Shopping Beyond the Plastic Bag

2007 was the year you switched to using cloth bags for groceries and began using CFL light bulbs. What are this year's up and coming environmental ideas that everyone can implement? Overall, look for ideas that don't just save the environment, but are economically friendly: creating local jobs, saving money and reducing our need for foreign oil.

1) ENVIRONMENTAL FASHION. These days everyone is starting to look at the sheer environmental cost of our fashion habits. Disposable fashion (where you buy a piece of clothing knowing it will be out of style in literally 6 weeks) is out in favor of re-fashioning, vintage and buying from local designers. Refashioning comes in many different flavors: some troll thrift shops for items which can be re-sewn to fit, others scour vintage shops for a look that's timeless, others are looking to craft their own clothing and still others favor local or small designers. The idea is to create one's own fashion, be an individual and wear clothes you'll truly love (thus saving more clothing from the landfills). Further, organic cottons and all-natural fibers (bamboo, which grows quickly is particularly popular) are becoming increasingly popular -- and more affordable.

2) BUYING LOCALLY. Farmer's markets, restaurants that buy from local (usually organic) farmers, boutique stores and so on are hot on the list for environmentally friendly options. Shopping locally often means goods are shipped less far, the items are targeted to an audience that is more likely to buy them (and thus there's less post-consumer waste), owners usually participate in local festivals and help local charities, which all create a vibrant community that can thrive and be sustainable.

3) GREEN YOUR CLEANING ROUTINE. DIYers (Do-it-Yourselve-ers) are looking to household cleaners from days gone by: vinegar and baking soda for tough stains, clogged drains and everyday swipes. People who still like the convenience of pre-mixed cleaners are looking to companies such as Method (sold at Target), Seventh Generation and Meyer's which use plant-derived ingredients instead of petroleum or harsh chemicals. They clean just as well as conventional products and protect families from chemicals -- many of which are being proven to cause cancer. Switching even just one household cleaner to a more environmentally friendly product can save millions of pounds of harmful chemicals from entering our environment. Even if each American household only switched one time, the reduction would be similar to taking thousands of cars off the road. Realizing that the littlest things we buy actually contribute the most to our environmental woes is leading most of us to look for smaller solutions.

4) PERSONAL HYGENE PRODUCTS. Looking at labels, one realizes that most of the ingredients in shampoo, antibiotic soaps, makeup and so forth are unpronounceable. Many of the other ingredients are originally derived from plant based products, but have been altered to minimize production costs. Often those chemical alterations are carcinogenic (cause cancer) or allergenic. Look for people to start buying organic and all-natural cleansers -- and for further research into just how bad the chemical laden stuff is for us. While these products cost more money at the grocery store, they save more money in the Rx line.

5) FLEXITARIANS. While this word is just hitting the mainstream, many Americans have already started cutting back on their meat consumption after news that the amount of meat we eat -- particularly red meat -- is bad for our health. Now we're starting to realize that reducing our meat consumption even by one to two meals a week has the same effect as taking half the cars off of American roads. Reducing our need for factory farming cuts down on the gas to transport cattle and meat around the country, returns farm lands to natural -- and local -- crops and may help provide more food for starving children in other parts of the world (we currently use more food to produce a pound of meat than we get out of it).

As the economy starts to weaken, people are constantly looking for new ways to both save money and generate more money. The environmental movement helps consumers spend more wisely and innovators are constantly finding better ways to do things we always do. These changes mean that every year we can make modest adaptations to our lifestyles that make significant changes to our world -- both the quality of our surroundings and our ability to manage our money.