Shop Talk
Shopping Green

Whether you love shopping or hate it, you still buy a lot of stuff! What does your stuff say about you? When you shop “green,” it says you care about the environment and you buy things that save energy, prevent waste, and conserve natural resources.

who’s listening?
Sometimes it seems like no one ever listens to you. Not true when you shop green! Big corporations totally care about what you think. Companies roll out big wads of dough every year for flashy ads to get your hard-earned cash. Parents care, too. Did you know that about seven out of 10 parents buy cars based on what their kids say?*

You can put your money where your mouth is with this green shopping list:

Look for recycled products. Finding ways to be green may take some creative digging. But the possibilities are endless!

Ditch disposable. The convenience of disposables, such as drink bottles and plastic bags, is nice for you but not for the environment. Buy things you can use a long time like a cloth shopping bag rather than stores’ plastic bags that take up to 1,000 years to degrade.

Go retro. Dresses worn by Keira Knightly and Carrie Underwood have been up for grabs on the auction site clothesoffourback.org.** Even if they weren’t once owned by celebrities, vintage or retro threads are fly and don’t use more resources to produce.

Share to show you care. You and your friends are tight. Why not lighten up the grip on some of your stuff? Swap instead of buy.

Kiss waste good-bye. The U.S. may be one of the world’s worst polluters now, but there is still time to change. Learn more about shopping green at epa.gov/epaoswer/education/teens/index.htm.**

Be green with DCU. You can save paper, fuel, and energy with DCU’s electronic services. Start reducing waste by using DCU’s PC Branch, PC Deposit, and Bill Payer, and receiving DCU eStatements online. And tell your parents to do the same – they’re listening! Log on to dcu.org to register.