"I would like to mention plastic bottles. Of course it is easy to avoid them in my daily life, but when I travel it is more challenging. I carry a steel water bottle and fill it at the drinking fountains in the airport. Also, I take a water filter into my hotel room and use it or I use the tap water to fill my water bottle. I am following my interpretation of Alice Water's suggestion that cities in the USA should be providing clean water to their citizens.
When traveling overseas it is trickier. I am always on the lookout for places to fill
my handy water bottle but occasionally I don't find them and I need to purchase a
bottle of water. In both China and India I have found there are people waiting to
collect these bottles for the few cents they get for recycling. I try to find them and
give them any bottles I may have." - Nancy, President
"I take special measures to make sure all of the plastic bags in my home life and at Yala are recycled. This may seem like a minor feat, but with every individual product arriving in plastic and each box lined with a plastic bag it adds up to a lot!" - Larry, Mr. Nuts and Bolts
"I have a Chico bag that I always have in my purse. It is amazing how many times it has come to the rescue when I have forgotten a bag or end up purchasing something unplanned. I try to always use my own bag, when grocery shopping or shopping boutiques. I have gotten a few strange looks from boutique shop keepers when I pull out my Chico bag!" - Chelsea, Vice President
"My reusable water bottle – it’s cheap, sustainable, and you can fill it up anywhere or anytime so you’re never without!" - Amanda, Director of Marketing
"My wife and I apply many environmentally friendly practices in our everyday life. Some of the examples would be eating organic, riding our bikes, recycling, but the most effective environmentally conscious choice we have made is purchasing our Toyota Prius. It has been a wonderful car providing low emissions for the environment and also saving money at the fuel pump." - Grant, Shipping Manager
"My favorite environmentally friendly household items are reusable paper towels. They pick up spilled liquid even more easily than paper towels and can be thrown in with the laundry and reused." - Caitlin, International Logistics
"Probably my favorite is my reusable cloth grocery bags. I use them almost every day. I also recycle and eat local organic!" - Rachel, Art Direction/Graphic Designer
"I was born and raised composting, which was always easy because I grew up living in the country. When I moved to town and into a second story apartment without a yard, I would load up my compost to take out to my parents' house every time I made the half hour trip. Needless to say that was a bit of a hassle. I had the idea to post on Craigslist to see if someone in town wanted to pick up free, organic compost - and that is how I found my compost guy. He picks up every few weeks, whenever our bucket is full, and uses it in his garden- everyone benefits!" - Lauren, Social Media Manager
"The most environmental thing I do is eat local from our local farmers market or co-op. I also grow my own herbs and edible flowers in my container garden." - Naomi, Sales Representative
"I ride my bike to work every single day - rain or shine!" - Michael, Warehouse Manager
- Tif, Product Development
"When I was just a girl, my mom would pull the clothes in from the clothesline which hung out the second story window and she would throw them on top of my sister and me on the bed. We would squeal in delight as the pile grew higher and higher and loved to breath in the wonderful freshness of the clean clothes. To this day, I still hang my laundry on a clothesline – outside when the weather is good, or in my garage if it’s raining."
- Bran, Mistress of Money Matters
"My husband and I recently bought a new house. In the move we used recycled boxes and have slowly been furnishing the house with treasures found at garage and estate sales instead of buying new." - Kristen, Sales Manager
"Transporting a family of five between dance lessons, day care, play dates, school and working a half hour away from where we live, we had to find a car that suited those needs. We were so happy to find a fuel efficient car large enough to cart the family from one event to the next." - Erica, Global Customer Service Rep
Tell us, what lifestyle choices have you made with the environment in mind?
Until next time,
Lauren of Team Yala
