Natural and Sustainable

There have been several articles published about going green in your own home as well as your own life. The main thing all these articles have in common is the fact that going green has never been easier, it’s the people involved that want to make the change in themselves and the people around them. You can start in your own home, as I have said many times, and it’s so quick and easy.

WHEN AT HOME:
1. Unplug the charger for your cellphone. The charger will continue to use electricity, even when there isn’t a phone hooked to the cord.

2. Use an old-fashioned draft stopper. By blocking the crack between an exterior door and the floor, your won’t need to use as much heat or air conditioning.

3. Run the dishwasher only when it’s full. Or better yet, wash your dishes by hand. Running your dishwasher on a constant basis uses 10 to 20 gallons of water a day. Don’t pre-rinse (a running faucet wastes 2.5-plus gallons a minute_ And don’t use the dishwashers drying cycle, open the door and let your dishes air dray.

4. Wash clothes on the cold cycle. Switching from the hot water cycle to the cold water cycle can save $60 on your annual heating bill, and 6.5 pounds in emissions per load. Wash only full clothing loads and use laundry soap sparingly.

WHEN RUNNING ERRANDS:

1. Plot a week’s worth of errands to save fuel. Drive at a moderate speed and save on fuel consumption. Be sure to keep your car well-maintained and tires in check. This will save you more in the long run as well as help out the planet.

2. Tote your own shopping bags. Whole Foods rewards shoppers who bring in their own shopping bags. Ikea, has now started charging customers 5¢ per plastic bag used from their store. Only 0.6% of the 380 billion plastic bags discarded in the United States each year are recycled, the rest end up in a landfill and worse, end up in the forest or wild areas.

3. Try to spot-clean or hand-wash your clothes over the dry cleaners. Many dry cleaners use chemicals that harm the environment. If you must use a dry cleaner, try to find one that uses clean-green chemicals and reuses hangers and bags.

4. Check labels. Many to see how far food has traveled. Some grocers get food choices from foreign nations and distant states, which in turn means more travel time on a truck or other, which means more carbon emissions and less fresh, ripe foods for you to choose.

DURING THE WORK WEEK:

1. Bring your own coffee mug when getting coffee. Helping with 30 times less solid waste and 60 times less air pullution. Some coffee houses encourage you to bring in your own mug, if your regular barista doesn’t encourage this, encourage them to encourage others.

2. Turn off your computer nightly. A savings of about 75% fewer kilowatts.

3. Repurpose and reuse paper. The typical U.S. worker uses 10,000 sheets each year. Which is about one tree a year per worker. Put in a suggestion to your office to buy recycled paper, place recycle bins in the high traffic areas, as well as having a scrap paper tray. Unfortunately less then 9% of the 8 million tons used every year is recycled, but using less and going with alternatives will only use 90% less water and half the energy to make.

4. Reuse ink cartridges or recycle your old ones. Use companies like Staples®, Dell®, etc. to refill your cartridges and it will save you up to 90% on the coast of a new one. There are companies like HP® That even offer recycle bags to put your old cartridge in to send back to them at no charge to you.

With simple changes like these you can help make your mark on the planet and save the Earth for future generations to come. There are several things many of us do already to help the planet, and one more thing added to the agenda will help out so much more.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Planting a tree for the environment has never been more fun. There are companies out there today that are helping with this effort and your too can pitch in and make a difference. Plant For The Planet, their “Billion Tree Campaign” is being launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The National Arbor Day Foundation is now teaching kids in 10 U.S. cities to plant urban trees as well. With all of these efforts and foundations coming through to help with the lack of trees on the Earth, you too should join in the efforts. Plant a tree or two, or three, or ten on your own property or in your neighborhood. It’s so awesome to see something you have planted grow into a huge magnificant creation.