Much of the reason that the state of the food quality in North America has become so out of control, in the eyes of many, is this lack of participation by the populace and the influence of agribusiness. Such companies have sprung up since the 1970s, causing farms to get bigger and bigger, vertically integrate with the oil companies that make chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and become reliant upon deals that have tended to sacrifice food quality and nutrition for size and weight.

For instance, there are many different and controversial farming practices. Such practices can have an adverse effect upon the local ecosystem, food quality and human health. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and USDA (US Department of Agriculture) were created to assist farmers and protect consumers. However, they often protect business and look the other way when they can.

For instance, a food dye that is also a known carcinogen is routinely injected into the skins of oranges in the US in an effort to make them look more orange on market shelves. Though it’s assumed that most people won’t eat the skin, anyone who has ever tasted an orange knows this is dangerously untrue. And, that’s just one example of a common “conventional” farming practice that can have potentially deadly side effects when consumed over a lifetime.

When the general public becomes aware of such farming practices, there is very often an overwhelming outcry against them and the farmers who use them. As a result of this reaction, the few (almost exclusively men over 60) who do work in what is now called “conventional” agriculture feel besieged by such attacks. Such criticism that comes from people who don’t know the hardships that face farming creates a class conflict that is often difficult to overcome.

However, it is very important that anyone who eats understands, on some level, what is involved in farming, so they can make good choices. The creation of the USDA Organic standard was meant to be a brand that people could support without having to know what that really entails, since the concepts are complicated enough to encompass entire years in an agricultural college, now that a few of them are teaching organic methodology.

One of the hallmarks of organic or sustainable farming is a care for the local environment. Even if a farm isn’t actually certified by a third-party agency on behalf of the USDA, sustainable practices are designed to work with (rather than against) the natural environment. Taking inspiration from the complex ecosystems that balance each element in nature, such farming practices fundamentally differ from “conventional” farming.

In fact, agribusiness-inspired “conventional” farming practices are a relatively recent invention. In 1900, all farming was organic because there was no other way. As early as 1940, just a few years after chemical pesticides and fertilizers were introduced, the term organic was coined and a return to previous farming practices was called for.

Another difference between the farms of yesterday with the “conventional” model is the sheer amount of energy that is embedded in each act or amendment applied. With the exception of a few mined minerals and compounds, the vast amounts of energy that now characterize farming were also rather recently invented. Hence the call to “get big or get out” went up during the 1970s at the behest of big agribusiness.

During that time, it was deemed far more cost effective to breed a crop that was grown for agronomic characteristics such as shippabilty and a very uniform development that ensures only one pass with a giant harvesting machine is necessary. You will notice that taste, nutrition and pest tolerance are not part of these requirements. In fact, the requirements of getting a crop to market over the typical 1,300 miles a given fruit or vegetable might travel to reach the supermarket causes plant breeders to choose transportability and compatibility with mechanization over everything else.

For this and many other reasons, the quality of the food you purchase or grow is fundamentally influenced by the farming practices used. It is well worth anyone’s while to learn more about farming practices in order to make good choices for themselves and the environment.

There certainly are ultra-efficient designs for just about every appliance in your home. However, you need to be reasonable about it to keep everyone in your household happy as well as thrifty. Consider that you’ll want to balance out the savings with the potential cost of these devices.

Some of them require yearly maintenance. Even if it just is adding some de-nitrifying bacteria and lime every few months, that’s still more plumbing maintenance than most people are accustomed to. For most people, they’ll be looking to get the same sort of appliances they’ve always had, but will make sure the one they purchase is at least rated according to the US government’s “Energy Star” certification. When you see that now familiar symbol, you are assured that the appliance meets at least basic energy efficiency standards.

One really great way to start out saving money with your appliances, is to collect the water that you use to feed some significant users of this resource. You can use gravity or an energy efficient pump – it could even be powered by renewable devices such as thin-film solar or micro-wind turbines. This will save on your energy and your water bill while conserving both resources.

Efficient appliances make good use of what water they do get. Following the directions on your washing machine correctly, for instance, you can use as little as half the water that a conventional machine might. Any such appliance made before 1995 should be considered a potential water and energy hog. The same is true of the dishwasher.

Most homes in North America have some sort of heat, and this is very often in the form of a furnace. Furnaces have a reputation for being poorly maintained. Even a furnace that was designed to be energy efficient in the past can be causing additional pollution. When energy efficient appliances break down to such a point that efficiency is compromised, they are just as wasteful as old-style appliances until maintained.

Maintaining appliances, like maintaining cars, shaves just a fraction of the fuel usage. When spread across a population, making such subtle changes can have a significant effect in the amount of oil that’s imported into the US as well as the amount of pollution that is emitted as a result.

Most energy efficient homes, such as those certified by green building associations, come replete with the most energy efficient that money can buy. These may or may not be coupled with renewable resources, either directly or through the power company as a broker of renewable power on the grid.

It can be due to either the moral necessity of living the most sustainable life possible or (more likely) the impact of rising petroleum costs. Regardless, people are looking into conserving resources wherever possible. Replacing old inefficient appliances with ones that are at least new to you and maintaining the appliances you do have properly can cut as much as half of your energy bill. Add compact-florescent (CF) bulbs to that mix, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this sooner, though cheap oil probably has something to do with it.

Old appliances can be recycled into their component parts, saving a significant fraction of the carbon dioxide as well as saving water and energy usage. A significant number of old appliances make their way into scrap yards each year, ready to be recycled. However, the recycling process makes many tons of highly toxic waste product, that is also of concern to environmentalists. Scrap yards that sell the good parts from broken down equipment are becoming more profitable, as many parts and pieces are no longer made by their respective manufacturers.

People are learning to up-cycle old appliances, too. This involves taking the old husks of refrigerators and turning them into energy efficient appliances with the addition of new materials and seals. This option is attractive to young people starting out with their new-found skills. Up-cycling energy efficient appliances and tinkering with their cycle so they use less water and get the clothes cleaner – these “hot rod” appliances require a far smaller investment of physical resources that don’t have to be removed from a mountainside, saving water as well as petroleum and pollution.

Energy efficient or not, that’s a great deal of carbon dioxide pollution in the form of new appliances. If purchasing new, you need to consider the materials involved. The trend towards stainless steel refrigerators in the mid-aughts led to a worldwide shortage of new stainless steel wine tanks, putting an entire industry on hold through the power of consumer demand.

There is almost always some sort of cost in terms of pollution, but it’s the reduction of resource wasting that will make a difference in the 21st century. Some strides were made in the 1970s, while the process of changing out a billion or so appliances that begun in the mid-1990s is just now nearing a reasonable state of completion – just in time, too.

Now that most people have made some effort to save on an energy bill that may have suddenly gotten out of control. Energy efficient homes are simply the way that homes will be in the 21st century.

Consider how far the very food we eat may travel arrive at market. In the mid-1990s, that figure had risen to nearly 1,100 miles for the average item of produce in the grocery store, at any given time of year. Today, that figure stands at over 1,700 miles. This is partly due to fruits and vegetables flown in from South America at a far higher carbon-cost per mile. The same goes for just about any other item for purchase at all but a few sustainable grocery stores and co-op groceries.

For the first time, average people are paying attention to how many miles the goods and services they use must travel to get to market. This is true, in part, due to the pollution. But what really has made conserving fuel a matter of interest is the price. The recent doubling and tripling of fuel prices in the Western World has caused the price of anything that uses petroleum to go up in price considerably, from throw pillows to corn. Things really are getting more expensive – and wages haven’t kept pace to match.

That’s true, just about one way or another, for nearly everything that people use and do on a daily basis. We just don’t think of it like that much of the time. Transportation is a very large part of the cost of goods and services. That makes doing business with the local economy and staying closer to home a good way to save rather significant amounts of money when it all adds up at the end of the month.

It’s not usually any one item that tears the pocket book and puts people in the financial squeeze. Though that certainly does happen, especially in the case of medical expenses or climate-change induced weather craziness. No, it’s the cumulative effect of everything costing more that causes people to have to shift their spending patters towards thriftiness. It is very likely that as the price of petroleum continues to increase, the local economy will continue to play a greater and greater role in the lives of the average person in North America.

In some urban areas, the local economy already includes, nearby products and services. Some very handy ones to have nearby might include:

• farmers’ market

• laundry service

• restaurants and bars

• co-op

• barber/hairdresser

• movie theater

• hardware store

• thrift store

This and whatever you find necessary in your normal weekly or monthly routine is a good thing to have handy – preferably within walking or biking distance. Add a bike mechanic to that list unless you’re into DIY.

There are quite a few suburban and rural communities that don’t currently have nearby basic services. It is likely that zoning laws may change in some areas to allow people to open up local businesses in such areas that cater to those on foot, especially near areas where sidewalks are installed.

That said, you may be surprised to find all the things that are already available in your local economy. In fact, as people do find themselves moving to more centralized lifestyles, it’s surprising how quickly different businesses and services have already been popping up in otherwise residential neighborhoods. As people are looking to get second jobs, many have decided to keep a little more of the returns for themselves and set up shop for themselves, instead.

This is in sharp contrast to just a few years ago when large retail stores that carry imported goods at a discount were king. There is a tipping point fast-approaching when cheap labor is no longer sufficient to offset transportation costs. Stores that were once put out of business by multinational retailers are now cropping up with a vengeance. In short, Mom and Pop are coming back, and this time, they’re cool.

As a result, owning a shop is now becoming a viable option for many North Americans. The longer and longer commutes many suffer are now giving way to folks changing careers and reclaiming that time to live and spend time in the local community and local economy. The amount of climate change-inducing carbon dioxide and particulate matter pollution could be very significantly affected, not to mention rates of asthma and other respiratory disorders.

This increasing impact of the local economy, whether its going out for a “50-mile dinner” at a neighbor’s house or using a local crafts person to make you a set of carved and lacquered bamboo curtain rods is a real trend. People realize there are plenty of ways to reduce pollution, combat climate change and make your local environment a better place to live. By taking an interest in things local, it’s also a way of using the power of a distributed network to affect massive change over the whole country, allowing people and their dollars to do it, one neighborhood at a time.

While there have always been a small number of fuel efficient vehicles manufactured in the US, to reach the CAFE standards set out by congress, though not many. Several of those made in the last 20 years were made in partnerships with Japanese firms that had expertise with these smaller vehicles. Even in the early 1990s, for instance, the 3-cylinder, 1.0L Geo Metro was delivering upwards of 50mpg (21km/L) in 1990. This was at a time when US consumer purchased a massive fleet of vehicles with fuel economy less than 15mpg (6.3km/L).

In addition to these small and relatively low powered vehicles, hybrid cars and SUVs are becoming a very common replacement. Instead of generating fuel savings with very careful use of somewhat limited power and lightweight construction, new vehicles are able to deliver the sort of comfort and ride that consumers have become accustomed to.

The very popular gas hybrid vehicles conserve power requirements by transferring the power of momentum from when you break and storing it in the car’s battery. For that reason, a heavy frame is not as much of a liability – the energy used to get it going is then transferred back into the car with the added energy required to stop that higher momentum.

This makes the city and highway mileage of gas or diesel hybrid cars almost exactly the same. The Toyota Prius and Honda Insight are two vehicles that made early entries into this market, though nearly all automakers now have a hybrid offering of one of their most popular vehicles. For each, demand has far outstripped supply since they were first introduced in the early ‘aughts. For most drivers, the increased cost of this vehicle choice is covered in the gas savings within two years or less.

Electric-only hybrids (also known as a continuously recharged Battery Electric Vehicle or BEV) are also on the way, with US automakers promising the first plug-in hybrid vehicles for 2010. These vehicles will be able to take advantage of other types of alternative fuels and energies, such as home-generated power from micro-turbines or even solar paint. It is very likely that within a decade, cars will be on the market that produce some of their own fuel from the light catching the surface of the vehicle.

Small vehicles that are designed to work with alternative fuels are now being imported from Europe in increasing numbers, too. Though the first wave of fuel efficient European vehicles could be said to have been the influx of mopeds and scooters in the 1950s and 60s, this trend focuses both on small cars and the surging popularity of scooters among young people, once again. Highly fuel efficient vehicles that run on alternative fuels like bio-diesel will likely pay for themselves many times over in fuel cost savings.

Entirely electric vehicles are also becoming a hot commodity. Whether manufactured that way or upcycled from an existing vehicle, these are almost always used in combination with a rechargeable energy storage system, in the form of batteries or a heavy flywheel. They can be charged with any sort of power and may also have a small combustion engine for assistance at distances of over 60 miles (100km). The raw materials (many of which are mined and sent from China) weight and toxicity of batteries has, so far, kept adoption to low levels, despite the fuel flexibility.

Flex fuel vehicles that can run on a variety of energetic fluids and gases are the most popular vehicles in places with excess bio-matter, such as Brazil. These relatively fuel efficient vehicles are also present in North America. Usually these flex fuel or dual fuel systems combing either a gas or diesel engine with the ability to run natural gas or un-treated vegetable oil. Sometimes they also have charging and storage capacity like an electric hybrid, too. Such vehicles are currently more a curiosity than a market force, but volatility in commodity markets makes it very advantageous to have the ability to adjust for what fuel is available or less expensive.

The marketplace for “green” vehicles has grown tremendously over the last few years. These new trends towards smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles has been good for cars, as a hobby, too. What was just a few hybrid cars and some under-powered clown-cars a few years ago has become a respectable term for well-made cars and trucks that can reduce dependence upon foreign oil and reduce polluting emissions that would hasten the effects of climate change.

Choosing the fuel-efficient vehicle that suits your needs is determined by your current and future life-style. If you think you need a big vehicle for recreational opportunities and road-trips, you might want to also consider how your driving behaviors are likely to change if gas were $10/gal ($3/L). It’s something very likely in the next 10 years that people are likely to keep their vehicles. You might find that an alternative fuel vehicle suits the majority of your driving needs.

Even if you do need to drive a mini-van or SUV, you can still make cost effective and relatively non-polluting choices about how you use those vehicles. Flex fuel might be the best option for trucks and fleet vehicles.

In fact, there is a growing body of evidence that would suggest that the synergistic effects of some of the chemicals that people ingest, absorb and inhale can have catastrophic cumulative effects. Many of these chemicals are known to accumulate in our tissues unless cleansed out.

One choice that many people have decided to make is to go with pesticide free organic produce. The organic label also covers all manner of processed food, guaranteeing it will be free of the most common chemical contaminants.

Co-ops are a particularly good place to find organic alternatives to all manner of personal hygiene products as well as all types of organic foodstuffs. While some co-ops decide not to carry meat, many do, as long as it is also certified organic. Nearly all could be considered a chemical free zone.

Another common source of environmental pollutants that people accumulate comes from the furniture, bedding and carpets in our homes. These items cost a lot more than a bottle of shampoo and are generally replaced far less often. However, when it does come time to make a decision about a floor of your own or replacing a worn out blanket, consider the chemical-free options.

The cost of many of these items leads DIY-inclined people to want to make or grow their own versions of just about every product in the home. There is a growing trend, especially among younger women, to make cleaning and bath products at home.

This way, if you choose organic base ingredients, you can produce your own equivalent products, provided you find good recipes or have a talent for such things. You’ll certainly know everything that’s in your products. Another example might be purchasing organic cotton and making your own sheets or curtains.

Just about anything that can be made somewhere else can be made in your home. However, there are very few things that are impossible to create without specialized machinery (puffed rice seems to be one of them). Noodles are perhaps the most common processed food that nearly everyone purchases in one form or another. The extra cost of purchasing such foods organically can be covered and more by growing one’s own organic produce.

For those who have talents that lie outside DIY projects, there are handy people in many large cities who will cater to your desires to keep an organic garden or preparing nutritious, organic meals that are always available for you, ready to go from the fridge. This keeps clients from eating the sort of food that is otherwise prepared with all manner of potentially toxic chemicals.

Very often, the chemicals that are found in food and beauty products don’t even have anything to do with the product’s primary intention. For instance, foods are made moister, chewier, foamer, less foamy, richer, fat-free – you name it, from the color to the consistency, the vast majority of man-made chemical ingredients added to conventionally processed foods are added for effect only. Choosing chemical-free products at the grocery store and farmers’ market can decrease your daily exposure significantly.

Your pets can also benefit from a chemical free diet, as was evidenced by the great pet food recall of 2007. Those who purchased or made their own chemical-free pet food were the only pet owners who didn’t have to worry about differentiating between fast-acting symptoms and something as simple as a stomach ache.

There are also chemical-free alternatives to some of the common pet medications. One example might be safely using wormwood and pennyroyal oils as a substitute for prescription-only, sub-dermal flea control.

There are also things you can use around the house. Many people choose to use chemical-free cleaning products. Besides plain, old soapy water, you can use several common household items to make your own cleaning chemicals if there isn’t an outlet for organic cleaning solutions in your area. Some products, such as natural scouring cleansers, have been chemical-free for over a century.

When you begin carefully assessing where you are most likely to run into chemical fragrances, fumes, dyes and additives; it’s becomes simple to see where you would be best served by making some changes. Chemical-free alternatives for most items and products are available – sometimes from emerging sources that use the Internet to go around the traditional retail model.

Chemical free living is taking hold in North America because people are just now realizing how dangerous business as usual can be. Some of these toxins will persist longer than nuclear waste. Given how even the prescription drugs people take are ending up in drinking water supplies, it is clear that personal and public health are linked. Making a stand for yourself, now, can preserve your own health as well as that of everyone else.

Even in areas of the Midwest that have classically enjoyed regular rainfall and plentiful aquifers, the streams are becoming polluted with agricultural runoff and toxic chemicals, making reliance upon this groundwater has become problematic and potentially harmful.

It seems a daunting task, but it is essential that people begin conserving water and treating it with care and respect. There are plenty of things you can do as a renter or homeowner to conserve water in your daily life. By making a few changes regarding where your water comes from and how it is delivered to you, each household can make what amounts to a significant impact.

Starting in the bathroom, one can eliminate a great deal of water usage by using a low flow toilet. These are simple to install and are relatively inexpensive. They often pay for themselves in water-savings within just a few years. While low-flow designs once were derided for not working very well (often requiring a second flush) they work better now that designers have applied themselves to the task. Some areas even mandate them in new construction.

Low flow shower are also a great idea. The heads don’t have to be the industrial-looking “navy heads” that were once the only option. They come in several attractive styles now that people have realized just how important conserving water is for the 21st century. Low flow faucets are available, too. Such measures can cut down on your water and sewer bill by as much as half.

Conserving water can take place in the garden, as well. Lawns are water thirsty, and being replaced in very large numbers by more efficient and attractive gardens. There are innumerable types of water-wise landscapes that do a very good job of conserving water. Xeriscaping literally means landscaping to use as little water as possible. This is most often done with native vegetation. It has been popular for many years in the South-west and other places that have faced water shortages. Now, however, an increasingly large number of people in other parts of North America are installing native, efficient gardens as water sources become increasingly strained, partly as a consequence of climate change.

Another method of conserving water outdoors include collecting water for irrigation in rain barrels. While areas can collect a massive amount of water from their roofs, storage capacity often necessitates the use of low-pressure irrigation that also happens to be very efficient. Not only will you use far less water when you’re more aware of the volume you use, but such systems also leach fewer nutrients into the ground water.

Of course, eliminating pesticides that you may use around the garden is a way to protect your water quality. By planting smart, you can eliminate much of the need for chemical pesticides. There are also cultural methods you can use to keep disease from being a problem. In a pinch, there are organic alternatives to keep pests at bay.

Conserving water is a way of life in many other arid parts of the world. This trend is surely making its way to North America. Though water is relatively cheap now, the skyrocketing price of gasoline has encouraged people to consider what might happen if the price of water was to increase. Conserving water be addressed, not just in the purchasing decisions you make, but also by your usage patterns at home where you pay for it directly.

There are many reasons why the price of oil has gone up. While some may argue whether this is an example of a speculation bubble, it is certain that the price will never go back to a resting medium anywhere near what it was at the turn of the 21st century. While the US government has been slow to act and help out with an energy savings plan, some simple changes can help your heating and cooling efficiency quite a bit.

For instance, the two things that people use the most energy on is personal transportation and climate control. Energy savings in either of these areas can be accomplished to a surprising degree by simply doing proper maintenance and changing your usage patterns.

For instance, you don’t need to buy a hybrid vehicle to enjoy improvement in fuel efficiency by maintaining proper tire inflation, changing the oil regularly, getting regular tune-ups and making sure the fuel and air filters are clean. These all add up.

When combined with eliminating jack-rabbit starts and combining trips, many people have managed to insulate their fuel budget from the price of gas and diesel to some extent.

In the home, most people have made some effort to keep their heating bills down by insulating, installing curtains and keeping some rooms cool for the season. By just taking two rooms out of winter circulation in an average North American home, you can show significant energy savings.

Should one choose to invest in in a new energy efficient furnace, insulate the attic and walls or replace single paned windows, all that energy usage that would normally contribute to climate change is now used far more efficiently.

Just as was done in the 1970s, conservation of our finite energy resources, whether they come from renewable sources or not, is a very important part of the challenge we face to become 100% carbon neutral in the next decade. Technology can certainly help that goal become a reality, but making strides in energy savings is key.

There are now some very common devices that have already made a big impact. Compact florescent (CF) light bulbs are now the only type available at many outlets. With a house running even a minimal number of lamps, each CF bulb that replaces an incandescent bulb represents as much as an 80% reduction in energy usage.

Even more efficient are the white LED bulbs that have very quickly become the light source of choice for flashlights and other battery or solar powered devices. While LED bulbs remain somewhat expensive, their price has come down significantly in recent years and may represent a greater than 90% reduction in energy usage. They also last a lot longer and don’t emit mercury when disposed of.

Energy conservation also applies to the purchasing decisions you make. Items that have a longer journey to your door have more climate change inducing carbon associated with them. The same is true of anything that requires a lot of earth moving, tree cutting or overseas processing to bring to market.

Supporting the local economy goes a long way towards achieving energy independence, as does eating locally raised foods. Simply having a meal at home that you’ve made from things at the farmers’ market is a indulgent way to really enjoy the better quality of life that certain types of energy savings can deliver. Each and every North American is responsible for eating 7 barrels of oil each year and using 6 for personal transport. Combining the two to save energy and climate change inducing greenhouse gases, is not only trendy, but very, very helpful to solving our climate and oil-addiction problems.

Opportunities to enjoy energy savings are all around when you begin to look at your daily routine and habits from the perspective of global climate change. We can enjoy a gentle transition to an oil-free economy, or we can use it all up like addicts – it’s up to each and every person to make that decision. The world is counting on North Americans to get smart sooner rather than later.

Reducing your Packaging Waste

You have more control than you might imagine over the amount of waste you bring into your home. If you bring it in, it’s not only a chance to make an environmentally friendly disposal choice, but your duty to make sure you do so in a manner that is safe. For instance, many people were swayed from using alkaline batteries just because they were becoming problematic to dispose of safely.

Reusable bags are another prime example of an item that has become a global concern. Even when you reuse them a few times, plastic bags must go somewhere, and wherever that is, they’ve been found to leach out toxic by-products. You can bring your own reusable bag and save the whole bother, without having to make the mind-boggling decision as to whether it’s best to get your stuff in paper or plastic.

Avoiding the Single Use Mentality

Of course, if you are given a plastic bag, you can reuse it several times, until it gets old and shredded. Resealable bags are another famous example of a product that was meant for a single use and may be cleaned and used again – reborn as a reusable bag that is perfectly safe and sound.

Other single use items can be replaced. Plain, cotton bar towels, for instance, can replace rolls and rolls of paper towels. Many times the amount of water is required to manufacture a single roll of paper towels, as compared with the manufacture and shipment of a cloth version and a washing. Over time, that adds up to a tremendous savings in just that single resource, not to mention making only one trip to your house.

Choosing to Buy Recyclable Goods and Getting Them to the Bins

Aluminum, for instance, requires only 5% of the energy to recycle into new items as compared with mining new ones. Plastics save about 70% when recycled, with steel and paper saving 60 and 40% respectively on their virgin counterparts. Recycled paper has the advantage of eliminating nearly three-quarters of the air pollution associated with virgin paper production from wood pulp.

The kitchen is a very common place to create refuse, much of it as a consequence of purchasing processed goods. Therefore, the more food you make yourself, the fewer of these containers and wrappers will fall into either the recyclable or trash streams. However, even when you must make waste, you can choose packaging that can be recycled by your local recyclers

Getting your recyclable items to the bin is easy in most cities. Environmentally friendly city councilpersons have made sure there are plenty of places for urbanites to recycle. If you live in a rural area, this might mean hauling stored recyclables yourself in a semi-regular recycler-run. Since most recyclers are privately-owned in the US, you’ll need to check with each one to find out what is accepted. The market for some items is soft and can be removed as an option unless there are state or federal monies to subsidize the recycling of some materials, such as hazardous waste.

Green Shopping Choices

Many stores now have offer environmentally friendly options, such as using your own reusable bags, allowing slow shipping options, safe and natural options for many product lines as well as pointing out what items are locally-made and come with minimal packaging(since there’s no shipping). These items are all interrelated and a store that features items that either reduce or reuse packaging are often sustainable in other areas, too.

Many people have come to look upon the vast quantities of un-recyclable waste as an opportunity to do better. Every shopper who uses reusable bags, pays a few cents more for the environmentally friendly option or takes a few extra seconds to check and see how the packaging on an item can be recycled is making a huge difference. You’ll keep from having so much waste to do something with, offset some more of your carbon footprint and reduce contamination of otherwise safe groundwater.

And once in the habit, you’ll find it hard to believe that you ever lived any other way.

This generation of waste paper has a major impact on not only the number of trees that are cut down, but also the patterns of pollution that are generated by both virgin paper mills and recycling mills.

The quality and uses of such paper is called into question and certainly changing. This is the result of an increasing worldwide population as well as the also increasing cost of transportation. There is also a greater need than ever for large trees, since they’re capable of filtering the excess carbon dioxide out from the atmosphere and replacing it with oxygen.

It is said that the old growth trees of the world, which are being cut down at a rate of 8% annually, are the lungs of the world. If true, reducing paper waste and keeping those trees standing combats climate change on several fronts, as well as preserving habitat for some of the last examples of many species in North America and abroad.

Most municipalities have recycling programs, so waste paper is very easy to recycled from the home or office. At work, just having a recycling bin is enough to get people to recycle their scrap paper while on the job. Office paper is the most commonly recycled, and usually makes a good recycled product that will fetch a decent price on the paper products market.

The waste paper industry is vast, and already saving a great deal of energy. Paper and paper products have recently occupied 1.2% of the world’s economic output, with and trending upwards as the dangers of plastics are causing them to be banned in many parts of the world.

The amount of paper that once filled landfills was once vast, too. For instance, it was not until 1993 that more paper was recycled rather than being buried underneath countless municipalities. In fact, there are very few areas except the most rural parts of North America that do not have recycling programs today, with waste paper being the most common thing to be recycled. In fact, paper has been recycled in the Western World since the 17th century.

In ancient times paper made from all sorts of substances was somewhat more rare. Waste paper was regularly recycled, with evidence of recycled paper materials from Rome and Egypt remaining in museums around the world.

Reducing waste paper use also includes purchasing and using less of it. The use of a smart phone or PDA can save a lot of paper use, as can simply being more judicious when hitting the print button at work. Those who are in positions of authority in offices can also use computer technology to better store records.

There are many types of computer software that allow collaboration. Now that laptop computers are prevalent and document storage is cheap, computer-based solutions are becoming increasingly useful in the business-place. It is also likely that the increasing price of petroleum will increase the cost of paper to such an extent that small businesses will likely look for solutions to eliminate that expense.

Shopping at a co-op or any other store that has bins allowing you to reuse containers, or re-using paper bags at the grocery, you can have a surprisingly significant impact on your own personal paper usage. By eliminating paper towels and using washable bar towels, you can eliminate a great deal of carbon emitting energy usage and paper waste – called “sludge” in the case of recycling plants – that paper plants generate.

You can also make a difference, ecologically speaking, by purchasing paper products that are grown from sustainably managed forests. There are organizations that certify how sustainable wood sources are, with managed paper-pulp forests being highly regarded, especially when wild and old growth lands are preserved.

Alternate fibers, such as bamboo, cotton, flax, sisal, jute and hemp, may be made into useful paper fibers from plants that can be grown organically. Such fibers are found in fine papers and papers that need to be especially durable, dyeable or soft.

There are plenty of ways to reduce your output of waste paper and lower the impact of the paper you do use by recycling or even composting leftover paper products. The impact on the environment if this became standard operating procedure for millions of people in North America would be far reaching.

Biodiesel has been highly touted as one of the fuels that may be able to allow North America to grow much of its own fuel. Like ethanol (made from maize), vegetable oil that can be made into bio-diesel is indistinguishable from the stuff you consume, before processing.

Most often, this is genetically modified soybean oil in the United States, but other energy-dense oils such as canola (also known as oil rapeseed) and even rendered chicken fat. Each most locales use an oil from plants most suited to their environment, such as palm oil in the south seas and canola in Europe.

Diesel vehicles that can be very easily modified to run on modified vegetable oil, whether old or new, are highly in demand. While many of them have more displacement than a typical car might, there are also quite a few high-quality older cars that can be made like new with a bit of maintenance. In short, there has been a new resurgence of interest in diesel vehicles and, not just among people looking to haul several tons up the side of a mountain.

But, while it may be in increasingly less expensive option, is bio-diesel really any better for the environment? There certainly are far fewer asthma-inducing fine particulates to be found bio-diesel exhaust. Moreover, there are a large number of petrochemical byproducts that are toxic to wildlife and the surrounding environment. The amount of lead and heavy metals is negligible, and fuel made from recycled vegetable oil very often has the often pleasant aroma of french fries.

That said, when considering what sort of environmental net impact bio-diesel has, one must consider all aspects of production, manufacture and distribution of this commodity. Each step has an energy input that almost always includes climate change-inducing carbon dioxide. Each step also has an impact on the local ecosystem, especially in the case of rapidly expanding industries.

On the production side, there is the input of mostly chemical fertilizers into mono cultured systems. This releases a great deal of carbon from the soil, especially when new land is put into cultivation to meet a potentially vast demand. There is also the embedded fuel and emissions involved in the production of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as the machines to tend it all. Over 80% of bio-diesel produced in the United States is conventionally produced soybean oil. The rest is made up from a variety of other crops, though the most energetic oils are produced in tropical climates.

After harvest, the seeds are taken to a rendering plant where energy consuming machines macerate and press the seeds into oil. This oil is then further processed into fuel that most bio-diesel compatible vehicles require. While there are some vehicles that can run used fryer oil with no more treatment than to remove the chunks of potato, such vehicles tend to have lower fuel economy. Petroleum is most often used to move this fuel around on traditional types of transport, from the processing plant to the pump.

Each type of vegetable oil has a different amount of carbon dioxide emitted per calorie of energy released. Canola and soybeans both emit just slightly less CO2 than gasoline. You can be certain that there is essentially no organically produced crop that is being made into bio-diesel, so the vast mono-cultures are detrimental to migrating animal populations as well as disastrous to the biodiversity of the soils they inhabit.

While there is a great deal of promise for fueling a fraction of the vehicles on the road with bio-diesel, unless vehicles become a great deal more efficient or energy usage becomes highly restricted, there simply isn’t enough arable land to meet our fuel needs. Given that agricultural production is just barely keeping up with hunger in much of the world, this isn’t an option.

Bio-diesel has many advantages for the pocket book and can certainly be a stop-gap measure while the world weans itself off petroleum fuel, but the net environmental cost is about even, which is to say, not so great. Moreover, the price of bio-diesel is not independent of the price of petrol – as one goes up, so does the other, though more slowly. Perhaps the ultimate good that bio-diesel fuel can do the environment is to become so expensive as to be conserved.