How To Be Green

Environmental Activist Michele Davis Shows Us

By: Linni Kral

Posted: 4/28/08

Q: Let's start with a little background-where do you live and what do you do?

A: I live in Newton, MA, just outside of Boston and work for the Green Decade Coalition/Newton as the Kyoto Project Coordinator. I go into homes and use diagnostic tests to find where each house is leaking energy. As a volunteer, I have been the Chair of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Recycling for over six years.

Q: What's green in your life?

A: Many aspects of my life are green. I recently chose green building materials to update my home (recycled glass tiles, recycled warehouse beams for flooring, counters made from recycled paper, new energy efficient appliances). I have three compost bins, one inside with worms suitable for apartments, one outside for food scraps, and another one devoted to yard waste.

Q: How did you get interested in environmental issues? Are your parents or family environmentally conscious, or do you have to push them?

A: As a child, my mother would turn off the water when I was brushing my teeth, so I learned the concept of only using a resource when you actually need it. I have a drawing I made at eight years old of people picking up trash with the slogan "Stop Pollution." At age ten, I wrote a report about zero population growth. My father often took us on walks in the woods and seeing litter would really bother me. However, it took me years to convince him to recycle.

Q: Let's talk about your list-do you really think college kids will adopt these practices? Do you think it's at all unreasonable to expect them to?

A: The reason I made such a long list is so that college students could choose whichever ones they are comfortable with and just do those. Every little action by every individual really does make a difference.

Q: Many claim it's just too expensive to live this way. What would be your response to this critique?

A: Some aspects of living green can be expensive, like buying new appliances, but many everyday actions cost no money, such as picking up trash, choosing items with less packaging, composting your vegetable scraps, using the blank back sides of paper, and bringing grocery bags with you to the store.

Q: Describe a typical day in your life.

A: A typical day for me includes running outside and returning home with a bag of recyclables that I picked up while running back. Then I attend meetings, return emails, write articles, or make phone calls to educate people about energy conservation and reducing waste. I end the day with my family, including two sons who only wore cloth diapers, never disposables.

Q: Does living green have any negative affects on your life?

A: Sometimes people flip me off when they read my bumper stickers, which cover the whole back of my car. Other times I can get overwhelmed about the enormity of the problem, of how we are "using up" the earth and its resources.

Q: Do you think gender plays any role in environmentalism?

A: In my experience, both genders are equally represented in the environmental field. This was true as an environmental studies major, as a city planner, and now on the board of the Green Decade Coalition.

Q: Any final words?

A: I will end with a quote from my favorite bumper sticker: "Insatiable is not Sustainable".

How to be Green

1. Shopping
Always have reusable cloth bags in the car. Always choose paper if you forget the cloth bags. Try to buy bulk items instead of things packaged individually. Choose items with the least packaging, or at least packaging that is recyclable. Look for products made out of recycled materials, like toilet paper with post-consumer waste content, and soaps/cleansers with no toxic ingredients. If these are too easy, try asking yourself if you really need to buy anything-do new items really make you happy? How long does that last?

2. Water
No federal regulations exist for selling water in plastic bottles, so most bottled water products are just tap water at a profit (to them, not you). Drinking anything in any type of plastic should be avoided. Go to REI, get a "Kleen Kanteen," bring it everywhere, and refill it constantly. It does not taste like metal and you don't have to worry about how many tiny plastic particles you are consuming. In most cases, your tap water is safer than what you are buying from Poland Springs. And by the way, there is nothing "eco" about their new bottles. They are just thinner plastic, but just as unsafe.

In terms of scarcity, water is the new oil - Pepsi, Nestle and Coke are setting up plants in third world countries, bottling the ground water and selling them in plastic bottle. Meanwhile, the farmers have no water left to grow anything-yet most people are unaware this is going on.

3. Home.
Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs. They now give off a warm light and last seven years (not kidding). Be sure to take them to the appropriate place to dispose of them (they contain a tiny bit of mercury). Go to efi.org for more information.

Salvation Army and other places that take donated clothes will also take clothes that are shredded or ripped, so there is no need to throw away any cloth item.

Never microwave anything in a plastic container or bag. Do not buy those "convenient" pre-cut-up vegetables that say its safe to steam right in the bag. They're not safe! Always transfer food to a ceramic bowl or plate. The last thing you need is microscopic plastic particles in your food.

When trying to make a house energy-efficient, the first priority is insulation in the walls (especially in drafty homes). Next is updated energy-efficient boilers/furnaces and, finally, windows, which make up much less of the wall area than the wall itself.

If you make changes like a remodel or an addition to a home (or office), choose environmentally-friendly materials like wood from a sustainable forest, reused sinks or other salvaged materials from another house, bamboo or cork flooring, and recycled glass fixtures and tiles.

Support local farmer's markets by buying locally-grown produce. This cuts back on the unnecessary transportation of food, which produces extra costs and greenhouse gases.

Try not to add to impervious surfaces, like doubling the size of your driveway. This leads to more run-off, especially on hills, and storm water systems become more overloaded.

Install low-flow showerheads. These are often given free to renters and homeowners who call their utility company and ask for a free audit.

Install weather-stripping. Rolls of clay and caulking can be applied along windows and doors to cut down on drafts. These are cheap items sold at hardware stores and make a big difference. See efi.org.

Composting cuts down on an amazing amount of trash because those orange peels, dead vegetables and moldy bread take up lots of space in the trash barrel. All you need to set one up is some dirt, leaves, coffee grounds, and table scraps. This can be done in apartments with no outside area, too, if you get red wiggler worms and set up in a plastic "sweater" box with holes on the top. I know what you're thinking, but it's not smelly because the worms process the food so quickly.

Recycle according to your city requirements. Glass bottles do not belong in landfills or incinerators. Paper is heavy and takes years to decompose in a landfill where it does not have air or light.

Reuse items like paper. Often people print drafts or unofficial documents. This is a perfect use for the blank side of salvaged 8 1/2" x 11 paper. Don't throw away a clean plastic bag used to package something-you can use those and even bags originally holding cereal instead of purchasing boxes of Ziploc bags. This can also save you money.

Use cloth diapers and old-fashioned mops. All those commercials trying to convince you to use plastic diapers and Swiffers to clean the floors are just lining the pockets of rich executives with more money. They can't stand reusable products because there is no profit in it for them, which incidentally means less cost for you. It's the same situation with paper towels-a washcloth works great and is perfect for cleaning countertops. The most ridiculous use of a paper towel is after washing your hands-why would clean hands need a one-use product?

4. Travel.
Always ask yourself if you can walk, bike ride, or take the bus instead of driving everywhere. Realize that hybrid cars really do make a difference. Minimize plane trips. Businesses requiring travel have new options, such as video screens in conference rooms allowing people in another country to be visually at the same meeting, at the same scale as the people there.

One last thing...
Think about what imprint you are leaving on the planet. Imagine if all the trash you ever threw away was saved in a warehouse, just for you. Someday soon we will be paying by weight for everything we are throwing away, because natural resources are growing scarcer. We will eventually be held responsible for our ecological footprint.