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Everyday Environmentalist
Read Our Eco-Tips — and Send Us Yours!
Remember when "environmentalist" meant… recycling?
It's not so simple anymore. Being an environmentalist today calls for a whole new level of greener thinking—from what you choose at the grocery store to how you commute to work every day.
So check out these tips from Nature Conservancy staff and leading environment bloggers on how to make personal, science-based choices to help save the planet. Then tell us your ideas for becoming an everyday environmentalist!
Food and Health
Use Reusable Coffee Mugs
Melissa Weigel
"Bring your own reusable coffee mug every time you buy coffee by the cup."
Drink Local
Jay Sullivan
"Smaller, local breweries offer a number of eco-advantages to the consumer."
Eat More Vegetables
Margaret Southern
"Which would you rather do: Give up your car or give up eating meat?"
Buy Sustainable Coffee
Jonathon D. Colman
"Life is too precious to drink unsustainable coffee."
Care for Every Body
Victoria Everman
"Only put on your skin ingredients that you'd be able to eat as well."
Eat Seafood Like a Caveman
Nina Hadley
"There aren't enough native shellfish doing the important things they're great at."
Ask Where Your Food Comes From
Caitlyn Toropova
"There's almost always an alternative food that is more sustainable, local or organic."
Getting Around
Car Shares
Adrienne Egolf
"A shared car can take approximately 17 personally owned vehicles off the road."
Run a Car on Vegetable Oil
Gabe Cahalan
"It feels good to pick up my carryout and fuel at the same place."
Don't Litter — And Pick Litter Up
Haley A. Wilhite
"My personal mission has been to clean-up litter wherever I can."
101 Uses for a Bike Trailer
Allison Aldous
"We were determined to figure out how to continue commuting by bike."
Don't Hike with Pests
Barry Rice
"Your boots can unwittingly transport invasive plants and disease organisms."
Traveling Light
Sanjayan
"Take energy-efficient compact light bulbs on trips and give them out."
Home
Paper or Plastic? Neither!
Leigh Ann Evans
"If you don’t consume something in the first place, you reduce the impact in two places: production and disposal."
Repackage Your Packaging
Stacy Raine
"Before you toss out that box, jar, container or bag, think about how you can reuse it."
Swap, Don't Shop
Madeline Breen
"One person's closet is definitely another person's treasure."
Use Less
Sherry Crawley
"In the interest of not spending my kid’s college fund on good-smelling beauty products, I became conscious of the quantity of products I use."
Go Paperless
Paxton Ramsdell
"Switching to paperless bills is one of the easiest ways to green your lifestyle."
Using Used
Hank Green
"It's a brave new economy, and it's 100-percent resource-free."
Buy FSC: It's Good Wood
Jack Hurd
"Few of us know the origin of the forest products we purchase."
Green Your Household Products
Stephanie Wear
"The best part is: It's pretty easy to do."
Office & School
Green Your Office
Rebecca Goodstein
"Be as environmentally minded at work as you are at home."
Carry Reusable Water Bottles
Margaret Fields
"Nothing on Earth breaks down traditional plastic."
Leave Your Computer On
Dave Connell
"Computer geeks can now contribute to climate change solutions."
Go Green On Campus
Isabella Roden
“Small steps can lead to large environmental benefits, and you’ll be able to go home and brag about how you’ve become so responsible.”
No More Meeting Travel
Christian Renaud
"Substitute electronically mediated meetings for face-to-face ones."
Pets
Green Your Pets
Melanie Marine
"We’ve all heard about reducing our carbon footprint — but what about our pets’ pawprint?"
Yard and Garden
Raise Your Own Chickens
Sus Danner
"In most suburbs and even some cities, it's easy to raise chickens."
Buy Where You'll Burn It
Sarah Volkman
"The real cost of moving firewood is a lot higher than you might suspect."
Diversify Your Yard
Laura Marx
"Think of species diversity as a way to hedge your ecological bets."
Garden With Native Plants
Charlotte Reemts
"Using plants adapted to your climate means less watering, pesticides and fertilizers."
Compost. Yes, Compost.
Patrick Doran
"This great little science project never fails to amaze me."
Bee Wild
Jonathan Hoekstra
"Honey bee colonies continue to die out — so give a home to a wild orchard mason bee."
Get Reel with Your Mower
Jeff McIntire-Strasburg
"I didn't realize just how significant the difference was."
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