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Earth Day Special: Top sustainability tips from our first ten episodes

  1. Our first episode with Rachael Rothman covered plastic food packaging. Packaging can prevent food waste but other times is not necessary, so try to only buy plastic-wrapped produce if it will sit in your fridge for a while and bring your own produce bags if you can.
  2. Huskee Cup showed us that a reusable coffee cup can have a lower environmental impact than single-use cups after only 2-3 weeks. Make it a habit to carry your reusable cup with you.
  3. From Charnett Chau we learned that a well-fitting cloth mask offers the same protection as a surgical mask, can reduce waste by 85%, lower CO2 emissions by 3.5x, and cost less in the long term. Keep your reusable cloth mask handy.
  4. For those of you with dogs, know that biodegradable and compostable poop bags are not created equal. Consider buying compostable as they must fully decompose within 180 days, helping to reduce waste.
  5. MUD Jeans gave us three great tips for buying jeans: (1) look for organic cotton (ideally GOTS certified), (2) buy recycled content, and (3) never throw your jeans away – consider donating, finding a recycling center near you, or up-cycling instead.
  6. For wrapping paper, avoid glitter, metallic prints, or super thin paper. All of these characteristics mean that the wrapping paper cannot be recycled.
  7. Running shoes are full of complex plastic materials that make recycling difficult or impossible. So our top three tips are: (1) buy fewer shoes and wear them longer, (2) buy recycled options if you can, and (3) look into renting or take-back programs like Adidas and On Running.
  8. Beef has huge environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and deforestation. But the good news is, if all Americans cut their meat intake by only a quarter, it would already save 82 million tons of CO2 or 1.5% of U.S. annual emissions. If you are not ready to go fully vegetarian or vegan, try to remove meat from one or two of your meals each week.
  9. Beer uses a lot of water (8-10 pints per pint of beer). Companies like the Small Beer Brew Co. are leading the way towards sustainability by reducing water use to only 1.5 pints per pint of beer.
  10. Sustainable toothcare is a bit complicated, but consider buying an ethically sourced bamboo toothbrush to minimize waste and reduce manufacturing emissions, and search for toothpaste tube recycling options like TerraCycle near you.