Last Wednesday Enviro Girl returned home after a 6 day retreat to Utah where her dear friend Nina pours delicious wine and serves up the best Italian food evah. During her stay, she bemoaned the fact that Park City doesn’t offer much in the way of recycling–typical of most mountain regions Enviro Girl has visited. Despite traveling by plane (which jacked up her personal carbon footprint–although it will be the only time she’ll fly this year), the trip wasn’t a total eco-bust. Two words kept Enviro Girl’s trip lean, mean and green:
“No, thanks.“
1. Even on the airplane, Enviro Girl could carry her stainless steel water bottle and consume nary a drop of bottled water. She said “No, thanks” to the plastic cup of juice/water/soda offered during her flight. She said “No, thanks” to offers of bottled water by her hostess (concerned for her health during the dramatic altitude change). She drank tap water out of her water bottle or out of a glass.
2. Enviro Girl didn’t accept a shopping bag. When purchasing 4 souvenir t-shirts for Team Testosterone, she said “No, thanks” to the plastic bag and stuffed them in her own canvas tote. For the record, that was all she bought and brought home from her trip. She said “No, thanks” to everything except photographs–turns out those were the only souvenirs Enviro Girl needs and they’re not Made in China and wrapped in plastic!
3. Enviro Girl used one bath towel and one hand towel during her stay. She said “No, thanks” to the offer of more towels–which would, in turn, lead to more laundry, using more water and more electricity and more detergent.
4. She said “No, thanks” when her hostess kept offering to prepare more food. Insisting on eating leftovers meant less waste, less energy spent cooking and more time for visiting.
Being green is about reducing your use and Enviro Girl did her best on this trip–she recycled paper at the airport, drank locally brewed Polygamy Porter while in Park City, hiked along the mountainside for exercise and ate a mere three servings of meat. “No, thanks” is a polite and easy way to reduce and reuse even while you’re on vacation.
Speaking of reducing, remember that tomorrow is No Plastic Day. Visit the Official No Plastic Day Web Site to learn how you can participate–it’s as easy as saying, “No, thanks” to a plastic bag or plastic bottle of water!
Love these ideas! I will confess that I’m nowhere nearly as eco as you about the towels though.
Jenn, I agree about the towels. Unless the hotel wants to give me a discount for saving them money, I want the darn towel.
This is such a simple idea, yet it could have such far-reaching consequences, if we could get Americans to do it on a grand scale. Just say “No thanks” to 6,000-square-foot houses and all the stuff that goes in them, for instance.