Question of the Week: What’s the best thing you ever did to protect the environment?
Posted on May 7th, 2008 - 8:30 AMEach week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.
Each of us - at home, at work, or at play - affects the environment in different ways and as such, we do different things to help protect it or reduce pollution.
What’s the best thing you ever did to protect the environment?
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Question of the Week
May 7th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Well………………………….everyday I am chased by the shadowy non-carpoolers in a high-stakes came of cat and mouse. Thus, I make death defying jumps off of cliffs to make it to the commuter lot with eco-unfriendly helos on my tail and I spray greenhouse gas repellent in the air to make it safely to my carpool to work.
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May 7th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Daily I travel to work using the bus pass provided to me by Region 8.
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May 8th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I am an active member, and contributor, of three environmental groups which provide public support for the work of the Environmental Protection Agency.
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May 8th, 2008 at 10:11 am
I can think of two main things–The part that I enjoy the most–gardening and planting new trees. The second thing which might have been more beneficial–was purchasing Energy Star appliances and also all new energy-efficient windows.
Spanish version–Creo que las dos cosas principales son–La parte que disfruto más es la jardineria y sembrar nuevos árboles. La segunda acción que quizás es la más beneficiosa para el medio ambiente es que compré mis enseres eléctricos con la etiqueta Energy Star y ahora todas las ventanas en mi hogar también son eficientes energéticamente hablando.
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May 8th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Took a job at the Environmental Protection Agency.
But in my private life, I’d say buying energy-efficient appliances, windows, and my Prius.
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May 8th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Changed my mindset. Making myself less materialistic has impacted virtually every aspect of my life.
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May 8th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I didn’t have any children. I didn’t leave an ever-widening circle of descendants to go on sucking up resources and leaving tons of pollution and waste.
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May 8th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
The best thing I ever did was refuse to believe pool filter backwash is nonhazardous(see link).
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/6/pdfs/07-1495.pdf
Citizens of Trophy Club and Grapvine are desperately trying to get out word of a public health crisis in the DFW area. The City of Trophy Club is dumping over a quarter million gallons per year of wastewater containing pathogens like cryptosporidium, giardia, e coli, MRSA, etc. into a source of drinking and recreational water for area residents(see youtube video).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M_1qqQ8TjEs
Pool filter backwash is a hazardous source of e coli and other pathogens. Below is a link to a documented e coli outbreak in British Columbia that was traced to dumping pool filter backwash to the storm sewer; exactly what Trophy Club is doing. The manufacturer of the pool chemical(diatomaceous earth) found
on the streets of Trophy Club thinks it causes cancer(see material safety data sheet link). The Trophy Club City Manager refuses to respond to these allegations of a public health nuisance.
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/05vol31/dr3112ea.html
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/d1288.htm
Trophy Club expressly allows, by city ordinance, the backwashing of pre-2005 pools into the streets, storm drains and creeks that drain into Grapevine Lake. This illicit discharge is not even quantified in Trophy Club’s current Stormwater Management Plan submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for permit coverage.
Citizens who use Grapevine Lake and who do not want to drink or swim in wastewater from the City of Trophy Club only have one opportunity to comment on this. The City of Trophy Club is trying to sneak this through before anyone finds out. Comments from affected parties can be sent to the address below
requesting a public meeting where this can be properly reviewed.
Attn: Ms. LaDonna Castañuela, TCEQ Office of the Chief Clerk MC 105,
PO Box 13087
Austin, TX 78711-3087
Re: City of Trophy Club, TX - General Permit TXR040080, Phase II MS4
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trophyclubstormwater
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May 9th, 2008 at 12:59 am
I’ve made the slogan “reduce, reuse, recycle” a personal goal. For example, I have only had two cars in 22 years, I’ve minimized my use of those ubiquitous plastic grocery bags, and I go out of my way to find a recycle bin when tossing out a glass or plastic bottle. I encourage others to do the same.
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May 10th, 2008 at 8:42 am
If any Groups here in the US are interested in recycleing cellphones and using them to raise funds I can help. http://www.EnviroCellular.com
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May 12th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I make a conscious effort to consume less and to think about how my actions, however large or small, affect the environment. Just being conscious of the environment and helping others to realize their affect on the environment is a great way to help the environment.
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May 13th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Every day I walk or bike a mile to the bus, take the bus in to work, and reverse the process when coming home.
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May 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am
About 4 yeas ago I started avidly recycling @ home. I can not believe the reduction in pure waste! It is only absolutely necessary to take my trash out (to be picked up) once a month! If everyone did so, grabage trucks could start running less often, reducing fuel use and emissions.
Not only that, but I have a four-year-old in who’m i’m trying to instill these practices and mind-sets. Her generation (and each to follow) is our future. If they learn how to conserve and preserve now, they can keep passing it on!
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May 14th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
The best thing I ever did for the environment is have one child (instead of 2 or 6 or…). Ever see the Doonesbury comic about the 3rd child chastising a man for drinking from a styrofoam cup? While I’d never tell a kid that s/he is bad for the enviroment simply by existing, when one does the math, the impact of producing more than a replacement population is mind-boggling.
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May 19th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I would have to say the ONE best thing I have ever done for the environment was to have no children. According to some of the recent population data models, if the world continues to reproduce at its current rate the planets natural resources will not be able to sustain the high rate of human population. We will basically “use up” everything necessay for most life to survive. This is a pretty sad forecast.
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June 28th, 2008 at 8:47 am
I set my dishwasher to “DELAY START” so that it will run in the middle of the night. Most electric power is generated by nuclear energy in non peak times, so by running late night, I am not using coal fired (polluting) resources.
I do the same for washing clothes.
I organize a route when running errands. Plan ahead so that you go in only one direction. And I do not go on a Saturday / Sunday when traffic is the worst.
At the grocery store, or mall, I park where I can “pull thru” and not have to back up to get out of a parking space. This minimizes the gas used to back up, and start ahead again.
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