Go green, be green, think green. The admonishments never end. But what specifically do these bumper sticker-sentiments mean? And how does someone in West Marin go about greening? There are so many places to start. How do you know where to start?

Welcome to the Green Team West Marin series. Green Team West Marin is an action-based, team-oriented education program to help individuals to more sustainable lifestyles by reducing their waste and use of water, energy, fuel and chemicals, and purchasing environmentally friendly products.

I will be writing a column every two weeks to tell you about the 1st Green Team West Marin working group and to provide information on ways to reduce your ecological footprint on the earth.

One of our first stated goals was to avoid buying anything in the grocery store that contains disposable plastic. This isn’t a bad first goal for you, too, West Marin consumers. It’s harder than you might think. All of the meat and cheese is wrapped in disposable plastic. Many products on the shelves utilize plastic wrapping or other non-disposable materials. Plastic has replaced glass as the drink container of choice.

While it was difficult for many of us at first, once we were aware of the choices we made, it was easier to reduce our impact. I found that my habits in the grocery store are quite good. My veggies tend to spill all over the conveyor belt at the register, because I don’t use plastic bags.

But I realized that, because I tend to work late, I get food to go sometimes, which drastically increases my waste stream. Here are some ideas to help reduce take-out impacts in West Marin:

Chinese Chuckwagon containers are 28 oz. As long as you bring a clean plate or bowl, they would be happy to save on the to-go carton. Good Earth in Fairfax sells bowls and re-usable chop sticks.

The Bovine Bakery uses compostable cups. To reduce your waste even further, soup cup sizes are 12 and 16 oz. Bring your own cup and spoon and enjoy each sip that much more.

Our many West Marin events can of course contribute to the waste stream even, ironically, the ones about reducing the waste stream. Madeleine Hope, Jack Kramer and others are working on a West Marin Community “Events Library” for plates, bowls, glasses and others items commonly used for public events. This is an incredible idea that should help drastically cut the footprint of West Marin events in the future. For more information, email jack@pointreyesnation.com or call Madeleine at (415) 663-9087.

Other resources to help you reduce you footprint:

To assess your ecological footprint: www.myfootprint.org/

Stop home and office junk mail: www.recycleworks.org/junkmail/

Holiday Waste Reduction: www.ciwmb.ca.gov/PublicEd/Holidays/default.htm

Trash to Treasure: Madeleine Hope is hosting a weekly KWMR program on Monday evenings at 5 p.m. to encourage re-use in our community. Call her at 663-9087 for details.

Go to: http://www.Acterra.org/greenteams/ to find dozens of other ways to reduce your waste stream.

Next time our Green Team will be taking on the problem of water use.

If you would like to learn more about Green Team West Marin or to join the next Green Team working group, please call (415) 663-9312 or email to EAC@svn.net.

www.eacmarin.org

By Frederick Smith, Executive Director, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin