JANUARY Month 1 of 12: Post-holiday, Staying Warm and Combining Road Trips

DSC_0006.JPG

Thanks for the enthusiastic response for this 2019 Initiative. We're excited to get started. For those of you seeing this for the first time, a quick note to catch you up. We’re looking to our community of friends and yogis to consider adopting a new environmentally friendly change each month for the next 12 months.

January kicks off month 1 of our 12x12 Environmental Initiative with the January suggestions; post-holiday cleanup, staying warm and combining road trips. Take a look for how you might change it up for one solid month and stick with it for life.

Remember that no habit can be changed if the process isn’t manageable and accessible. While at times this might get inconvenient we don’t want it to be impossible.

THIS MONTH TRY THE FOLLOWING

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:

Resetting the order of the 3 Rs we need to consider reducing first then reusing and then recycling.
Starting to remove the holiday cheer? Consider the following;

  • Compost or chip your tree as well as your natural wreaths and decor. Save all bows and ornaments for next year.

  • Cut the covers off of holiday cards and use them for next year’s present labels.

Reduce Emissions:
Combine your rides

  • Create a small group of friends that you can text or email about errands. Offer to pick things up for them or plan a day of the week to do your shopping together.

  • Ordering online with an in-store pickup is available at many of the larger stores. You can grab your friends order as well as your own in one trip.

  • Carpooling to work or events (like yoga) are a great emission and gas saver.

Energy Conservation:

An additional benefit tied to energy conservation is that it saves you money. This month try the following

  • Look for easy places to insulate or reduce drafts. You can do a lot of weatherization without the need of a contractor. Check out Efficiency Vermont's Video on Air Sealing Your Home

  • Reduce the temperature on your thermostat by 2*. If you have a programmable thermostat lower the temp at night to 60*

  • Warm up indoors with a hat, fingerless gloves or woolley socks/slippers.

  • Make your own fingerless gloves. See below for links to videos that show you how.

FUN AND HELPFUL LINKS

ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS

  • The Climate Change Cafe meets at the Brooks Library in Brattleboro once a month from 6-9pm on Tuesdays. They present films, presentations and have community conversations regarding climate change. The next one is January 22nd.

  • http://www.brattleboro.com/events-calendar/#!/details/Climate-Cafe/5842813/2019-01-22T18