What is the first Environmentally Conscious thing you did

Just being nosy everyone.

What is the first thing you remember doing in order to have a positive impact on the environment?

Mine was cutting apart the little plastic thing that connects cans in a six pack.  And lecturing my father about daring to throw it intact into the garbage. :-)

My kindergarten teacher was big into environmental conservation, and I respecter her, so I listened..

I stopped keeping the water running while brushing my teeth and I filled a jug with water and put it in the fridge instead of getting out of the faucet every time and letting it run until the water turned cold...

I still follow the stuff she told me.

Does picking up trash in the park count?

yes - if it was the first thing you remember doing to save the planet.

My parents are old hippies, so I really couldn't say the first thing I did... just the way I was raised.
My most prominent early memory about environmentalism is joining a club that the used to have advertised in Target Stores. It was like "Kids save the Earth" or something and every month you got a newsletter (on recycled paper, of course) about things you could do to help the planet and I think you got a free t-shirt as well. And then all the kids who joined got to sign a "kid's petition" to send to Congress to ask them to save the planet for us.
It was pretty sweet...or at least I thought so at the time.

I really don't know the first thing I did, but I have been a strict vegetarian for 10 years and I am an environmental scientist!

probably recycling.

I remember covering my books witht paper bags that we got at the grocery store.

Recently we switched to all energy efficient light bulbs and put electronics on power strips that we turn off at night.

Of course fixing drippy faucets is a big one too :)

Throwing litter into trashcans, instead of out the car window ... does any other 40-somethings remember the crying indian commercial?

Today we:

- recycle

- reuse: my DH in particular is big into turning "trash into treasure"... our house is decorated with casteoffs, my DD takes old tchake t-shirts and makes new fashions out of them, refurbish old electronics instead of buying new, and we haven't purchased wrapping paper in years (you wouldn't believe people throw out perfectly good wrapping paper ALL THE TIME!!)

- use energy efficient light bulbs

- energy efficient HVAC (or none, at the moment - windows are open)

- replaced all our windows to newer, more efficient ones

- do all laundry in cold water and in large loads, wear clothes more than once, use towels for a whole week between washes, and rarely dry clean (maybe once a year)

- reuse grey water to water plants

- use canvas totes instead of paper or plastic for groceries; try to buy things with minimal packaging (often unavoidable)

- downsized to only one car, which we barely use, preferring bikes, walking, or public transportation

- I telecommute, which saves gas; DH bikes to work; DD's walk to school

- live in a smaller house than we can afford - saves energy consumption costs!

- have a robotic, battery powered lawnmower

With all that said, my DD's run circles around me. It's amazing, what they've learned about the environment, global warming, alternative energy sources.

The first thing I did that was environmentally friendly would have been when I was just old enough to ride a bike.  I was five years old and we lived out in the country.  I picked up aluminum cans from the ditch, nails/scrap metal off the road, and recycled everything I could find.  I would do this after school when it was nice out, and during the summer.  My parents always told me to stay outside as long as you can.  That really affected why I started at that age because I didn't have anything to do or anyone to be friends with in the country so I amused myself with cleaning up the ditches and roads.

cscgrl04 I was a member of that club when I was little.  I got little pamphlets on like 100 things you can do to save the planet.  It was really cool!  Thank you for that memory.  

I think my earliest memory of actually doing something to improve the environment would have to be cutting up those plastic six-pack containers, too.  But my parents are also old hippies who live on a farm, so I grew up practicing an environmentally-friendly lifestyle.  I still do, although I live in the city.  I do (almost) everything that jenmcc does!  Although every day I look at my beloved, unregistered car that I took off the road. I like the car, but the environment is more important to me.

Gosh I wish I could give up my car. I have to commute to my job and my boy has to get to school, so we both drive more than I'd like. Next year, we are movng closer to the university, so he will be able to drive much less. I'll also be able to walk or bike to the grocery store, my gym and a whole lot of other things, but I will still have to drive to work. :(
On the upside, we're pretty lucky and live ina  great town for environmentally friendly stuff. I can buy my groceries from local farms and there are lots of activites cleaning up the streams and such available.
Jenmcc - how do you go about looking for a job where telecommuting is a possibility? Do telecommuting jobs pay well, and do they have benefits?
I've always been interested in that, especially once I have kids, but most of the telecommuting jobs I've come across sound like scams. PM me if you would like.

Planting trees on arbor day when I was in elementary school in teh 1950s.  We did it every year.

I'd have to say picking up trash and recycling.

Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute!
Does anyone else remember that commercial.
We use to live next to a store and kids in the neighbourhood would throw their garbage in our yard.  We had to pick up their litter every day.

The Crying Indian Commercial.

That killed me. I became a freak about conservation and ecology from the time I saw that commercial on. I still have my ecology flag.

I recycle, reuse, etc. I do everything I can. I would like to get my own water supply system that collects the rain and dew, and solar power and/or wind power for my home. That's a way off... it's gonna be a tad expensive.

But the first thing was running around after everyone in the house, shutting off the lights.

cscgrl04: I wish I could give up my car, too. My next will be a hybrid, or perhaps something even "more alternative" if.the.freakin'.auto.makers make us some !!! Grr!

yeah i was in kindergarten and I walked around my neighborhood picking up all the litter then sorting it out into the different recycling trash cans.

I was in tokyo at the time, and they're big on separating like EVERYTHING for recycling.

cscgrl04- I suppose you could say I lucked out, though it didn't feel so lucky at the time. I had back problems that were aggravated by driving one hour each way to the office, and then sitting at a desk for 8 hours. Initially my company had an ergonomic specialist come in, they established a whole ergonomic set up for me. But unfortunately it became clear the 2 hour's daily commute was just too rough on me, so my doctor requested that I move to a schedule that enabled me to work at home a few times a week. I was also prohibited from any airplane travel during that time. (yep, my back was a mess!!)

Then we had a reorg, such that all the people I work with are out on the west coast. So there was little reason I needed to be in the office, since everyone I work with is in a different time zone. So my boss allowed me to move to full time telecommuting, which is not uncommon in our company. We have all the technology to enable it - you just need a business case, a track record of being able to perform with little supervision, and a boss who will sign off on it.

Ive been telecommuting now for about 3 years, my back problems are completely gone (yeah!), and it hasn't hurt my career in the least. In fact, today I manage two full-time telecommuters, and I'm about to get a major promotion (cross fingers for me), the second one in the past 3 years.

The reality of telecommuting however is that your schedule - while tons more flexible and easier to balance life - is also not necessarily a routine 9-5. My routine is to get up around 8 to see the kids off to school, spend a few hours working through my own backlog of work without interruption (and if I have no backlog, then it's free time for me to run errands, or kill time on c-c forums), take a break to run and eat lunch, then I'm on calls all afternoon, sometimes well into dinner time and later, because the people I work with are on PST time.

I'm online now - on a Saturday - because my team all had deadlines end of their day Friday, that I needed to check on this morning, and get some things done for MOnday because I'm taking off half the day to attend my daughter's graduation. In other words, telecommuters get the work done whenever it needs to be done - and sometimes that includes weekends and evenings. It's all about meeting deadlines and deliverables, and not about putting in the face time.

Wow jenmcc,
That does sound like a lot of circumstances coming together well for you. Actually, what you described about your job is why I think I would like it. The problem I have with my 9-5 is that when I'm done with my work I still have to be there. I am efficient and hard working, and usually get everything I need to done within my first hours at the office. Then I sit in my behind getting paid to go on CC! I wouldn't mind working into the evening or on some weekends, I just don't want to be at work when I'm not working.

I'm not sure, i've always watched how long a tap was on and done things like fill a jug and put it in the fridge for cold water rather than run the tap. I've always made sure the washing machin was full before putting it on, never use the tumble drier if i can dry the clothes outside. Always been taught to turn the light off when i leave a room.  I re-use plastic bags, and i try to use environmentally friendly products (like cleaning stuff).

I try to recycle what i can, this was easier in my hometown where i am now is useless for recycling :(

My hubby and I want to build a house and make it eco-friendly (but also practical) like a mini wind turbine, collect rain water for the plants and washing the car, insulate it properly (sheeps wool is GREAT for this as it also keeps a house cool in the summer), have underfloor heating which means less heat is wasting through the walls and windows.
 

My first effort was recycling. I try to save water as much as possible by taking very quick showers, turning the water off when I'm brushing my teeth, catching water in bowls outside when it rains to put in jugs for watering plants, etc., but I'm pretty sure recycling was the FIRST thing I did. I was always taught to recycle. We've recycled since I was born.