Every little bit helps. Even if it seems insignificant, when combined with just ONE THING all the rest of us are doing, our efforts can have enormous impacts on our world. If you decide to stop accepting plastic bags at the grocery store, opting instead to bring your own reusable bag, you've made a difference. Consider this: if you go to the grocery store once a week and buy only enough groceries to fill just one plastic bag, you will have prevented 52 bags from going to the landfill. If just 100 people in your sphere of influence do the same, that's 5200 in a year. The numbers grow exponentially when each of us decides to do just ONE THING.
Here are just a very few of the hundreds of possible ideas of ONE THING you can (or may already) do to make a difference:
- Take your own cloth bags for grocery shopping
- Take reusable produce bags instead of using store-supplied plastic
- Buy products in bulk, using your own containers
- Carpool with neighbors/friends for shopping, church, etc.
- Bicycle when possible
- Walk instead of drive
- Make your own mayonnaise, avoiding use of non-recyclable containers
- Make your won catsup, avoiding use of non-recyclable containers
- Avoid pre-rinsing dishes, following manufacturer's instructions on using dishwasher
- Reduce consumption of meat products by one (more) day per week
- Use energy-efficient light bulbs
- Turn off the water while brushing your teeth
- Use refillable water bottles
- Combine errands to minimize car trips
- Shop online
- Buy only as much produce as you know you will eat before it goes bad
- Create a compost pile
- Carry your own cup to the coffee shop
- Buy loose tea instead of individual bags
- Take your own reusable "to-go" containers when eating out
- Grow an herb garden
- Grow a vegetable garden
