Do Your Part to Sustain the Environment

Below is a list of things that Patrick R. McElhiney does to reduce his environmental impact of his daily activities.

Impact Statement: Saving the environment is the responsibility of everyone, which includes the individual actions originating from just one person - and that's you! When every human being contributes their thoughtfulness and caring nature to saving the environment, the beauty of Mother Nature resonates throughout the environment.

Reduce Waste; Don't Refuse!

Reduce waste and overspending by not buying things that you don't need. Preserve our forests by using recycled and recyclable products instead of products that originated from deforestation. Protect our environment by using reusable products instead of single-use products. Recycle products that you no longer need, and use every last bit of products that you're just about out of.

• Don't Buy Unnecessary Products - this helps to cut down on waste, because buying unnecessary products will wind up putting unnecessary waste in the landfill. If your family is sending you gifts that you don't like and won't use, instead let them know what you do like, so you won't be unhappy. Also, if you do receive a gift that you don't like, find someone else that likes your gift, and will cherish it, and give it to them, instead.
• Use Every Last Bit of Consumables - using every last drop or gram of every product that you buy helps to cut down on waste. This can be done with products such as toothpaste, deodorant, soap, food, medicine, and many other consumable products. It may not be as glamorous to use every last drop, but those last drops will add up to an entire product container if you do it enough times.
• Use a Compost Pile - if you own your own home, or live in a location that allows you to create and manage a compost pile, you really should. All of the organic waste, like corn husks, cut up vegetables, left over food, and coffee grounds with filter in general can all be turned into a rich compost that can be used in your gardens! You can also add shredded paper to the mix. Also, you can add leaves, hay, or straw, and dry things from the garden. Worms and other bugs will eat the left over food and turn it into compost soil that you can then sift through a screen and spread in your yard under trees and bushes to give them nutrients to grow. Patrick's family has been doing this for years - and it really does benefit the Earth. It saves what would ordinarily go into the landfill and take up space with other junk that can't be re-used, so instead you're using the nutrients out of this waste to feed the plants and the planet! Note: You cannot put meat and dairy in your compost, nor trash or plastic, nor wood ashes, nor invasive plants or weeds like poison ivy.

Eliminate Single-Use Plastics Use

When Patrick's grandparents were little, plastic didn't even exist! Yet today, you can find plastic in just about everything, including the food we eat, and the water that we drink. If you're going to do your part to reduce your impact on the environment, you need to eliminate the purchase of single-use plastic products and products that use single-use plastic packaging. If there are enough people that do this, the companies will change their ways and will start packaging their products in non-plastic alternatives or not use single-use plastics.

• Reusable or Biodegradable Straws - purchase reusable stainless steel straws or reusable bamboo straws from Amazon or eBay, to keep on hand for personal multi-use. Businesses should provide biodegradable bamboo fiber straws or biodegradable sugar cane straws or biodegradable Agave fiber straws, also available on Amazon or eBay, which break down easier in the landfill, and can be composted, to save the environment from plastic waste.
  • Reusable straws can be washed out with a special elongated brush, each time you use them. Keep several of them in your vehicle for each person that is transported in your vehicle, for use instead of single-use plastic straws that have generally been given out by fast food restaurants and coffee shops and smoothie businesses. Have metal or bamboo reusable straws available for your friends, too, and bring them to events and gatherings that serve fountain drinks. Bring metal or bamboo reusable straws to the movie theater. Make a public statement by not using single-use plastic straws, at all.
  • When a business offers you a drink, ask them if their straws are bio-degradable. Tell them you already have a straw, if you can bring a straw with you. Just say "No thank you!" to plastic straws. There should be regulations to ban plastic straws, all together, from being provided or sold in public, so everyone must purchase their own metal or bamboo straws, or reuse their old plastic straws, or businesses must offer biodegradable straws and charge more for a straw if the customer wants a straw. This saves landfill space from having single-use plastic straws in them, and it saves the businesses money. The businesses could even be required to charge for a straw, and then offer a wide-variety of different types of straws. The businesses could even charge a premium for single-use straws, as a tax, because of the damages to the environment, and then offer a less expensive metal straw kit, instead, including the elongated scrubbing brush set, and velvet carrying case for on the go! The businesses could just allow a customer to bring their own straw, to save the customer money.Think about other ways to eliminate waste from entering the landfill, also, and share them with us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
• Reusable Beverage Lids - purchase silicon stretch lids with straw hole or even the Nightcap drink cover scrunchie that are sold on Amazon.com, that stretch from various general sizes, to fit any size of drink cup, and then give it to each restaranteer or servant or drink preparer, each time you order a drink. Then, wash these reusable beverage lids in the sink or dishwasher. They can even be used to prevent the spiking of alcoholic beverages!
  • Reusable drink lids save the landfill from plastic drink lids being thrown into the trash, and being transported there, as a single-use disposable product. Single-use disposable plastic drink lids should be banned, or there should be a recycling program that accepts them as a recycled product. Disposable single-use products, such as drink lids, that don't even secure properly on single-use disposable plastic cups, that leak, cost consumers more money to pay for vehicle detailing, to get the stains out of their vehicles from spilled drinks. Plastic single-use drink lids, like single-use disposable cups, end up in the landfill, after they have only been used once.

• Reusable Beverage Cups - am/pm introduced the reusable beverage cup in the 1990's, that became popular with their fountain drink services. For a one-time fee, the multi-use cup could be purchased, and then used multiple times, and refilled for an additional fee, each time. The refillable multi-use cup came in different sizes, at various convienence stores, after it was first introduced. 
  • Regulations should require that customers bring their own beverage cup, or be charged an additional fee for a cup. Then, beverage dispensing should be regulated based on the Bureau of Weights and Measurements, so that drinks are provided based on a standardized measurement of the liquids, including liquid to ice ratio, so that customers are not taken advantage of by adding more ice to drinks. Additional regulations should be put into place to ensure that all water that is used to make fountain drinks and other types of drinks is filtered at the source, so that there are no impurities in the water that is used to make drinks, and that the ratio of water to flavoring is always consistent with the regulations, to provide the best taste for the customer, rather than to employ cost cutting measures.
• Don't Use Other Single-Use Plastic Items - this means to not accept any single-use plastic items from restaurants, or any other business that you shop at, such as single-use cutlery from fast food restaurants. Instead, either bring your food home to eat, or bring your reusable cutlery from home with you to wherever you go out to eat. Then all you have to do is wash your cutlery, instead of throwing away single-use plastic items that could end up in the stomach of some poor animal.
• Use Reusable Shopping Bags - you can purchase these at just about any grocery store, and they replace the single-use plastic bags that you use for your groceries. You can also get "reusable produce bags" to put your produce in when you're at the grocery store, and bring it home and store optionally store it in the reusable bags. They are mesh bags that hold your produce, so you don't have to buy produce using plastic bags. Kroger's grocery store chain is phasing out plastic bags in the State of Washington, for the eventual elimination of all plastic bags used for produce and at the checkout line at all of its stores. More stores will follow suit.
• Don't Buy Products Packaged in Plastic - this is definitely a more bold action, especially if your favorite products are only available with the plastic packaging. Reducing or eliminating the amount of single-use plastic helps to reduce the amount of plastic waste that goes into the landfill, thus helping to save the environment. If your favorite products aren't available without the plastic packaging, and you still have to buy them, consider writing letters to the manufacturers to request that they stop using single-use plastic products in their packaging.
• Purchase Drinks in Aluminum Cans - rather than purchasing soda pop and other drinks out of plastic bottles, buy them in aluminum cans, that can easily be recycled without polluting the environment. Even when plastic is reused, the process of recycling it emits tons of chemicals into the atmosphere that can cause cancer and other health problems to the surrounding populations.
• Don't Purchase Bottled Water - the use of plastic as a carrier for water and other drinks is harmful to the environment. Instead, use your own water bottle from home, and fill it up whenever and wherever you need water. It's a lot cheaper, too! You're not getting anything special out of that fancy bottle of water out of the soda dispenser that you can't get out of the tap. If you're really picky about what type of water you drink, try out a water bottle that has a water filter in the lid, so it filters out harmful contents as you drink it. If you're picky about what you put in your bottle, request that the taps that you use have water filters installed on them, if they aren't already. If you're filling up your bottle at home, just use a regular water filter to get the impurities out of it.
• Don't Use Plastic Wrap - plastic wrap didn't even exist, historically, and nearly all of it just ends up in the landfill after it is used once. Instead, you can use wax paper, or aluminum paper to cover up food. For containers of food, use "silicon stretch lids" instead of plastic wrap.
• Don't Use Diapers Made From Plastic - use cloth diapers, and wash them carefully. The only reason people use disposable diapers is because they don't have it in them to deal with the mess - but you can flush the solids down the toilet and wash the cloth diapers. Only use disposable diapers in an emergency, or when you are travelling and don't have access to a washing machine. Thoroughly wash the cloth diapers in a wash bin to get all of the solids out before you put them in the washing machine.
• Don't Use Single Use K-Cups - instead use a K-Cup filter. There are other ways to quickly make a single cup of coffee as well, such as an Espresso Press, that you put a small amount of hot water in, and press it through the espresso coffee. It tastes better than Starbucks. Plus you're not wasting gas to get to Starbucks. Plus you're not spending $5 on a cup of coffee that you can make at home for $0.05.

Replace New Paper Products with Alternative Product Solutions

Use of paper products results in trees getting cut down to make the paper, in most cases. Some recycled paper products still have new paper products in them to improve the whiteness in the color of the products.

History: Patrick R. McElhiney's grandparents didn't grow up using tons of disposable paper products like Americans use today, because they didn't exist proliferacally in the 1920's. Toilet paper was not invented until 1857. Patrick R. McElhiney's great-grandparents had an outhouse, without plumbing, in which they used corn cobs and corn husks to clean themselves. Patrick R. McElhiney's grandparents of the Labrie family were some of the original plumbers in New England, and their business is still in existence, today!

Inference: Human beings cannot sustain the world by cutting down trees to fuel their obsession with disposable paper products. We need to choose sustainable ways to keep our dignity, while at the same time saving the trees that we have left, and thus saving the environment from becoming unlivable to human beings and animals alike.

• Use Rags or Dish Cloths Instead of Paper Towels - rags or dish cloths are better to use than paper towels, because they don't end up in the landfill. After you use a rag or dish cloth, which can be made from old shirts and other clothing, or old towels that you no longer use, you can wash them to make them clean again. Sure, this could be embarrassing to use old clothes in this way... i.e. we wouldn't suggest cleaning the house with an old pair of underwear, but old shirts and other clothing will do the trick. Old towels that you no longer use can be cut up into dish cloths. If you're really finicky about the fashion of your kitchen, then buy yourself some new dish cloths - but just don't throw things away the first time they get a stain. The point is to re-use these items until they are no longer usable. Dish cloths and rags should last for at least 5-10 years.
• Use Handkerchiefs Instead of Tissues - historically, tissues didn't exist before we had the environmental problems that we have today. People used handkerchiefs instead of tissues, and there's no reason we can't do this today, as well. Think about it - every time you use a tissue that is made from new trees, you're supporting deforestation. How many boxes of tissues do you use in a year? That probably adds up to a lot of trees that you could be saving if you used handkerchiefs, and just washed them after they get dirty.
• Bamboo Products - bamboo products are a great alternative to paper products, including toilet paper and paper towels, which are usually made from cut down trees. Bamboo grows more quickly than trees do, usually within a few weeks, compared to 15 years or more, and there's always plenty more bamboo to use for making tree-free paper products. Bamboo has been a bit more expensive, unnecessarily, because bamboo is technically categorized like a weed. One benefit to using bamboo products is that you're saving cute lovable animals' habitat by not cutting down their canopy. Also, you don't have to worry about loss of strength or loss of softness with bamboo products. Additionally, bamboo products are sometimes even stronger than tree-made products, and they are extra soft.
  • Reusable Bamboo Paper Products - reusable paper towels made with bamboo fibers that you can wash and re-use again and again are available for purchase. You can actually save money by using these products!
• Use Recycled Paper Products - toilet paper, paper towels, product packaging, and other paper products can be made from recycled paper. It's always best to use products with a very high concentration of recycled materials, to reduce the number of trees that are being cut down as a result of your purchase. Even if the product says it's made from recycled paper products, it may still have some new trees in it - usually to make it more white in color. Recycled paper products can tend to be rather brown in color, but if you don't mind this, please use the 100% recycled paper products to maximize your savings towards the environment!
  • Bleaching of Recycled Paper Products - results have shown that using chemicals to safely bleach recycled paper products, to make them white, again, without degrading the environment, saves trees from being cut down to make new paper products, and also saves landfill space, by reusing original paper products after they have been contaminated with unwanted or obsolete printing.
  • Research to Recycle and Reuse All Printed Paper Products - there should be additional research on how to separate original paper products from unwanted inks and dyes and other contaminants, such as food stains, through refining and manufacturing processes, to ensure that all paper products can be reused as recycled paper products.
• Biodegradable Products - these products degrade when buried, and these products are safe to compost, as well. Common products that are biodegradable include paper plates, napkins, straws, and even cutlary. These biodegradable products should also be created in all colors and designs, with special biodegradable printing products, and biodegradable gloss coats.
  • Price Regulations for Biodegradable Products - prices should be regulated for biodegradable products, to bring the prices down or even cheaper than the same prices as normal non-biodegradable products.
  • Federal Mandate for Biodegradable Products - there should be a Federal mandate to require the use of biodegradable products, to make sure they are used, instead of non-biodegradable products.
  • Domestic Price Hikes of Non-Biodegradable Products - there should be a price hike, through legilstaion, to require price hikes for new paper and plastic products, that are non-biodegradable, that can easily be replaced with biodegradable products, without impacting the function of what the products provide to the consumer.
  • Domestic Manufacturing Limitations of Non-Biodegradable Products - there should be limitations placed on the manufacturing of non-biodegradable products, that can easily be replaced with biodegradable products, without impacting the function of what the products provide to the consumer.
  • Prohibition of Manufacturing or Import of Non-Biodegradable Products - there should be a prohibition on non-biodegradable products, after a year passes that there are Federal mandates in place that the biodegradable products must be used.
• Light-degradable Products - these products degrade when exposed to sunlight, and are not as good, if not also biodegradable, because if the products are not on the top or otherwise exposed to light on top of the trash piles at the landfill, then they may not degrade if not also biodegradable. Common products that degrade based on light-degradation are trash bags, paper plates, and even napkins.

Reduce and Reuse Your Refuse!

Even if you're using recycled paper or bamboo paper products, if the products are going into the trash to the landfill, you're still contributing to the degradation of our environment if the products are not also biodegradable, so use alternatives to paper and fibrous products at all times. Paper products take a great amount of time to decompose in the landfill, so use reusable and biodegradable products instead, at all times. If you continue to add trash to the landfill problem, it will become a much bigger problem for future generations that try to go and develop the land where the landfill was, or the future generations will have to deal with the chemicals and gasses that are constantly emitted from the landfills into the surrounding air, and the underground and surrounding water tables.

• Recycle Everything You Can - this helps to reduce the amount of reusable waste that goes into landfills. Check in your community, and find out where you can go, or if you have curb-side pickup of recyclables. Use these services - it helps to save the environment! Recycle when you're at work, and when you're at school, and anywhere else you go! You need to do your part to recycle resources - and not just paper, glass, and plastic. You can recycle metals, electronics, machinery, and other equipment and appliances as well! Check with your community recycling center. Sometimes there are charges associated with recycling appliances such as televisions, but it's much cheaper and better for the environment than sending it to the landfill.
  • Recycle Plastic Bags - it may be possible to recycle single-use plastic bags from your shopping at your local grocery store, including bags that serve as mailers for packages, and the blow-up bubbles and bubble wrap that comes in packages, and any other plastic materials that are in bag or wrap form - including plastic wrap.
  • Purchase Products Made From Recycled Materials - this is just common sense. The more products you purchase that use recycled materials, the more refuse you will reuse, re-purpose, by cancelling out the "f" in "refuse". This saves our planet from more landfill space, and it saves our oceans from pollution, and it saves trees and other resources.
    • Polywood - buy this outdoor furniture made from recycled plastics. Made in the USA in Syracuse, Indiana. They process 30,000 milk jugs per hour, over 400,000 a day. 99% of their waste stream is recycled - not just the plastic lumber, but everything. There's a 20-year warranty on the furniture. They've launched a second company in North Carolina, which will provide 750 new American jobs by 2022.
• Eat Chicken, Not Beef - when you eat beef, you're polluting the environment more, and who doesn't love a nice steak once in awhile? It's worse for the environment, because of the amount of land that is displaced to feed each cow, versus just bugs and a small amount of corn for a chicken. Also, cows emit a lot of methane gas, which is flammable and is worse than essentially just CO₂ gas leaked into the environment, for raising chickens. This is why U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has suggested that people should stop eating beef as part of the New Green Deal. Even though the New Green Deal allegedly costs more than America can afford, it does have a lot of really good ideas in it to fight climate change!
• Don't Use Central A/C - living in a smaller home without a central A/C unit saves power and the environment – instead use window A/C units that use less electricity to cool the rooms that you use most often. Let the rest of the house get warm during the summer.
• Renovate Your Home to be Energy Star Compliant - not just your appliances, but also your home its self can be certified to be energy star complaint. This pertains to how much air pressure your home can hold, which can be tested by introducing smoky air into a blower in your main entry doorway, to determine where the air is getting out, and patch up those holes and gaps. Sealing your home so that the heat and cool air don't get out will save on electricity and save the environment. It will save you money as well!
• Save Power - don’t run the dishwasher until it’s full, and don’t use the heating function to dry dishes, to reduce electricity use. Don’t do partial loads of wash, to reduce electricity and natural gas use.
• Car Pool - reduce your trips, and car pool whenever you can to cut down on CO₂ emissions into the environment.
• Drive Hybrid/Electric Vehicles - this helps to reduce CO₂ emissions into the environment, and will save you money at the pump.
• Use Good Driving Habits - you should have good driving habits, including going easy on acceleration, and going easy on braking, and also not using the A/C in your vehicle unless you absolutely have to. You can roll down your window instead of using the A/C to save on fuel costs and reduce CO₂ emissions into the environment.
• Combine/Eliminate Trips - this helps to combine your trips when you go out to shop, and eliminate unnecessary trips, such as single-purpose trips to go shopping at a specific store or restaurant. Instead, combine all of your trips on a single day, and stay home on other days. If you're running a business, don't make trips that you're not generating revenue on - stick to the basics of your business. Make sure you get your work done on the first trip, so you don't have to go back a second time, even if your service covers a second or third trip.
• Volunteer in the Community - if you can contribute to keeping your community clean, it can cut down on the amount of machinery that is used to conduct those tasks otherwise, and also you'll feel good that you're doing something good for the community. If you're a college student, check out Volunteer America and other organizations that will actually pay you to volunteer in the community.
• Turn Lights and Appliances Off - when you're not using them, or you're not in the room that they're in, turn them off. There may be certain appliances or computers that you can't turn off - make sure they're Energy Star devices, so that you're not overcharging batteries, and that the devices go into power saving mode when they are not actively being used.
• Fill Prescriptions on the Same Day - if you can, fill all of your prescriptions on the same day, so you're not making multiple trips to the pharmacy during the same month. Also, if you can, fill your prescriptions for 60 or 90 day supplies, to also cut down on trips to the pharmacy. You can also use mail order pharmacies to cut down on trips.
• Buy From Environmental Conscience Companies - buy your products and services from companies that are conscience of the environment and their company's impact on it, such as car manufacturers that have a zero-waste policy, companies that have done environmental impact studies, and companies that cut down on their environmental impact.
• Telecommute to Work - your employer may allow you to setup a home office, that would allow you to work from home a certain number of days per week. This will allow you to spend more time closer to your family, as long as you can stay focused while you are working. It's a great savings for the environment to work from home, at least part of the work week, to cut down on trips to work and cut down on company expenses that impact the environment when you are at work, such as electricity use.
• Work for a Company That Is Environmentally Conscience - it's important to do your part at home, but also it's important to work for a company that does its part to protect the environment. This can include having an environmental department of the company that deals with environmental issues, such as recycling programs at work, and saving resources such as electricity. Installing PLCs or Smart Plugs on IT Equipment that isn't in use at certain times of the day can help to save the company money, and help to save the environment. Having the right HVAC settings is important to reduce your company's impact on the environment. If your company is a retailer, it should reduce the amount of bad products that it stocks, such as products that customers won't buy, because they will have to be shipped back to the manufacturer, which will impact the environment even more. Also, bad products will eventually end up in the trash, so doing business with companies that strive to recycle everything they possibly can is important.
• Set Your Thermostat Right - it's important to have your thermostat set to the correct values, to ensure that your A/C and heater aren't working overtime. If your house is too hot, or too cold, then it's probably costing you a lot more to heat/cool your home than the average consumer. 68-degrees is the usual setting that should be used during the winter, and also turn your A/C off during the winter. You should set your thermostat higher during the summer to save on electricity costs of running your A/C unit, and also turn your heater off during the summer.
• Configure Your Smart Home - it's important to ensure that your home is protected from incidence of fire or flooding or any other disaster with security and an alarm system that can detect carbon monoxide. Saving you and your home saves the environment - because disasters are costly to the environment, both in terms of resources consumed and in terms of resources lost. Ensure that your smart home saves you on electricity costs by controlling your climate and lighting, as well as alerting you when something isn't right in your digital meshed environment. 
• Regulate Paper Product Dispensary - there should be regulations to ensure that the exact number of napkins are dispensed every time that fast food is purchased, so that neither too many nor too little napkins are provided to each customer, every time that food is purchased from a fast food restaurant.

Have Something to Add?

Contact Patrick R. McElhiney at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to add your thoughts to this article or any of the others. We look forward to hearing from you!