Top 5 Ways I'm Making Up for Flying Too Much

Recently, I bragged to my friend that I drove my car less than 6,000 km in the last year. Much less than the 20,000 km/year that the average person drives. Urban living = lower carbon footprint, I thought! However, she was quick to burst my bubble and point out that all my flying (usually once a month) creates a much larger ecological footprint than the driving that I'm saving. So here are some small things my husband and I are doing to counter or at least reduce my damage (and this doesn't include recycling, as that should be a given for all).

1. Stopped buying paper napkins & paper towels
Instead of paper napkins, a long time ago, we started using fabric. Not only for eating at home, but we now pack our fabric napkins with our lunch to bring to work. And no more paper towels. Instead, we use these 3M cloths for wiping stuff. Yes, there are situations where you often want a paper towel; but if you just stop buying them, you will find an alternative with cloths. (Apologies to my friend Marc, long-time Kimberly-Clark staffer who's made his living selling paper-based products. Good news is though, Marc, we all still need toilet paper.)

2. Installed timer-based thermostats

My friend Greg recently showed me his new Ecobee system which allows you to monitor your energy consumption and change your home's temperature settings via the web or iPhone. Though we haven't signed up for that yet, we're using Honeywell thermostats that are on a timer to turn down heat (room by room) at night and when we're not home. They're $39.99 at Home Depot and super easy to install.

3. Reduced use of kitchen garbage bags

Instead of lining your kitchen garbage bin every week with a plastic bag, we bought a bin with a removeable bucket.

4. Use an eco-friendly Washer-Dryer combo unit
In our new "compact" condo, we chose a washer-dryer combo unit. One unit that replaces the traditional stackable washer/dryer that saves space for us urban dwellers that squeeze into less than 1,000 square feet. Moreover, it uses less energy and less water. I think this is the one we have >>. The downside is that the dryer mode makes our clothes smell like someone just took a hairdryer to it for an hour... but we're getting used to it!

5. Compost

Admittedly, we've procrastinated on this one. But we've recently been re-inspired by our friends Greg & Michelle to get off our butt and get moving on this. So I've left my husband in charge of getting one from the City of Vancouver and registering us for a workshop on how to use these. Keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't stink and get us in trouble with our nazi strata!