Today is Blog Action Day, and so I thought I’d write something about the environment. Turns out, that’s harder than it sounds. I couldn’t think of anything to say that hasn’t been said so many times before (and by people more learned and eloquent than I am). Except about light-bulbs – but that’s a whole other rant, and probably not quite in the spirit of the day.

So I thought I’d just think about what I do:
At home I recycle all the stuff the council folks come and collect – glass bottles/jars, plastic bottles (but no other plastic of any kind), newspapers, and tins. I also recycle cardboard and foil – but they have to be taken in the car to one of the recycling places in town, so the good is probably reduced by all those fuel emissions. At work, we recycle paper (which is a good thing considering the reams of it we get through each day – so many things printed out for no good reason), laminated paper (I had to check we could do this – the information on what we can and cannot recycle is not brilliant), old CDs, plastic, cans and cardboard.
Other than recycling, I don’t do a lot. At home, I try to remember to turn lights off when I leave a room, turn taps off etc. I tend to leave my computer on, leave the tv on standby (because, you know, getting up to turn it on and off wastes my own personal energy – I’m so lazy), and of course I use those old-fashioned supposedly “non-energy efficient” light-bulbs. At work, there is air conditioning (not something I can control – or I’d turn the darned thing off – freezing to death in the middle of summer is not my idea of fun), and various other wastes of energy going on. There are good things. Apparently the kitchen waste is composted. The toilets have strange flushes which I think are supposed to be water saving. These work really well – a whole lot of people seem to not know how to work them, so just don’t flush at all *eww*. I tend to leave my computer on at work – mainly because when I started, IT told me to, and I just got into the habit. It’s one I plan to break soon though.
Anyway, after reading Annoyed Librarian – Save the Environment the Annoyed Librarian Way, and Enquiring Minds Want to Know – The environment and the library I feel like I should be doing more. Obviously drinking wine sounds like an ideal way to start – but then I think of all those food miles… So I’m going to go and look at these links, and see what else I can do:
Recycle Now
Recycling Guide
Need2Know Environment Tips
Get Recycling
Saving Planet Earth