This Old Hippie.com

When you ship something, don’t use petroleum-based bubble wrap or, even worse, foam peanuts. Both materials end up in the landfills after they’re discarded.

Bubble wrap takes hundreds of years to break down, and foam peanuts never completely break down. Fortunately, you have a few earth-freindly options. Instead of throwing away old sheets of paper, shred them and use them as packing material.

Crumple the daily newspaper and give it new life as packing material before it reaches the recycle bin. Some people even use bags of leaves as a cushioning-the leaves can be composted after the package arrives. And don’t overlook biodegradable packing peanuts made of cornstarch, which are available at most office-supply stores.

If you’re moving, don’t waste money on bubble wrap and foam peanuts. Use old newspaper, clothes, towels, and bed sheets to cushion all your belongings.

Americans have a love affair with drinking bottled water, though it’s not an earth-friendly habit.  Lots of energy is consumed processing, manufacturing, and transporting the petroleum-based plastic bottles. And most of those bottles end up in landfills.

But bottled water is better for me, you say. Not true. It offers no relative health benefits. In fact, bottled water is less regulated than tap water and undergoes less testing.

The Food and Drug Administration regulates the former as a packaged food product, and the Environmental Protection Agency regulates the latter. But bottled water tastes better, you say. Not true. In many taste tests, subjects prefer tap water. If you’re not one of those people, you can always use a filter.  Continue Reading »

stop junk mail-reducing waste

The typical American receives hundreds of pieces of junk mail each year, and millions of trees are cut down to bring these unwanted-and usually unopened-items to your mailbox.

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