How to Live Green and Protect The Environment
Living green and protecting the environment provides our future generations with a healthy planet on which to live. Fear of rising costs in changing to a green lifestyle can be a deterrent when making the change to live green. However, living green does not always mean you must make drastic, expensive changes. Most of these changes simply require you to change the way you perform daily tasks. Collectively making these simple changes can make a big impact on the environment.
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Saving energy is not only beneficial to the environment, it also saves you money. Wash clothes in cold water; air dry clothes as much as possible. Replace your incandescent bulbs with compact florescent light bulbs -- this might cost you more up front but saves you money in long run as it uses 75 percent less energy and lasts up to 7 years. Use a programmable thermostat to set temperatures higher in the summer and lower in the winter -- this could save you up to 33 percent in energy bills; and unplug any appliance or machine you are not immediately using.
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Save water. Install a low flow toilet and shower system. Find plants that require minimal watering.
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Save gas. Avoid driving SUVs or trucks. Start a carpool for work or walk or ride a bike to work. Limit your shopping to one day in the week. That way, you get all your non-work-related driving done in one day.
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Watch what you eat. Avoid buying bottled water to keep from throwing away too much plastic that is not biodegradable. Buy a reusable water bottle with an attached filter instead. Avoid eating too much meat as meat needs more energy than produce to create. Most of the corn and grain in the entire world is used to feed cattle. This means countless gallons of water, as well as gasoline needed to transport the corn and grain, are wasted just to feed our meat. Buy produce and meat that is locally grown.
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Save paper. Get rid of your junk mail by signing up at directmail.com and greendimes.com. Enroll in paperless billing. Paperless billing will stop any paper bills mailed to you. You will instead receive an email.
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Recycle as much as you can. Contact your local municipality to find out what you can and cannot recycle in your weekly pickups. Some recyclable items that most municipalities will recycle for you include paper, plastic, glass cans/jars, aluminum bottles, and card board boxes. You may have to take other items to a specialty recycling center yourself.
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