The Mess We Made

We throw out so much clothing even when it’s still good to wear. You could try selling your old clothes to a secondhand clothing store, to get some money back for functional items that would otherwise go to a landfill prematurely.

A second option is giving your clothes to Goodwill. Most Canadian cities have the big clothing drop-off bins in the parking lots of supermarkets. After you drop off your clothing, they can sell it, give it to the homeless, or recycle it. It is pretty easy to save our planet by not just dumping out our old clothes.

When you buy a drink, you do know that you get a lot less of it if you order it with ice? Buy saying “no ice”, you would get a lot more drink for your money.

And you’ll create a side benefit for the planet, because making less ice uses less electricity.

On the topic of ice, did you know that most ice machines in restaurants never get cleaned? In many cases the ice machines are dirtier than the toilet. Maybe this will convince you to take a pass on the ice next time.

Buying bigger (i.e., bulk) packages of goods like cereal, bread, wrapping paper, and so on will usually be cheaper, saving you money when compared to buying less. As a bonus, goods in bigger quantities often use less packaging than goods in lots of small packages.

Please buy big to save our planet. You’ll put less packaging in the landfills, and fewer trees will have to die to give us paper and cardboard for that packaging.

Why use paper napkins when cloth looks nicer, feels nicer, and is nicer to the environment.

You won’t generate as much garbage as using paper, and making cloth napkins uses fewer resources, so please start looking for some nice cloth napkins.

And when you get takeout, just decline the paper napkins.

When doing your holiday shopping, try to pay in cash. Wonder why? Let me explain:

Receipts are usually printed on thermal paper, which is produced by a chemical process and can’t be recycled. When you pay cash, you don’t get an additional credit card receipt and another credit card slip to sign. So, by paying cash, you’ll be adding only one instead of three “bad paper” slips to the pile in the garbage.

Winter is almost here, one reason why you should not be wearing just a T-shirt in your home. If you put on a nice and warm sweater, you would save a lot on your heating bill and - by extension - a lot of fossil fuels.

With a sweater on, you can turn down your heating a couple of degrees without feeling that it’s colder in your home.

Christmas is the time of the year when people really get into decorating their homes, and the effort they put into doing so makes everything look nice at night. So go for a walk around your neighborhood and enjoy the many luminous displays after dark.

By going on a ‘light’-seeing walk, you’ll get exercise and save on your electric bill, because you’re not using the lights in your own home. In this expensive holiday month, any money-saving measure is welcome.

Do you ever peek into the large, rectangular garbage dump near your apartment building?

If not, I would recommend taking a look once in a while - it could be worth your curiosity. Often people have thrown out things that other folks may find useful. Well, okay, maybe collecting garbage is not something you’d be proud of, but if it can save the planet and save you from spending, then it won’t harm anyone.

Do you have a tap or showerhead that drips? If so, fix it! A replacement part will cost you a mere couple of cents, and you’ll put an end to the annoying dripping. I don’t need to point out that you’ll save a lot of water, something that the world will be short of in the near future. So, start trimming your water bill by cutting the drip out of your plumbing.

Those of us who would like to make our world a healthier place to inhabit are always on the lookout for more ways to health-ify the planet.

I came across a little device that could help us get some of our electronics “off the grid”.

The Freeloader Portable Solar Charger will supply you with power whenever you need it. This solar charger can charge its built-in battery from exposure to sunlight. If sunlight happens to be scarce, then it can be charged through the USB port, but only as a last resort.

When fully charged, the Freeloader Solar Charger can keep your iPod running for 18 hours or your mobile phone for 44 hours. This handy little gadget is proof that it’s remarkably easy to harness energy from the sun.

The Freeloader Portable Solar Charger also comes with all kinds of adapters to let you connect all your electronic devices, from MP3 players to cell phones, from your digital camera to your Nintendo DS.

You can view a complete list of devices that are supported by the Freeloader. See for yourself how cool it really is and what it can do for you, for under $50.

Check out the Freeloader at ThinkGeek and start saving our planet today.