The Wanderer

Great post, J. We've also been avoiding plastic bags (carry our own canvas bags) and given up on bottled water.

Howdy... Long time listener, first time caller...

Just wanted to commend you on the post, your pastor's message, and the actions you're taking. Great to see that sort of thing in West Michigan.

I've been a GreenDimes member for about 6 months or so now... The jury is still out for me. I still get some credit card applications and catalogs I don't want, but the volume is not too bad (one problem we have is that the previous owners seem to receive all catalogs known to man, and can't figure out the whole "address-change" thing... but I digress...).

I have a few other ideas:
1. Carbon offsets. I pay a few $ a month to Native Energy to offset our (relatively meager) electricity use. They (along with TerraPass, a similar company) also offer offsets for car use, air-travel and other carbon heavy activities.
2. Eat less meat. I just read that meat production (cows, pigs, clear-cutting forests, etc.) creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector worldwide ( http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/06/business/greencol07.php).
3. Eat more organic food. You (and the groundwater) will consume fewer pesticides, and the produce will often have a higher nutritional content.
4. On the cleaning products (and organic food), we've found Trader Joes (if you're lucky enough to have one. Sorry J), Target and Costco to be good sources. Target carries the Method brand of cleaning supplies, which we've been pretty happy with. We've found environmentally friendly laundry and dish soap, and some organic foods (try the peanut butter) at Costco.
5. Be sure to recycle used electronics, batteries and toner cartidges. E-Waste puts a bunch of toxic metals and other thing into the environment if just thrown away. Municipalities often have recycling programs, and more and more manufacturers are implementing free or low-cost mail-in programs (try Radio Shack or Best Buy for batteries).