Gardening
Why Jennifer Aniston conserves water
Gardening
Why Jennifer Aniston conserves water
"Some things are important for the world to know…like how long I shower. Seriously. I take a three-minute shower. It's three minutes, or as short as possible, for a good reason, however. I even brush wash – brush my teeth while I shower. Now here's why: I found out that
every two minutes in the shower uses as much water as a person on Africa uses for everything in their life for a whole day – drinking, bathing, cooking, and cleaning…everything! When you become aware of all the things you do, and the effect those things have, you want to make small changes. Like with water. So now you know why I brush and wash at the same time. When I found out that my cellphone charger still uses energy when it's plugged in and it's not being used, I began unplugging it. When I found out that I could use less gas and get better mileage with a hybrid car, I bought a Prius.
"It all goes back to awareness and knowing better and then making a simple shift in habit. When you're a kid, your mom tells you to clean your room and turn off the lights. So you listen to her and you do it. (Well, sometimes.) That becomes a shift in habit, something you do unconsciously. Obviously, when I learn about something new that I can do in my everyday life that makes a whole lot of sense and can help the environment, I do it. Eventually, it just becomes second nature. If we all begin to learn from one another and share some of the things we do, we just might be able to affect the world for the better through these little rituals. In a curious way, this would be a great wave of awareness: doing the right thing without being told to or having to think why.
"Now about my baths…"
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Excerpted from
The Green Book by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen. Copyright 2007 by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen. Excerpted by permission of Three Rivers Press, in partnership with Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
"It all goes back to awareness and knowing better and then making a simple shift in habit. When you're a kid, your mom tells you to clean your room and turn off the lights. So you listen to her and you do it. (Well, sometimes.) That becomes a shift in habit, something you do unconsciously. Obviously, when I learn about something new that I can do in my everyday life that makes a whole lot of sense and can help the environment, I do it. Eventually, it just becomes second nature. If we all begin to learn from one another and share some of the things we do, we just might be able to affect the world for the better through these little rituals. In a curious way, this would be a great wave of awareness: doing the right thing without being told to or having to think why.
"Now about my baths…"
Think you're green? Take our ecological footprint quiz to find out.
Go green and win!
Read our Green Living Blog to find our how our editors are making their lives greener – you could win a dishwasher or one of 30 other prizes!
Excerpted from
The Green Book by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen. Copyright 2007 by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen. Excerpted by permission of Three Rivers Press, in partnership with Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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