Blog Action Day is today.

When I think about the impact human beings are having on the planet, it all seems so overwhelming that I am tempted to just throw my hands in the air and say it’s all too late and there’s nothing I can really do to change it. To really make a difference now, we all have to change our lives radically as we are facing the catastrophic effects of our consumerism and greed. This is not going to happen overnight. It can only happen one step at a time. So I found a website called We Can Live Green which has a 365 Day pledge to help you to work towards a greener life. Each day you do something to change the damaging effect you are having on the planet. It breaks it all down into small steps that will add up to a huge change over a whole year. Download the PDF and start changing your life. A few of the steps are almost impossible to do in Greece so you’ll have to improvise as best you can.

WHAT WE DO ALREADY (AND YOU CAN DO TOO).

Recycle

Every year one billion plastic drinking water bottles are thrown away in Greece, along with one billion soft drinks bottles and yet another billion plastic containers for cleaning fluids.

We are lucky enough to live in an area that has a recycling scheme. When it was first introduced, all households received a special bag and information on how and what to recycle. In the first few weeks, people used the special blue bins for their ordinary household waste but that has changed over the year that they have been in place and people are using them properly. It’s about educating people and that takes time but it proves that it is possible. The bins are not collected often enough so sometimes you do have to walk a bit to find one that can take your contribution but the exercise is useful too. I hope this initiative will be put in place throughout Greece and not just in selected neighborhoods. We shall see…

If you live in a area that doesn’t have a recycling scheme, what can you do? Vasilopoulos (Alpha Vita) supermarkets recycle paper, plastic and glass. Some other supermarkets have facilities but you will need to research to find one in your area. Do that today!

Most supermarkets have a container for your used batteries and Vodaphone will recycle your old mobile phones (and accessories such as the chargers, hands-free sets, batteries, car kit sets, plastic / leather cases and front covers)

If you have any other information about how and where to recycle in Greece, please let me know so I can add that information.

Grow plants

It might not sound like much but growing plants is not only a pleasure, it helps the environment.

During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

Having a green space (however small) in a city like Athens is an absolute must. Most people who read this blog know that I recently moved and had to leave behind a beautiful garden. Our new home has a tiny balcony but it is crammed with plants. We also have the possibility of developing the roof space and we plan to turn it into our very own green paradise. My birthday is coming up and (of course) I am going to have a party. I am asking each person to bring a plant instead of the usual gifts. It can be anything from a cutting from your own plants to a tree. A party to suit all pockets!

In light of the recent fires in Greece, I have also decided that I am going to buy an olive tree for all my friends birthdays and celebrations this year. Sorry my friends, I have spoiled your surprise by telling you what I am getting you but I think it’s a great idea and wanted to share it with everyone.

There are many tree-planting initiatives being organised in Greece so why not decide today to join one or donate to one today? For people outside Greece who would like to help, why not Plant your Roots in Greece ? Twenty dollars will buy two olive trees. (For my wealthy readers, a thousand dollars will buy a grove of 100 trees)

Don’t drive

I don’t drive because I never bothered to learn but I can honestly say that I have never wished to own a car. I take public transport everywhere and it really isn’t as bad as you think. If somewhere is within walking distance, I walk. I know people who drive their cars everywhere without even thinking about it. But if you do only ONE thing today, spend a few minutes thinking about how much you drive unnecessarily and decide to stop it. If you live in Athens, you can get public transport everywhere. The metro has been massively extended in recent years, why not use it ? It’s fast, it’s clean, it doesn’t get stuck in traffic and you have the added bonus of being able to read a book during your journey. Seriously people, we have too many cars. I want to scream when I see the amount of cars in this city, all puffing out their fumes with only one person in them. If you can’t take public transport to work, can you carpool ?

Some facts about American car driving (I couldn’t find Greek ones):

Automobile emissions account for more than 20 percent of U.S. global warming emissions each year. Car companies could do more and it’s time that they do. Check out our facts about cars and global warming and then take action.

232 million Number of registered vehicles in the U.S. That’s almost one per person!

600 gallons Average amount of gasoline consumed by one U.S. car each year.

12000 pounds Amount of carbon dioxide emitted from one U.S. car each year.

240 Number of trees needed to absorb the 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted from one U.S. car each year.

2.7 trillion Number of miles U.S. cars and light trucks traveled in 2004. That’s the equivalent of taking 10 million trips to the moon.

5% Percent U.S. population is of the world population.

30% Percent of world’s automobiles in the United States.

45% Percent that the United States contributes to the world’s automotive carbon dioxide emissions.

4 Number of car companies that support a national cap on global warming pollution. They are Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota.

0 Number of bills passed by Congress to cut global warming pollution.

Save Water

I’m not a big fan of housework (I’m too busy blogging) but my house cleaning habits actually helps save water. I never put the washing machine on unless I have a full load. I don’t do bits and pieces of washing up either. I do it once a day unless we are all around at the weekends and are using lots of dishes. We are not going to die from having a couple of dirty mugs and a plate in the washing up bowl. Apparently a dishwasher is better for the environment than hand washing as long as you run it only when it’s full, and don’t rinse your dishes before putting them in . I will look into that further before thinking of investing.

I never use running water to clean my balcony or worse still, the pavement outside my house. It might sound odd to those who don’t live in Greece but this is what people do here. A former neighbor would run water for 20 to thirty minutes to hose down her balconies once a week! Unbelievable. We had words about it and about the waste of it and she did cut down. Quite dramatically. Why not tackle one of your friends or neighbors about this. Politely of course.
Another tip (that has nothing to do with laziness) is not to leave the tap running when you clean your teeth. It wastes about 9 litres per minute. Also make sure you have no dripping taps in your house. It can waste as much as 90 litres per week. For more water saving tips, check out this A to Z from the BBC

Turn off lights

Believe it or not, when you are not in a particular room, it does carry on existing even when the light is off ! If you have children, teach them to turn off lights when they leave the room too. It can be a long frustrating lesson to teach but worth it in the end. Another great thing about switching off unnecessary lights is that it gives you a great excuse for treating yourself to beautiful candles.

WHAT WE DON’T DO (BUT SHOULD)

Use green cleaning products

I never knew where to buy them until today! While doing the research for this post I discovered that Vasilopoulos (Alpha Vita) supermarkets have a whole range of “Green Leaf” products including detergents. I am going there tomorrow.

Pull the plug
I have been told by several different people that I should not leave things on stand-by. I know I shouldn’t. I know that unplugging saves electricity and I would end up causing less damage to the environment, but I don’t. Why not ? I’m lazy as I said before. I forget. All my plugs are behind furniture and getting to them to pull them out is time-consuming (about two minutes. Did I say how lazy I am ?) These are ridiculously stupid excuses and I am going to try and make amends.

Use energy-saving light bulbs
I bought the compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs but I don’t use them in all my light fittings. Why not ? I found the light they give off very unpleasant. It might be the particular type I bought because I did a bit of research today and found that there are newer types which give a warmer glow compared to the cold feel I got. If anyone has bought some and are happy with them, could you let me know where to get them and the make ?

Eat a vegetarian or vegan diet
Environmental vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism based on the belief that the production of meat by intensive agriculture is environmentally unsustainable. If you want to know why you should be a vegetarian to help the environment, please read this article from the vegetarian society.

A vegan, organic diet had the smallest environmental impact, but the single most damaging foodstuff was beef and all non-vegetarian diets required significantly greater amounts of environmental resources, such as land and water. By feeding grain and vegetables directly to people (rather than livestock) we can increase the amount of food available to everyone

We are not vegetarians although we don’t eat meat everyday. Why don’t we become vegetarians ? The other two members of my household are meat lovers. I am not so much but I do like chicken (and the odd bacon buttie). Again, this is a feeble excuse and I must make the effort to introduce even more vegetarian meals into our diets. Starting tomorrow.

There are lots of other things we can do to become a greener family so I will be following the 365 Day pledge as much as I can. Thank you to The Action Blog for starting this campaign. There are now thousands of posts up from all over the world. Congratulations.

And I learned how to spell “environment” at long last !

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