The best ways to help the community become more sustainable are to join the existing community events or resources in your area. Swap meets, tool libraries, repair fairs, are a few examples and focus on generating less waste. I think it's also important to support businesses that give back to local communities and share environmental responsibility.

buying meat and poultry from the meat department fresh is better anyway. 

I now have 10 reusable bags, the hardest part is to remember them when you go into the store. getting better every time.

Apartments are tricky for gardening but still possible. My ideas are to plant several herbs along my south-facing window and tend to an aero-garden in the kitchen. Because my balcony is north-facing and does not get enough sun, I've considered growing mushrooms and other shade-loving plants. I'm also looking into eventually setting up vermicomposting and renting space in the community garden next spring.

It's hard to understand the impacts our purchases and waste have on other people, animals and places because we have not prioritized its study and still have a ways to go in order to shift our thinking on how to measure environmental impact. The economic standard metric, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is a monetary value of finished goods and services, shows a very different picture compared to Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) that measures goods/services but incorporates both production and consumption costs. GDP is not a great way to  account for money-savings, highlight the value of waste reduction and also does not consider impacts on health and wellbeing. Toxics are a huge problem because of the lack of research and regulations. Many people are unaware of toxins in our daily consumables and products and at the mercy of what little information we have access to due to loose regulations because manufacturers are allowed to withhold for trade secrets. The EcoChallenge and other informative sites help bring more awareness to the issues because it gives people a chance to see measurable action and impact. It is motivating to find out that those participating are collectively working hard to reduce containers and straws that would otherwise end up in landfills or the ocean or reducing smog by pounds for alternative transportation. It's a great initial eye-opener and tool for encouragement to get started and hopefully keep up long after the event.

It's not surprising that there is 30-40% food waste in the U.S. Part of the problem is that people don't buy the right amount, misunderstand expiration dates and don't plan accordingly in terms of food preparation, preservation and storage. If I were efficient enough to save money on all the food I waste annually, I'd donate those funds to places like the Oregon Food Bank and help those in need since statistically 1 in 6 people in the U.S. struggle with hunger. I'd also like to support farmer's markets and local buying clubs.

Here are some easy ways to reduce energy at home or in the office:
- Turn off lights and appliances when you do not need them.
- Minimize use of electric-powered heaters by bundling up and adjusting the thermostat settings.
- Replace traditional incandescent light bulbs with halogen incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), and light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs). It saves anywhere from 25-80% less electricity and lasts 3 to 25 times longer than traditional bulbs.
- It takes a considerable amount of energy to get material resources from the land and for building or manufacturing products . By reducing the amount of material goods you collect (especially those that you don't need or use often) through sharing, reuse and buying smart, you can reduce energy usage as well as carbon emissions.

shower time is basically a drop in the ocean compared to the real problem of water usage...
Vegans use less water globally

The world will only have 60% of the water it needs by 2030 without significant global policy change, according to a recent report from the U.N.

This situation is predicted to worsen as our population expands and consumption per capita increases with more and more people adopting resource-intensive Western meat eating habits.

How your diet can help

Although statistics vary, it is safe to say that it takes at least three times the amount of water to feed a meat eater compared with that used to feed a vegan. For example, it takes 15,500 litres of water to produce 1 kg beef, contrasted with 180 litres for 1 kg tomatoes and 250 litres for 1 kg potatoes.

Consuming animal products is incredibly resource-intensive. Globally, farming uses about 70% of the planet’s accessible freshwater. This is compared to around 20% for industry, and about 10% for domestic use.

This is largely because arable land has to be irrigated to make it agriculturally viable and to increase and improve crop yields. As has been shown, much of this land is entirely wasted by growing feed crops for livestock rather than food for direct consumption by people. The water used on this land – as well as that consumed direct by livestock – represents yet another wasted resource.

Since a large percentage of the crops fed to European farmed animals are grown in developing countries, this wasted water comes not only from European reserves but also from the very countries where drinking water is most scarce.

Switching to a vegan diet will help significantly reduce the world’s water requirements