When your Roommate is not so Ecofriendly

Often times the lovers we choose have very many things in common with us. We tend to choose mates that we find attractive and that have similar interests. A difference that seems to pop up in some of my relationships romantic or not is the degree of environmental awareness. I get in countless discussions with people about why I choose certain products and why I do not support certain products do to their environmental impact.
 What happens when you live with people who do not have an environmentally friendly out look on life. How do I reduce my waste if my entire household does not participate?
There are many trendy bloggers and journalist out there offering solutions on how to remain Eco friendly in a shared living situation. Especially when there are not shared living views going on. It may come down to some product placement and reverse psychology. It may turn into a way for you to practice advocating your less environmentally harmful lifestyle, or it may just help you from tossing and turning at night about all the plastic water bottles your roommate uses.
1. Make recycling fun.
This sounds cheesy but seriously check out ways to make simple organizers that clearly label where things should be put. Pinterest has some ideas as well as google. On the left is an idea that is organized and looks nice. Make it as simple or complex as you want. This will not only enforce the idea of recycling but give them an easy way to do it. It can be easily done and requires some time and little materials. It will almost force the participation in this aspect of your lifestyle. Make it the only option to throw things away and soon it may become second nature for your room mates. Plus it takes out the hard part of teaching them what to separate.

2. Water saving devices.
Although the water conscience person in you may be able to limit shower times and be efficient with dish water and laundry, often times it is hard to convince someone else to limit their water use. Probably ask first, but replacing each faucet with a water saving device can help cut back on water use you cannot control yourself. .5 gallons per minute is good for sinks and 1.5 gallons per minute is more then enough water pressure for the shower. By doing this your roommates 30 minute shower has now become a bit less wasteful.
3. Talking about money always helps.

If you are done trying to present facts and statistics then its time to get down to the basics. Telling your roommate about the impact the electricity your running has on the environment might not be the right path. Track your energy usage to show how much you are spending. Ask your roommate to turn off all lights and devices when they are not in use. Avoid using the air conditioner when you are both not home, even in place of comfort. Ask them to not preheat the oven, most items besides baking can be heated while the oven is being heated. Ask them to keep the dryer filter clean so the dryer keeps running efficiently. Ask them to wash laundry in cold, and also to do full loads instead of one or two items. After they have picked up a few habits show them the money they saved. This may be what it takes to reduce the energy your household consumes.
After all we are here to help earth as her environmental conscience it is our job to be the ones to help change behavior. Even if you cannot enforce the views you can enforce the habits and make it part of your household still. Do not let roommates or even spouses get in the way of your need to be ecofriendly. It is important for us to remain strong in our views and not compromise our lifestyles. For not speaking up and living as we have is what got us in this boat anyways.

Sources
BC Hydro."21 tips: No-cost ways to save Electricity". Energy; Residential, Saving and Rebates. Web. 22 March 2016.
Conserve H2O. "Water Conservation Devices". Regional Water Providers Consortium; Indoors. Web. 22 March 2016. 

Why What we Choose Matters.

What did you have for breakfast today? What clothes did you put on? Did you use tooth paste today? Drink out of a cup? Use a bowl? Did you use a writing utensil? Where did all of these things come from? How far did they travel? By what means did they reach your very fingertips? Often times we do not think where and how are prized material objects and nourishment necessities come from. They may come from china or another country or from your very own country but either way most the objects we use daily come from somewhere far away. How does this impact the environment?

Lets look at our carbon footprint. The United states has the largest per capita. A carbon footprint is not only what transportation we use to get ourselves around but also what it takes to get everything we need to us. Simple items we use everyday have a large carbon footprint. Many of us strive to be more environmentally friendly, eating organic, buying natural products, and searching for fairly sourced items. We tend to forget about the importance of the journey these items take to get to us and the effect it has on our earth.
Lets take a journey with a very popular fruit most of us know and love. The Banana, which travels many leagues to nourish us. It starts with growth which occurs most often in South America far from my home. The growing process takes fertilizer and machines to plant and harvest. After harvest it is transported into boxes which each also have their own production journey from far away places. After this it is shipped various places by truck, boat, plane. Once shipped it reaches the lovely store front which requires electricity. After we drive or get transported to the store we then take it to our home to be turned into fuel for our brains. Our homes also run on electricity and if that banana is utilized in a delicious smoothie it then is using electricity as well. After we digest the banana it is put into the sewer system which also takes electricity to maintain. After all this just one banana can have a large impact on the environment. 17 kg of CO2 emissions per case of banana (Craig and Blanco). It may seem little in comparison to many things but every item we choose makes this number larger.
Cheese from Europe mmmmm. Italian wine ahhhhh. Irish butter mmmmmm. All of these items are delicious and easily accessible but at what cost to the environment. The ability to get items from all over the world is wonderful but it is an obsession that is causing the emissions of CO2 to continue increasing. The luxuries we experience are also hurting the earth. It is time to realize every decision we make can change t
he world we live in literally. Imagine if everyone bought local or at least regional that could eliminate oceanic trips and decrease the distance of product to consumer. Not only would our produce be more fresh but it would have a lesser impact on the earth. Here is a video to visually show the way what we choose effects the environment.

It is time to be responsible for the earth and our role we play. We are conscious beings able to fix and solve many problems. However our obsession with imports and exports and our inability to produce food nearby in most places is a hidden and large contributor to climate change. By giving up our own food production we are forced to make choices that are hindering the earths natural processes. Everyday we can choose to buy local and seasonal products. We may not always have access locally to what we desire but most often it can provide us with proper and adequate nutrition. Buying used furniture and clothing can help eliminate some of the footprint of carbon that is caused by those industries as well. Next time you are feeling good about buying organic cheese from Europe think twice about the impact that cheese has on our earth upon its journey to you. There are options for local organic reliably sourced foods and various other products but it takes time and effort to go and get those items. May we all keep in mind our earth the next time we buy a banana. It may be nourishing us but it is poisoning the earth on its way to you.

Sources
Craig, Anthony J and Blanco, Edgar E. Carbon Footprint of Chiquita's North American and European Bananas. MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics; Spring 2013. Web. 20 March 2016. http://www.chiquita.com/Chiquita/documents/CSR/0517_2013_Exec_Sum_MIT_CarbonFootprint_2011_MIT_FINAL.pdf