Is it Possible to Live with Ulcerative Colitis and Still Live Green?

I have been so pleased over the last year or so to see how everyone is becoming increasingly interested in living green. It is so good to see that the environment is truly beginning to matter to everyone, and that individuals and corporations alike are re-evaluating the way that they do things in order to see how they can reduce their impact. I have been looking at my own life as such as well, to see what I can do to help. One of the things that came to mind while taking inventory of my daily life was my ulcerative colitis. Do I have a bigger impact because of my condition?

The answer is yes. Doctor's appointments take more time on the road and therefore more gas than usual. Prescriptions have unfriendly plastic containers. And then, unfortunately, there is the big thing about UC patients that is different than the average person: our frequency of trips to the restroom. We use more toilet paper than the average person in this respect, and more water, too. Uh-oh. Here I am, an environmentalist since I was old enough to say "tree," and I have a bigger impact than the average person. I can't exactly stop going to the bathroom, so what is the environmentally conscious ulcerative colitis sufferer to do?

Strange as it may sound, I looked to corporate America for my clue. Offsets. When a large company creates a large amount of pollution or waste, they now will often purchase energy credits to offset their impact. Or they will refine other processes to help offset their carbon footprint. So, now I look for ways to offset my own increased impact:

It is kind of hard to remember sometimes, but I keep fabric bags in my car for grocery shopping. I shop organic when possible. I make sure that there are no lights on in my home in rooms I am not in (this goes for other electronics, too, like fans). I try to keep things unplugged if they aren't in use, because even a device that is not on is still consuming power. I combine errands, so as to make as few car trips as possible. Laundry can be line-dried if it is a warm day. I try to use companies that I know are environmentally friendly (for example, FedEx runs several of their facilities off of solar power alone, and BP is doing significant environmental research). I am currently in the process of deciding which environmental organization will be the most productive to donate a small amount to.

While I know that I do contribute more to the problem as a UC patient, I am working on reducing my footprint to make up for that fact. It is everyone's responsibility to pitch in and help solve this problem that we face, and I don't want to let my condition get in the way of that.