It's Easy Being Green: Ideas for Developing Everyday Green Habits

It’s been said that it takes four weeks to establish a new habit…and for everyone who has tried to, say, stop smoking or lose weight or exercise regularly, you know it can be a challenge. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about going green but don’t know where to start. There is a ton of information online with tips, ideas, even mandates–it can be overwhelming and perhaps makes you just want to say “forget it; there’s too much to do.” But you don’t have to do everything all at once. We encourage you to pick one activity or habit that YOU think you can change and “green” it for four weeks.

Helpful suggestions for sticking to any new regimen often come from your friends and neighbors, so to give you some ideas, we have asked some notable Summit people, who we know have embraced sustainable habits, to suggest one green habit they adopted that they think would be relatively easy to incorporate into an everyday lifestyle in a four-week period.

1. Jordan Glatt, Mayor of Summit
   My family and I are very happy the City makes recycling so easy with weekly curbside pick up. It reinforces our efforts to bring our ‘recycle’ shopping bags with us when we run errands and our ‘reusable’ water bottles. 
2. Marjorie Fox, Chair of the Summit Recycling Advisory Committee and Chris Lijoi, Summit Public Schools K-8 Science Supervisor
   Before you throw anything away, ask yourself, “Is this recyclable?” Remember that, in Summit, all plastics labeled 1-7 (look on the bottom), cans and glass can be comingled and recycled at the curb. And all sorts of paper can be recycled, including cereal boxes, paper milk cartons, tissue boxes, toilet paper rolls, and shirt boxes. Recycling at the curb or the transfer station saves money for Summit because we pay “tipping fees” for garbage removal. The less we throw out, the more money we save. You can see a list of recyclable items here: http://www.cityofsummit.org/pdflibrary/RecyclingFlyer.pdf. You can also email questions about recycling to gogreen@cityofsummit.org. 
3. Glenn Devitt, Director of the Summit Public Library
   Borrow a book, tape, DVD or video game instead of buying one. Libraries have always been green! Borrowing and returning books, rather than buying them, saves trees and decreases the amount of material going into landfills. In addition to our extensive book and periodical collection, the Summit library has downloadable ebooks and audiobooks, as well as blue-ray and regular DVDs, and video games. From the very young to the very old, there is something for everyone at the library. Check out the library website at www.summitlibrary.org.
4. Claire Harrison, Summit High School student and chair of Summit Free Market
   Think about what you’ve thrown in your trash can in the last week. Have you discarded items that could be used again? At my house, we are focusing on reusing before recycling. Reusing is far less expensive than recycling, incineration, composting, or adding to a landfill because reusing involves no processing and keeps material out of the waste stream. The Summit Free Market is a great way to reuse items that are still in good condition but that you may not want anymore. You can post unwanted, yard sale quality items to give away at no cost at www.summitfreemarket.org. There are also seasonal events at the transfer station that are like big yard sales but everything is FREE.  The next ones are scheduled for three Saturdays--April 30, May 7 and 14 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Hope to see you there!
5. Gayle Petty Johnson, Executive Director of the
   Whether you are at home or have a small business, go green with your office products. The Arboretum staff has been quite successful finding green office products without increasing our costs. We buy recycled paper, paper clips, notebooks, presentation folders, often from Staples--try its eco easy line (http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/ecoeasy/index.html). 
6. Lori Leiter, Franklin School “green team” member, and Al Leiter, sportscaster and former major league baseball pitcher
   Whenever possible, we try to reuse items rather than recycle them or throw them away. For example, we return wire hangers to the dry cleaner so they can be used again. When we receive boxes filled with packing materials, such as Styrofoam peanuts, we donate them to a local pack and ship store. There are also some great websites where you can post things that you want to donate. There is our local www.summitfreemarket.org the national www.freecycle.org/ where you can post things that you no longer need, yet don't want to throw away.
7. Annette Medina-Phillips, resident and owner of
   Start composting kitchen scraps. It’s a thrill to see your produce discard turned into rich soil. It’s easy, it’s fun, kids love it, and the environmental benefits are plenty. I can’t imagine not doing it!
8. Dr. Polly Thomas, physician and former co-chair of the Mayor’s Task Force for a Sustainable Summit
   As you begin to plan your spring garden and lawn care, aim to avoid pesticide use this year. Native species (including many beautiful grasses, perennial flowers, and shrubs) need no chemical assistance to thrive. Adverse health effects, including neurologic damage from many pesticides in common use, are continuing to be discovered. For more information on how to garden “pesticide free” check out www.pesticidefreezone.org/ and http://www.njenvironment.org/gardenresources.htm. Pesticides from lawns, gardens, farms and golf courses are thought to play a major role in loss of amphibian life, including frogs, necessary for healthy ecosystem.
9. Marian Glenn, Environmental Commission member and biology professor at Seton Hall University
   Inspired by the Slow Food movement, I’m exploring the pleasures of slow errands, moving at tempo andante. Walking into town, I’ve discovered nifty nature nooks and been surprised by birds singing in the crisp air. En route, I remember some sage advice to resolve a thorny dilemma. The errand accomplished, I return home relaxed and invigorated, ready to turn the thermostat down a degree.
10. Amy Cairns Harrison, Chair of the Summit Environmental Commission
    So far this year nearly 360 billion plastic bags have been wasted in the U.S. alone. These bags are filling garbage dumps, polluting rivers, streams, and waterways, and getting caught in trees at a truly alarming pace. The worst part is these bags never biodegrade (they photo degrade, meaning the molecules get smaller but never disappear). I have started bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, mall and any other place where I may need to carry more than a handful of items. At first I would forget my bags in the car but after a few instances where I had to leave my cart at Customer Service and dash out to the car for my reusable bags, I began to remember each time. Now it has become a habit and I never leave my car without them. Switch to eco-friendly bags today; let's save this planet one bag at a time.

See a theme? Everything above is encompassed by the familiar phrase, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” Reduce your use of plastic bags, pesticides, paper, cars, electricity. Reuse containers, household furniture and other items (or donate so someone else can reuse them). Recycle paper, plastic, glass, aluminum, and a multitude of other objects. Choose any of the suggestions above, or come up with your own, and give it a try for four weeks–nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something! You’ll be helping our planet now, and assuring that the benefits we enjoy today will still be available for our children and grandchildren in years to come.

–By Beth Lovejoy, City of Summit Sustainability Advisory Committee