America is now voting for the next President of the United States. It is not just who you vote for but how you actually go about voting that also effects the environment. We have put together a simple guide to make sure your voting experience is as green as possible. We like to think of it as Your Eco-Voting Etiquette Guide.
Call five friends and tell them to vote.
We have all seen the various campaigns encouraging you to get five friends to vote. Well, encouraging someone else to vote can really make a big difference. In fact, the year 2000 American elections were decided by only 537 votes.
The recent Canadian Federal elections (which elected an anti-environment Conservative minority government) had the worst voter turnout since confederation – make sure America is not as apathetic about the political process as Canada.
Carpool.
With record numbers of Americans expected to vote on November 4th, Zimride car co-op has partnered with Live Earth, to organize the Carpool to the Polls campaign to ensure that all voters can get to the polls with the least emission of greenhouse gases. John Simmer explains that “…this is the most important election for our global leadership on environmental issues and we're doing everything we can to promote voting and to demonstrate how every individual can make a difference”. Visit: http://www.zimride.com/
Green your election ride.
Try not to take a car to the polls. Each mile a car drives emits about 0.3kg (0.66 pounds) of carbon dioxide according to information at The Environmental Protection Agency. If you must use a car, carpool with friends or opt to use public transport (the emissions are shared amongst a larger group of people), ride your bike (much greener than bus or car use), or walk. Walking is the most ecological form of transport for an individual.
Help someone else to the polls.
Offer assistance to an elderly relative or neighbour, or an individual who is physically challenged and might find getting to the polls a bit more difficult. Helping someone to the polls will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from extra vehicle traffic, will build a stronger sense of community and gives you a bit of time to talk about why you are voting for your particular candidate.
Bring water & snacks in reusable containers.
Those in the know, are predicting long waits at the polls and record turnouts on November 4, 2008 so you may have a long wait. You might want to bring a few snacks, but it is time to give both plastic water bottles and disposable food containers the boot. The Think Outside the Bottle campaign estimates that meeting Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 17 million barrels of oil last year – enough fuel to operate more than 1 million US cars for one year – and generates more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
The styrofoam cups Americans use each year could form a chain that would circle the Earth 436 times according to the National Toxics’ Campaign. The American Environmental Protection Agency reports that more than 730,000 tons of styrofoam and plastic plates and cups were disposed of in the USA in 2003 alone. Pack your snacks in reusable containers – preferably not plastic.
Go scent free.
For many people voting is a social occasion, you see your neighbours, chat with friends, and even perhaps flirt with someone new in the line-ups, but do everyone a favour and go scent free. Increasingly, people are having more chemical sensitivities to perfumes, hairsprays, scented creams and even strong smelling laundry detergents and fabric softeners can be a serious health trigger for many individuals.
The Body Burden reports that everyone alive today carries within her or his body at least 700 contaminants, most of which have not been well studied. Why add more? Going chemical free will reduce the planetary toxic load, is better for your health and much better for the health of those around you. It is time we consider chemical perfumes, hairsprays, shampoos, etc. as equally as noxious as cigarette smoke.
Wear organic cotton t-shirt for your political candidate.
There were a hell of a lot of McCain and Obama t-shirts made for this election. If you want to show your support for a candidate, make sure it is in a sweatshop free, organic t-shirt. Cotton is the most widely grown and chemically intensive crop grown on earth. Each pound of non-organic cotton harvested uses an estimated 1/3 of a pound of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. If you think of that in clothing, it takes between 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound of fertilizers and chemicals to produce one cotton T-shirt.
Vote for the planet.
Sorry to do this, we really loathe telling people how to vote, but we do suggest you vote for the greenest presidential candidate choice – Barack Obama. Obama is certainly not the eco-saviour that Al Gore would have been, but he is much better than the McCain/Palin ticket and smart enough to stock his cabinet with good green people.
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