I love that JMP as a company is working on sustainability projects and trying to reduce our overall carbon footprint. It is one of the many ways in which I believe JMP’s company mission aligns with our employees' personal values and practices. Thank you to the dedicated individuals who advocated (and continue to advocate) for us at JMP to think more deeply about our impact on the earth.
If one of your personal goals is to adopt greener habits at home, there are a lot of lists out there with ideas about how to do it. Here are a few of the ones I’ve found to be useful recently:
It can be overwhelming to adopt many new habits at once, whether related to sustainability or anything else. But I think that reading list-based articles can give you new ideas about future actions to research and explore.
My family has worked over the last few years to change some of our habits and reduce our impact on the earth. We didn’t adopt these changes all at once. But by making small, low-effort changes over time in different areas, coupled with a few big changes, we’ve made some lasting updates to our behaviors with relatively minor effort. Every little bit you do can help! Here are a few notes on the changes we’ve made.
Transportation
Many lists will mention that reducing travel (especially by air) has the biggest impact on reducing your carbon footprint. People who must travel by air regularly may choose to purchase carbon offsets.
But what about those of us who rarely fly, yet still want to reduce the impact of transporting ourselves and our families? Walking, commuting on a bike, or using public transportation can be a great fit for shorter distances. For those who don’t live close enough to work or stores to take advantage of such options, selecting a hybrid or electric car next time you need a new vehicle is one alternative. My family has owned one hybrid car and one electric car for nearly five years. We primarily charge the electric car at home which costs $6-8 per month. I also charge at building A when I’m in the office (Thanks, SAS solar farm!).
Energy use
Speaking of solar energy, if you own a home, you may want to consider adding solar panels to generate some or all of your electricity needs. Some power companies and government incentives can reduce the cost of this option. We had solar panels on a past house and loved them, but then we moved. This year, we finally plan to add solar panels with battery backup to our roof and hope to benefit from a Progress Duke Energy incentive and a federal tax rebate to help cover the cost.
When it comes to solar, there are also smaller-scale options like portable panels and batteries for generating clean energy for smaller tasks. For instance, my dad gifted my husband a portable Jackery panel and battery several years ago, and we have been using that since to recharge our battery-based lawn equipment (bonus – no more smelly gas fumes). We also use excess battery power generated by this small panel to run and recharge small electronic devices like laptops, phones and portable power banks.
Your local power company may already provide you with useful details about your power usage. My family receives a monthly energy report from Duke Progress that shows us our home’s energy usage compared to similarly sized and aged homes in our area. It’s cool that they graph and categorize your energy usage so you can pinpoint your biggest cost categories at different times of the year!
One of the highlighted energy use categories is lighting. Long ago, we traded fluorescent bulbs for LEDs so our home lighting costs are relatively low. However, that report helped us become more aware of the impact of “always on” items on our monthly electricity bill. My husband used our portable Jackery battery to identify plugged-in items around the house that suck up energy even when not actively in use (so-called "energy vampires"). Many of those items are now plugged into power strips that we turn off when they're not in use.
Our energy report also helped us become more aware of energy used by large appliances like TVs. My husband used to find himself leaving the TV on during the weekend or evening hours while he was doing work around the house. He now often uses his phone to listen to podcasts instead. He also changed our electric billing pricing schedule so that we could take advantage of lower off-peak rates and run large appliances like the electric dryer and dishwasher run during those times.
Single-use plastics
A selection of well-used JMP reusable bags.A selection of well-used JMP reusable bags.A selection of well-used JMP reusable bags.A selection of well-used JMP reusable bags.A selection of well-used JMP reusable bags.A selection of well-used JMP reusable bags.My family members have been fans of reusable water bottles for many years so we no longer purchase water bottled in plastic unless there isn’t an alternative. We have also cut down on our use of single-use plastic bags by adopting reusable bags for shopping. The best shopping bag ever? The JMP Discovery 2018 canvas bag! After the conference, JMP made some extras available and I snagged a few. I always grab those when I go to the store. They’re sturdy and a perfect size.
Last year we purchased washable silicone bags for holding small snacks and storing food in the freezer instead of buying and using single-use plastic zip-top bags. We also found some silicone sheet wraps that we use instead of single-use plastic wrap. Additionally, many years ago we purchased a few sets of glass leftover containers which we’ve found to be much more durable than plastic containers. As a bonus - you can microwave leftover food in glass storage bowls without leaching microplastics and nanoplastics into your food!
At work, I (like many JMPers) try to use my coffee mugs and travel cups instead of taking single-use ones from the café (though still could do better on that one with lunchtime coffee!).
I also try to wash and reuse plastic utensils instead of taking new ones when I get takeout at lunch or home. Those of us who regularly take out food from the SAS cafes have the great benefit of being able to purchase reusable take-out containers from SAS and exchange them for tokens instead of using single-use plastic containers.
Water
If you have kids, you know how easy it is to accumulate random cups of water everywhere! Inspired by my parents, we now keep a pitcher on the counter and dump in leftover water we use to water indoor or outdoor plants. Similarly, in the summer when we run a dehumidifier, we keep it a few steps from the front door so we can dump the water reservoir on plant beds. As a bonus, running a dehumidifier can help the house feel cooler in the sticky NC summers.
You can also reduce water by taking shorter showers and replacing grass with lower-water alternatives if you own a home. At our last house, we got a credit from the town of Morrisville for replacing turf grass with low-water plants.
The garage worm bin - the worms themselves are shy so you can’t really see them.The garage worm bin - the worms themselves are shy so you can’t really see them.The garage worm bin - the worms themselves are shy so you can’t really see them.The garage worm bin - the worms themselves are shy so you can’t really see them.The garage worm bin - the worms themselves are shy so you can’t really see them.The garage worm bin - the worms themselves are shy so you can’t really see them.Compost
My parents belong to the sustainability club at Carolina Preserve in Cary and that is how they learned about keeping a worm bin in your garage for composting fruit and veggie scraps. My dad has been doing this low-effort project for a few years now and when my parents have been out of town, I’ve gone over and taken care of the worms by digging a few shallow trenches in the bin and dropping in some fruit and veggie scraps.
My husband likes to add compost to various areas of our yard, so in January, I set up a worm bin in our garage too. It’s a simple plastic storage bin with several large holes drilled along the top edge. To get it started, I filled it with one bag of low-cost dirt and dropped it in a small container of worms from my dad’s bin. During the week, we store random bits of food like banana peels, mushy fruit, or veggie scraps in a sealed plastic container in our refrigerator until Sunday when we feed the worms.
We also have a small stainless steel compost bin with a charcoal filter on our counter where we drop coffee grinds and filters plus any fruit and veggie scraps that the worms don’t need. When that bin is full, these go out to a large compost bin in our back yard that my husband tends to. If you want to do something similar but don’t have access to a compost bin and you live in Cary, you can drop off compost at the Town of Cary compost drop locations, including one in west Cary at Mills Park. Other towns may have similar programs.
Paper
When possible, we use digital notes instead of paper. We also recycle paper whenever possible and keep small usable scraps to write notes and reminders. We print on both sides of paper if we must print. We’ve also elected to go paperless on many bills and several years ago froze our credit to avoid paper waste from credit card solicitations.
The roll of unpaper towels I made on my serger, the water pitcher we use to collect leftover water from glasses and water bottles (for plants), the stainless steel compost bin we keep on the counter (with a charcoal filter so it does not smell) and the washable silicone bags that we use for food and snacks instead of single use plastic.The roll of unpaper towels I made on my serger, the water pitcher we use to collect leftover water from glasses and water bottles (for plants), the stainless steel compost bin we keep on the counter (with a charcoal filter so it does not smell) and the washable silicone bags that we use for food and snacks instead of single use plastic.The roll of unpaper towels I made on my serger, the water pitcher we use to collect leftover water from glasses and water bottles (for plants), the stainless steel compost bin we keep on the counter (with a charcoal filter so it does not smell) and the washable silicone bags that we use for food and snacks instead of single use plastic.The roll of unpaper towels I made on my serger, the water pitcher we use to collect leftover water from glasses and water bottles (for plants), the stainless steel compost bin we keep on the counter (with a charcoal filter so it does not smell) and the washable silicone bags that we use for food and snacks instead of single use plastic.The roll of unpaper towels I made on my serger, the water pitcher we use to collect leftover water from glasses and water bottles (for plants), the stainless steel compost bin we keep on the counter (with a charcoal filter so it does not smell) and the washable silicone bags that we use for food and snacks instead of single use plastic.The roll of unpaper towels I made on my serger, the water pitcher we use to collect leftover water from glasses and water bottles (for plants), the stainless steel compost bin we keep on the counter (with a charcoal filter so it does not smell) and the washable silicone bags that we use for food and snacks instead of single use plastic.We’ve worked hard to reduce our use of paper towels and paper napkins over the past few years. I used to keep a roll of regular paper towels handy and mindlessly use them for drying my hands. Now we keep hand towels in the kitchen for that purchase. We’ve also adopted washable kitchen scrubbers and flannel “unpaper” towels and cloth napkins in the kitchen instead of paper options.
Both unpaper towels and washable scrubbers go in a regular load of laundry and don’t require any special treatment (unless you want to treat one for a food stain).
Our family has enjoyed the journey to living more sustainably. And it really is a family effort - for example, my husband has taken on a lot of key tasks related to our composting and water use efforts. Our kids are also involved - our college aged daughter has become a big fan of thrifting unique clothing and both kids always use our unpaper towels. Making small changes to our daily life has made a big impact for us, and its absolutely something anyone can do!
Thanks, everyone, for the comments! Also, thanks so much for sharing the link to the Cary composts program, @Paul-Mastropolo!
My parents' sustainability club members at Carolina Preserve used to trade off bringing each others compost bins over to the downtown Cary drop-off point, so it's terrific that the new Mills Park location is so close to those of us in western Cary! I've heard that by participating in the program, you can get a certain amount of compost each year. And my parents got a very cute little bin from the program when they were selling them at one point.
I wish it hadn't taken so long for us to realize how easy the composting is. Especially when we host large family gatherings, we generate quite a bit of fruit and veggie waste from food prep and I am so happy seeing it go to good use now.
