Green it!: Little changes for big change

By Becka Cremer

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Save the environment. The world. The animals. People.

The rhetoric surrounding environmentalism can get a little overwhelming, but going “green” doesn’t have to be difficult. Little changes do make a big difference, says Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability.

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Plastic bottle. Plastic bag.

“As an individual, you probably feel like, ‘If I do this, it probably won’t have that much of an impact,’ but if it becomes a part of our culture it can be a big change,” Severin says. “It’s about envisioning what you want society to look like and setting an example. You don’t have to recruit people to live greener, but by setting an example, you make a difference.”

Start setting a “green” example by changing your shopping routine. It’s as easy as it seems, Severin says.

Choose a can, not a bottle. “You can turn an aluminum can into another aluminum can, but you can’t turn a plastic bottle into a plastic bottle,” Severin says. Plastic is “downcycled,” he says. Every time it is recycled, it goes further down the product chain until it eventually must be thrown away.

Shop at used clothing stores. “Recycling is always big on people’s minds,” Severin says. “But we forget about the first two “R”s: reduce and reuse.”

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Aluminum can. Reusable shopping bag.

Always carry a reusable shopping bag. Reusable bags have become a common sight at grocery stores, Severin says, but people should take them everywhere.

Think before you buy. “I look at a product and think, ‘What’s an alternative that might take less packaging and have less of an environmental impact?’” Severin says.

Avoid plastics. Choose products that have less packaging or less plastic in their packaging. Plastics are made of petroleum, which we need for other things, Severin says.

Severin’s suggestions for living a greener lifestyle are pretty common sense, but, as Severin says, the trick is following through.

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