Natural and Sustainable

Plastic bags have been under scrutiny for years now and with that come the making of useful canvas and other bags such as the ones that can be packed in a backpack, your pocket, or even in a purse. These bags make it easier for you to steer clear of the plastic bags that are no almost everywhere you go anymore. There are certain companies and businesses that are allowing you to bring back the plastic bags to be recycled into new bags and this is a great way to help keep them out of landfills and clear up the environment, but just to recycle them puts a strain on the eco-system of earth as well.

Reusable bags are as easy as ever to pack away and almost everyone has at least one by now and to add to that you can now find ones that zip closed and tuck into anywhere so you are never without. Here are some of the best easy-to-carry bags available.

1. Chico Bags: This company is all about reducing the strain on the environment with their options of The Original bag, the Vita, the RePete and the Limited Edition. These bags are easy to carry in and store in the glove box of your car. Bags run about $10.

2. BAGGU Bags: These bags, when used, will replace about 300 to 700 disposable bags. They are bright in color and care really fun to use. The company offers the bag options of the regular Baggu, penguin bag, produce bag, Lincoln bag, baby bag, the big bag and even a grocery kit that comes with plenty of Baggu bags to carry all of your groceries.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Taking showers can use a lot of water and a lot of water gets wasted as well during showers. To help with this try timing yourself with a shower time from Ripple Products. You can even make it a game and try to beat other family members.

1. Plug your computer, fax machine, copier, scanner, TV, DVD player, and even your Ipod and phone chargers onto a power strip and then simply switch it off when you are not suing them.

2. Replace 10 incandescent bulbs in your home or office with CFLs. Carpool to the office; donate used gear and sporting goods and even well worn older shoes that are good condition as well.

3. Turn down your water heater, air-dry your dishes and even use rechargeable batteries when you can.

4. Replace your clogged car filter; recycle plastics, paper, metals and glass no matter what. Look for recycled products as well and keep them in circulation.

5. Remove your car’s roof rack when you aren’t using it, drink filtered tap water instead of water that has been bottled and BYOB, bring your own bottle to places and refill it. Eat vegetarian twice a week at your home or at the office. Turn off the lights with you leave a room and turn off the ceiling fan when you aren’t in a room as well. Bike to most of your in-town errands and walk to places close like a friend’s house, or the library.

6. Cut down on your car washing, and sweep your driveway off instead of using the hose to spray it. Accelerate your speed gradually in your car to help save gas as well. Use the cruise control on the interstate and open highways. Always drive the speed limit, it’s better to be late then over-use your gas and even get a ticket.

7. Take a Navy shower by turning off the water while you soap up. Shave in the sink and not in the shower to help save water as well. Don’t overfill the bathtub.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Use environmentally friendly insulation on your home. It will help cut your heating and cooling cost as well as helps with your impact on the earth as well.

• Collect rainwater from downspouts and use it to water your won garden and plants.

• Say no to carpeting. Carpet contains more contaminants and pollen and dust than anything else in your home.

• Buy green power when you can and ask your utility company to off it if they don’t already. The typical U.S. household uses about 10,000 KWH a year.

• Repair, and don’t replace appliances. Each fix means your won’t be buying a new one and it will keep your old one out of landfills. IF you feel you must replace, then donate the broken or semi-broken one to a company that refurbishes or repairs then and resells then.

• Buy energy-efficient appliance when you do replace. Energy Star appliance use 10 to up to 50% less energy and water and must meet EPA efficiency guidelines.

• Dry your dishes on the dishwasher rack and if your dishwasher offers the air dry option, use that as well.

• Buy secondhand clothing or household items as tag sales and save the carbon cost of new production.

• Hang your laundry out to dry on a clothes line and eliminate one dryer cycle per week or more.

• Clean AC filters or replace them when necessary to keep your AC unit running smoothly.

• Run ceiling fans instead of the air conditioner in hot climates; this can save you more than a ton of CO2 waste within your won home.

• Use cold water to wash and rinse your clothes, only use hot water when the laundry is very dirty and always wash your bedding in hot water to kill bed bugs and dust mites.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Go for low flow showerheads, this switch can save you 1800 in eclectic cost and 43o in natural gas depending on how your water is heated. Not to mention the savings in water cost and waste as well. Consider putting in a low-flow toilet as well.

Sustain yourself with a few yoga moves. You know, yoga is for more than just getting into shape. It can also help you relax from all the pressures of the global warming stress that a lot of us are feeling anymore. Sometimes it just seems that all we do isn’t enough, even a simple pause can help us get back to what’s important and ground our focus. Rejuvenating our brains and clearing the cloudy thinking from a scattered lifestyle to a more centered one is the most important thing. Here’s how to capture that moment back to stable thinking.

• Adho Mukha Svanasana: Downward-Facing Dog Pose

• Parsvakonasana: Side Angle Pose

• Trikonasana: Triangle Pose

• Setu Bandha Sarvangasana: Bridge Pose

• Janu Sirsasana: Head-of-the-knee Pose

• Viparita Karani: Legs-up-the-wall Pose

With a bit of incorporation with yoga into you day to day activities, you will see a change for the better in your thinking and your ability to sustain yourself from the drumming of stress from your daily tasks.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Solar power is becoming more and more popular with every passing day. If you are considering solar power within your own home, I hope these thoughts push you toward the direction of solar energy even more:

1. Solar power significantly cuts your electricity costs and protects the environment as well.

2. A complete “turnkey” system within it’s self-all rebates and permits are handled by the installer.

3. Virtually maintenance free.

4. Most companies that install solar power panels back their products with a full 10-year warranty on parts and even their workmanship.

5. Join the solar power revolution and help save the earth and your money everyday you use them. For more information, check out BP Solar.

Forgetting our own well-being just isn’t sustainable. Here’s how to reconnect:

• Make yourself a priority: The busier you get the more tenaciously you cultivate your own peace. Keep track of how many times you stretch, garden, get in the sauna and play music each week, making sure you don’t let life’s vital bits slip away.

• Take time out: Only work when you feel like it. Sundays should be reserved for family, spirit and rest. Make your Monday’s dedicated to whatever you feel like doing. Where to find the time to just sit? Whether you call it quiet time, meditation or contemplation, the point is to have a period each day when you are not thinking, socializing or working. What you are really doing when you make a time and place just for you is inviting your inner nature to become a player in your outer life.

• Move it: Activity also plays a role in mental health. Swimming may help calm you mind, releasing difficult feelings and leaves you rejuvenated and inspired. The sensations of buoyancy and gliding through the water wash away all unwanted thoughts and feelings. You might not make time to walk everyday, but your dog may help you get out and about. Your dog can also teach you things: To reach big goals take small steps, giver yourself treats for each success and always make it fun.

• Work from the inside out: For any people, internal habits make the biggest difference. Let go of stress by maintaining a newer constant state of appreciating. This helps you feel more positive, see opportunities and have more energy. Connect to everyone else, no matter who they are and how they live. Feeling one with everyone restores you to center. Fill your well by doing things that bring joy to yourself and your state of mind every day.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Use an ecosmart fire place. Available in array of edgy freestanding units or built-ins, this innovative clean-burning open fire lets you cozy up to a toasty flame anywhere in your house. It’s flue less and without any heavy smoke.

“I left Earth three times and found no other place to go. Please take care of Spaceship Earth.” -Wally Schirra (Mercury astronaut)