So, this summer when I was home, I was at the mall with my mom waiting to see a movie. We decided to go look around Chapters (canadian version of Barnes and Noble) and I bought a really interesting book. Its called The Green Book - "The everyday guide to saving the planted one simple step at a time" by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen.
Basically what the book entails is hundreds of small choices you can make to have a big impact on the health of our planet. Its divided into different sections such as: home, travel, communication/technology, school, entertainment, sports, work, shopping, health/beauty, money/finance, building, and going carbon neutral. It sits beside my bed and I just pick it up here and there and find myself readin little choices I will try to make the next day. They all seem so simple, but at the same time a lot of the facts are shocking. Here are some of the ones that stick out in my head:
Home: Flush your toilet oneless time a day- you'll save about 4.5 gallons of water; as much water as the average person in africa uses for awhole day of drinking, cooking, bathing, and cleaning.
School: Only 2.5 percent of students who live within 2 miles of campus bike there. Still, by not taking a bus or car, those six hundred thousand students are saving almostone hundred thousand gallons of gas a day!
Work: Reuse paper clips. Enough paper clips are produced to hand every person in the country at least three.If one out of every four workers reused their paper clips, it would save more than $1 million.
Shopping: Choose pettoys made from recycled materials.If all the pet toys purchasedeach eacy boasted 100% recycled content,the virgin materials saved could make a frisbeenearly 2.5 miles in diameter!
"If everyone in theUnited States refusedtheir receipts, it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long, or enough to circle the equator fifteen times!!!"
If anyone wouldlike to borrow this book, let me know!
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This sounds like a great book - it's so neat to see how even those little, simple decisions can have a big impact! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt is true that every little thing we do adds up to something. Good to hear you bought this book.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Love the facts! It is amazing that one less flush or saying no to receipts can have such an impact. It all does add up! Thanks so much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteSara,
ReplyDeleteIt's like Sara's book club, cool! Good fun facts. Good post!
It sounds so interesting! I love to see how changing little things in your life can have a big effect on the environment. Cool find, Sara!
ReplyDeleteWow sounds like there is some really intersting things in that book!
ReplyDelete