How to Do Your Part to Be Green

Of world concern is the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases the inventions we created are spewing into the air, contributing to global warming. Those inventions have led to the niceties of our lives, like the wonders of paper towels. You can take an active role in neutralizing your carbon emissions and reducing your impact on global warming. Here are some ideas on how to do your part, where you contribute to a cleaner world and you save yourself money.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Kitchen
   
   • Use cloth napkins. Even small dish clothes can be used as napkins instead of paper napkins.
   • A full dishwasher uses less water that washing dishes by hand.
   • Small dish clothes instead of paper towels take up little space in a drawer and in the washing machine. More importantly, the price of buying a package of dish clothes is roughly the price of a roll of 75 paper towels. Being able to launder and reuse the clothes will quickly save you money, while reducing your use of paper towels.
2. Bath
   
   • Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth or shave.
   • Keep a spray bottle filled with vinegar in the bathroom to use as an air deodorizer. The vinegar smell goes away when it evaporates, taking other odors with it. Though you can just spray the vinegar into the air, why not spray it in the sink, tub, or toilet where it will add shine and clean. See, you are not only cleaning the air, you are cleaning the bathroom!
3. Clothes
   
   • Recycle clothes, if not to sale (e.g., yard sale) at least to give to Good Will, Salvation Army, or other local charity.
   • Hang clean laundry on the line to dry. No outside space? Partially dry in the dryer and hang indoors to complete drying.
4. General
   
   • Use a bucket of water and a spray head on the hose to wash your car. A running hose wastes more than 100 gallons of water in the time it takes to wash the car.
   • You probably know that fluorescent bulbs use less energy than incandescent bulbs, but did you know that fluorescent bulbs last longer than incandescent?
   • Unless you are coming right back, turn lights, TV, and audio equipment off when you leave the room
   • Newspapers provide a lint free approach to cleaning windows.
   • Use a cloth bag instead of plastic at the grocery checkout.
   • Unplug chargers when the charge is complete.
   • Reduce junk mail by requesting your name be removed from mailing lists.
   • Caulk and seal windows and doors.
   • Lower the house thermostat in winter; raise it in summer.
   • Set the water heater to 120 degrees.
5. Recycle (see Resources below)
   
   • Recycle household can, bottle, plastic bags, newspapers, magazines, cardboard, batteries, cell phones, and, motor oil.
   • Donate leftover paint.
   • Share books, catalogs, and magazines with friends or donate to a hospital.
   • Give old towels, sheets, and blankets to the animal shelter.
   • Have a garage or yard sale. One person’s junk is another person’s treasure.
   • Provide old eye glasses to the Lion’s club.
   • Sell or give away items (like musical instruments, bicycle, toner cartridges) through a free online materials exchange service like Craigslist or FreeCycle, or use an internet auction site, such as eBay.
   • Compost food and yard wastes.
6. Check the Resources section (below) for websites that promote ecology.

Tips & Warnings

• You should still consider to have paper towels around to clean up bacteria-related spills, like leaks from meat packages.