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5 Ways We Make Green Goals Easy!

Posted on May 26, 2017

If you haven’t heard, Green Calgary wants to inspire you and all Calgarians in setting a green goal this year. What is a green goal? Think of it as your first step to saving the planet – if you were a superhero, this would be your origin story.

Here are 5 ways that we make achieving your green goals easy!

1. Save water: This one is straightforward, even if there are a lot of different things you can do. Our go-to water saving solution is to buy a rain barrel, which can save you 900 gallons a year and diverts that from the stormwater system in Calgary. Another very easy option is to install low-flow shower heads in your home (these will soon be available for free from the Alberta Government).

2. Eat more vegetarian meals: This green goal requires you to switch out a single meal each week that usually contains meat for a veggie meal. We even have our #meatlessmonday social media posts each week that give you recipe ideas. Animal products are very hard on our environment in terms of their cost in water and land use and eating a little less meat can help a lot!

3. Change your commute: A green goal with a big impact. We all know that cars aren’t great for the environment, but we live in a city where many people need their car – just not every day. It seems more convenient to take your car, but you can take transit, carpool, bike, or walk just as easily and doing so even once a week is already a big advantage. If you have to pay for parking, all the more reason to switch to something that saves you money! Want to convince your office? Try the Commuter Challenge!

4. Use reusable or compostable dinnerware at parties: Easy cleanup at big parties and barbecues throughout the summer will keep you sane, but it takes a big toll on the environment. Buying a cheap set of dishes from the thrift store for parties, or getting compostable dinnerware and keeping it separate from garbage at your event, can make a huge difference and is simple to do!

5. Stop using straws: This green goal is hard to remember, but easy to do. Did you know that every straw you’ve ever used is still on the planet? Straws, even those made of recyclable plastic, are not recyclable most places in the world (Calgary included). Train yourself to ask for no straw at restaurants and buy yourself reusable or compostable straws – you can get those from our ecoStore if you’d like!

Will you pick any of these as your green goal? Do you already have a green goal? Let us know what it is on Facebook or Twitter! This week we’ve shared some of the #greengoals around the office on our social media feeds, but in case you missed it, here it is:


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