I was really excited to find out about the new Take Out With Out Campaign, directed at reducing the use of unnecessary plastics and packaging with take out food. They have the very sensible creed:

ReFuse Unnecessary Stuff

When taking out, refuse the unnecessary packaging! Think about the spoons, forks, straws, and napkins that you get served (why do they give you enough for a family of 20 when eating alone?). Ask yourself before accepting all these items, “Do I really need all of this?”, “Am I going to be eating this right away?” (If so, why take the bag or the napkins)… just enjoy your muffin – and be neat so the napkin isn’t needed!

ReTakeYour Own Reusables

Bring your own reusables (BYOR) and you won’t need to use the can – garbage, that is. You can bring your own containers, straws, cutlery, mugs, bottles, and even your own bag – It’s so easy to find and use!

ReConsiderYour Habits

It’s easy to fall into a routine, so why not choose to create a new one? Reconsider and readjust your habits and adopt healthier eating strategies – it might be challenging at first – but it will save you time, money, your health, and our world. The bonus? You’ll feel like an eco-hero and will inspire others around you to follow suit.

It’s a great little campaign which includes posters and wallet sized tips you can download, an interesting blog and a list of restaurants which support the cause. I usually bring my own bags where I go, and still often have to state more than once “I don’t need a bag thanks”, and I think this is a great extension of the BYO bag idea, taking it up a notch. We’ve seen it happen with the reusable coffee cups such as the Keep Cups we reviewed last last year and I think this is the next step. It would be great if restaurants and cafes supported the enterprise by offering a small discount to those who BYO their own containers etc since they are saving on packaging.

Turn off your lights and any non-essential electrical appliances between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday 28 March, 2009.

Earth Hour 2009 will only be a success if we have wide support from every section of the community – households, businesses, governments and not-for-profit groups – and huge participation.

We have a target of one billion people worldwide to “switch off” but we need your support.

Please register you support at www.earthhour.org/australia

The first Earth Hour in 2007 reached more than 2 million people in Sydney. In 2008, it’s estimated that between 50 and 100 million people around the world joined Earth Hour by switching off their lights and turning appliances off stand-by. Earth Hour 2009 aims to reach 1 billion people in over 1,000 cities.

This global vote for action in the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen helps prove to world leaders that the public wants strong action to be taken on climate change.

In 2009, Earth Hour will be truly global.

After having between 50 and 100 million people around the world taking part in 2008, we’re now setting ourselves a target of reaching one billion the world over.

More and more countries will register their participation as the campaign continues.

 Is Earth Hour just for the big cities?

Recently I stumbled across Green as a Thistle a blog (and now book) by journalist Vanessa who documents her endeavours at living a greener life. Her challenge was to:

“Spend each day, for an entire calendar year, doing one thing that betters the environment. The idea was that everything I did, I kept doing (so if I switched brands, it was a permanent switch; if I turned down my thermostat, I kept it down), so that by day 365, I’d be living as green a lifestyle as it gets. It was a gruelling year, but in the end, it proved that being an environmentalist doesn’t necessarily mean being a smug hippie, nor does it have to mean compromising aesthetic values or good wine.

You can read the list here of her lifestyle changes. I was interested to read that many of the things trialed are common practice in Australia like reusable shopping bags, recycling glass and paper, reducing water use and using recycled toilet paper.

How many of this list do you practice? I found we practice lots of the ideas (not all were relevant to us of course) like cloth napkins, rechargable batteries, using organic and recycled materials where often and the link. I also found a few ideas I haven’t heard of and got reminded of my pledge to ban tissues in the home (not really an option at work as many of my clients are in tears). I’ll make a list of challenges for myself I think.