Going Green by being organized…and the Living Green Expo
Yesterday I spent the day at The Factory in Franklin (an awesome collection of shops, restaurants & event space in an old factory – they also hold the Farmer’s Market there on Saturday mornings & Tuesday afternoons) at the Living Green Expo.
At the Living Green Expo
Excellent event – and got to meet all sorts of businesses that help people and other businesses go green. Spray on foams, energy efficient windows, natural products (trying out some all natural bug spray this week – we’ll see how it works), and our family favorite, the electric scooters. They were super cute retro looking bikes that run on electricity. My point of being there was how being organizing can help you go green. It’s hard to be conscious of green options when it isn’t convenient or easily accessible. One of the things I work on with my clients who want to be green is to make it easy. Some tips on being organized and green:
- Plan your routes when heading out for the day. Map out your farthest point and make your stops accordingly. Determine what tasks need to be done, and which stops are near each other. I even go so far as to plot which stops are the same side of the road so I don’t have make left turns (my friends do give me a bit of grief about this but, hey, it works!). Combine errands with trips you are already making, saving gas and time.
- Set up a cabinet or drawer in your kitchen for re-usable containers for lunchboxes, storage and more. Get away from plastic bags and disposable items.
- Have a designated location for re-usable grocery bags, like my favorite ChicoBags
, in a drawer or hanging on a hook. Keep some in your car for unplanned stops at the store. If you know right where they are and they are easily accessible, you will be much more likely to use them.
- Use Re-usable Water Bottles
, and keep them near the water you drink (mine are in a cabinet right next to the fridge where the filtered water is). Every plastic bottle you don’t buy is helping the earth – and saving you money.
- Go paperless in your kitchen with rags for cleaning, dish towels for drying hands and cloth napkins. We haven’t gone as far as going toilet paper-less as in No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal
. Actually don’t think we’ll ever go quite this green!
- Reduce paper from coming into the house by unsubscribing from unread magazines, and removing yourself from junk mail lists and catalogs.
- Set up your recycling center to not only be easy to use but in a convenient location. No one is going to regularly walk out to the garage for every plastic container. Trust me on this.
Be mindful of how you want to go green. What are your goals? Then look at how you actually live and the setup of your home. Creating a system that works for you and your family will help you be as green as you want to be. I can help if you need it. As your green organizing questions in the comments – and I’ll post an answer – it’s as easy as that!
Liz Jenkins
