Living Green in 5 Easy Steps

July 10, 2010 | By In living green | Comments(0)

It’s a common misconception that living green is more expensive than not. But, if you look at it from a different perspective you can see that you can do so with out too much effort of with out spending a lot of money.

I have found 5 simple tips to help contribute to reducing your carbon footprint without lightening your wallet…

1. USE COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS – This is an item that is a little pricey but if you attempt it bit by bit or room by room its not as hard on the wallet. Focus on rooms that get the most use : living room, kitchen, family room or office.

In the beginning, pay attention for a day or two to find which room you spend the most time in and change those blubs. Then try to find the second most used room and when you can afford it change out those bulbs.

Its all about small steps that in time can be very effective. Here are some statistics I gathered from the Energy Star website:

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars. ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. Save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb’s lifetime. CFL’s Produce about 75 percent less heat, so they’re safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

2. UNPLUG ELECTRONICS WHEN NOT IN USE – This tip is a great way to save energy usage that essentially costs you no more than a bit of time.

I’m sure we all have some appliances that are plugged in and are drawing electricity even though we are not using them.

Do you shut your computer down every night? Do you have a clock in every room? Do you have a VCR or DVD player with a clock and memory to maintain?

Did you know that even if your TV is off it is still drawing electricity to power a memory device? Coffee makers are another culprit.

A good rule or thumb is to ask yourself what appliances need to be re-set after a power outage. These are items you need to address. If you’re not sure if an appliance is an energy sucker, just unplug it. If its not plugged in, it can’t draw electricity.

3.USE CLOTH SHOPPING BAGS – This is one of the easiest tips I have for you. You would be astonished at how many folks don’t do it.

My suggestion is to buy a few and keep them in the car (I have a knack for forgetting them). Most supermarkets have displays of them for $1.99 with a lower price if you buy more than 3 or 5.

Not a big investment and I have to say it makes unloading the groceries much easier. It is so nice to have 2 nice strong bags instead of a dozen flimsy plastic ones and you can get everything into the house that much faster.

Here are some great facts I found about plastic shopping bags:

* Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. * Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photo-degrade – breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways.

* As a part of Clean up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected.

* Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has developed using the harvested bags to weave hats and bags. According to the BBC, one group harvests 30,000 per month.

* Plastic bags are among the top 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation

4. USE NATURAL CLEANING PRODUCTS – Now don’t go and throw out all of your cleaning products, that would defeat what we are trying to do. Use up what you have and before you run out, go through this list, stock up and prepare your solutions so you’ll be ready to go.

I would advise to purchase some new plastic spray bottles rather than try to reuse the old ones from the other cleaners, there will be some residue left behind that would require a lot of rinsing to remove.

I don’t use everything on this list but I do use a lot of white vinegar and baking soda as well as some commercial enviro-friendly products that I purchase from a reputable company.

Baking Soda – Baking soda is a great all-purpose, non-toxic cleaner. It cleans, deodorizes, scours, polishes and removes stains. (Note – There’s a great article on this site about baking soda, “The Manifold Magic of Baking Soda”)

Borax – It deodorizes, removes stains and boosts the cleaning power of soap. It prevents odors and mold too. Great alternative for those who do not want to use bleach.

Cornstarch – cleans and deodorizes carpets and rugs, and can be used in place of baby powder.

Ketchup -cleans copper.

Lemon juice – great for whitening items and removing grease and stains on aluminum and porcelain.

Pure Soap – cleans almost anything and is mild.

Salt – regular table salt makes an abrasive, but gentle, scouring powder.

Washing Soda – A great disinfectant and cuts grease well too.

White Vinegar -great for whitening, cleaning hard surfaces and windows, and shining metal surfaces. Also removes mildew, stains, grease and wax build up

For even more helpful and natural cleaning products go to www.frugalfun.com/cleansers.html

5.STOP USING PAPER TOWELS – This is a tough one when you have little ones, I know, but I found some great alternatives.

Cloth napkins are one way to at least cut back on paper towel use and if you bargain shop you can usually find some decent ones for less than .50 a piece.

Another great product is those chamois style towels that suck up so much liquid. I have a bunch and love them, they wash up easily and hold up well too.
Think about the power behind small efforts such as these. If every person made a conscious effort to contribute to the green cause the future would look much brighter. For more tips on living green head over to http://greenmomhappymom.com
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7 Easy Tips On How To Live Green

July 6, 2010 | By In living green | Comments(0)

Living green doesn’t mean you have to wave goodbye to all the niceties and luxuries of modern life. In fact, once you start to investigate the advantages of living a greener life, you may well discover all sorts of extra pleasures. Your taste buds will certainly notice and it’s highly likely your wallet will as well.

There are plenty of things you can do which will help you to live green without total sacrifice. Here are seven tips that are quick and easy for you to implement. Most of them will barely change the way you operate but will help save the environment, especially if you can gradually persuade your friends to do the same things.

1. Re-use the bags you get every time you shop are good for more than one trip. Re-use them or, better yet, buy a “bag for life” and use that. Collectively, we use millions of plastic bags on a daily basis. Saving a couple bags here and there may not seem to make a difference, but as more and more people do this, the savings will mount up.

2. Re-cycle as much as you can. You probably already have a recycling collection service. If not, look out for recycling places local to you and drop off your newspapers, bottles, cans, etc next time you are passing. Don’t make a special trip though. For larger items, if they’re still usable then look up Freecycle for your local area. They offer a great way to give unwanted items a new, welcoming home.

3. Eat local produce. Especially if it’s bought fresh from a Farmer’s Market. You’ll notice the difference in taste. And if you buy just what you need (rather than the supersize pack your grocery store normally sells) it probably won’t cost much more. Plus you’ll save all those miles that the often tasteless food your grocery store stocks has been forced to travel.

4. Turn off unused appliances at the socket. Standby mode still uses lots of energy. Cut your fuel bills by turning off televisions and other items when they’re not in use. That includes your computer’s monitor as well. Screensavers only stop the screen from getting burned in images. Energy saving mode cuts power usage but nowhere near as much as the on/off switch does.

5. Wash your clothes at a lower temperature. Modern detergents work fine at lower temperatures. Or throw away the detergent in favor of Eco washing balls, saving on the fossil fuels that are used for most modern detergents as well as cutting your washing costs without compromising wash quality.

6. Turn down your thermostat in the winter (and turn it up in the summer if you use air-conditioning). One or two degrees difference is barely noticeable, except when the fuel bill arrives. When you get used to the new, lower temperature, turn it down another degree or two!

7. Compost waste if you have a garden, saving on fertilizer cost and giving your plants a treatment they’ll love.

For more easy to follow tips on how to live green check out my guide. There’s plenty of easy to use information that can often save you money as well as help save the planet when you start to live green without wearing a sack cloth and ashes.
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