper, use recycled, non-chlorine bleached paper)
  
  
• Buy goods and materials with less packaging . Avoid buying products that have more than one layer of wrapping.
  
  
• Buy goods in bulk.
  
  
• Avoid individually wrapped servings.
  
  
• Buy concentrates and dilute products.
  
  
• Choose products that have recyclable packaging.

REDUCE PAPER WASTE

Use paper frugally. In the U.S and other countries, 99% of virgin paper comes from trees. However, there are a number of alternatives to trees, such as hemp, kenaf, sugar cane, coffee beans and banana leaves.

• Don't print out every memo or email you receive. Delete the ones you don't need, and save others you might want to refer to later.
  
  
• Make two-sided copies whenever possible..
  
  
• Use the blank sides of used paper for scribbling pads, note-taking and printing of drafts.
  
  
• Send electronic greeting cards instead of paper cards. Over 7 billion greeting cards are sold each year.
  
  
• Buy tree-free papers as alternative writing and printing materials.
  
  
• Continue buying recycled paper products to sustain the recycling market and reduce the consumption of trees.
  
  

ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE HOME FURNISHINGS/BUILDING

• Furnish your home with furniture made out of natural fibres, eco-sustainable wood, metal or glass. See Links below.
  
  
• Avoid buying products that are not being harvested responsibly and which cause the damage or destruction of important habitats. Ask your retailer if their furniture is made using sustainable forestry practices.

GREEN HOUSEHOLD TIPS

• Recycle old newspapers
  
  
• Use cloth diapers
  
  
• Stop Junk Mail. Millions of trees and billions of gallons of water are used annually to create junk mail.
  • When you receive unwanted mail, take a minute to call the company to remove your address from its list.
  • After using junk mail and any other paper you don't need to keep as scrap paper, recycle it.

A GREENER COMMUNITY

• Plant a tree or two.
  Start or join a planting bee. Take your children with you and teach them the importance of caring for nature and the planet. Planting trees gives oxygen and life to humans, wildlife and also the planet. Without trees, there would be no life.
  
  
• School Education
  Children can be taught about the environment and how to live in harmony with it. Curriculums are available as models for schools to take on. See below for links
  
  
• Volunteer/Lobby for the Environment
  Work locally and globally to help save natural places, and prevent the total destruction of wilderness areas used for timber and oil.
  

GREEN LINKS

Hemp Products
Listing of companies that produce Hemp products as an alternative to paper.

Environmentally Friendly Manufacturers
Searchable database of companies using sustainable forestry practices to make their products,

Student Education Curriculum
The Rainforest Alliance offers free curriculum materials to encourage good global citizenship in young children and to develop in them a deeper understanding of current conservation challenges, cultural diversity and the wise use of resources.