Her Realm

How to Green Your Lifestyle

Although I have touched on how difficult it can be to live a green lifestyle in a society which prizes efficiency and promotes one time use and waste in a vartiet of products, there are some things which a person can easily add to his or her routine to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Luckily, many steps we can take to reduce our ecological footprint – or the impact you have on the surrounding environment involved reducing our electricity usage (which reduces greenhouse gasses) which can help to add a few more dollars to our pockets. If you don’t feel generally motivated to live a greener lifestyle, perhaps a few greenbacks will be incentive enough.

As always, remember to replace your lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. You only need to do this when your bulbs burn out and you will likely be pleasantly surprised at how long these more energy efficient bulbs last.

Combine all your errands into one trip to avoid wasting gas and emitting harmful CO2.

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Consider buying a more ful efficient or hybrid vehicle. Also, keeping your car in good shape improves milage and reduces harmful side effects so remember to keep your tires inflated and change the air filter,

Take public transportation to reduce greenhouse emissions and gas consumption.

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Considering changing your primary mode of transportation to walking or biking. Not only is it good for the Earth, but you will be spending less on gas and be living a healthier lifestyle.

Do not let the water run when shaving, brushing teeth or doing dishes to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat water.

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Insulate your water heater and set it no higher than 120 degrees.

Use a low-flow showerheard

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Consider taking a “dry” shower (also known as Navy or combat showers) Leave the water off and lather your entire body and hair. Turn the shower on only for a few moments when you are ready to rinse.

Run your dish and clothes washers only when full to avoid wasting energy needlessly.

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Wash your clothes in cold water. Note that cold water may reduce overall cleanliness of lauundry, however.

Buy organic and locally grown foods to support your local economy and reduce the energy needed to transport goods.

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Grow your own food. Whether you plant a tomato bush or 2 or start a whole garden, you will require even less packaging and energy and might be able to make a profit, too!

Buy products with less packaging, especially plastic.

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Buy your produce locally from places such as the Farmer’s Market. Little markets and stands use less packaging, if any at all so there is less to discard. If you can, buy products packaged in only recyclable paper and cardboard materials.

Recycle plastic bags to reduce landfill use.

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Although you can reuse plastic bags in your own home and recycle them at Wal-mart, switching to a reusable cloth bag is even better. Most plastics labeled 2 through 7 can be recycled so check the label. Plastic never goes away, thus the reason there is a plastic island floating in the middle of the Pacific the side of Texas. Plasitc is a key component of items made for conveniences to use paper alternatives when possible or forego the convenience to promote the health of our planet. Reuse plastic containers to store good.

Plant a tree to help filter CO2 out of the air.

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If you have room, plant several in your yard. Volunteer soe time to plant trees in your local community. IF the trees you plant are the fruit bearing kind, you’ll even have a treat from them.

Insulate your home and replace older windows with double planes.

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Cover windows with plastic during colder seasons and block drafts with frabic draft stoppers. When your home remainds at a comfortable temperature, you will not need to use the heating or air conditioning as much. You wll also save money on natural gas and electricity. Furthermore, shovel snow against the outside of the building to provide extra insulation.

Turn off appliances and lighting you’re not using.

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Unplug anything not in use. When cords are plugged into outlets, they still emit greenhouse gasses. Remember to do this with charges, especially. Cell phones and MP3 chargers can waste energy even when not in use.

Dry loads of laundry sequetially so the dryer is still warm and does not take as much electricity to work.

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Buy energy efficient appliances to reduce your energy consumption for the long haul.

Move your thermostats up 2 degrees in summer and down 2 degrees in winter.

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Turn off the heat or AC when you leave yout home. At night, reduce the heat or AC. In the winter, use blankets and warm clothes such as sweaters and stay active to reduce your need for heat. Replace heating and cooling filters so your system works more efficiently.

Recycle cardboard, plastic, glass, cans and paper with your trash or at a recycling center.

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Look for ways to reuse these things in your house before taking them elsewhere. Incubate seeds in jello or pudding cups, make a wind chime out of aluminum cans, shred newspaper for use in animal cages and reuse cardboard for shipping or storage. Use only recycled printer paper

Use green cleaning products which do not contian harmful chemicals such as those by Method or products with the Greenworks sticker.

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Make your own cleaning products with household goods such as baking soda and vinegar.

Recycle computers and parts instead of throwing them away.

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Even if your computer or printer does not work, it may still have working parts. Consider donating it to a computer store or repair station. Some electronic gadgets can be used as toys long after they lose their functionality.

Recycle batteries, ink catridges and old cell phones.

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If you are replacing your cell phone, consider donating the old one to a member of the military or a battered woman. There are many programs out there which accept functional cell phones. Broken cell phones and used batteries can be recycled in boxes at your local Wal-mart. Wal-mart also often has free envelopes you can pick up to mail off your old ink, phones and batteries free of charge. Consider switching to rechargeable batteries.