Green Living is good stewardship of Mother Earth. Whether you believe Al Gore and his “Inconvenient Truth” or not, it really doesn’t matter. Green living is not about making drastic lifestyle changes that make life harder. It's about making small changes that add up over time. It’s a win/win proposition that benefits you, me, Mother Earth and your wallet!
Go Green. Go Beautiful!
So what’s not to like? Even if you think global warming is a bunch of “hooey,“ it’s hard to argue against taking care of Mother Earth. I’m sure everyone from members of the NRA to Greenpeace can agree that conservation is vital. Below are heaps of green living tips and ways to save the environment from Success Rules.
RULE #1: Make Your Commute “Greener”
Stimulate the economy one bus fare at a time! Ride a bus, bike or train to work. If you’re lucky, walk. Buy a motorcycle and ride to work! Riding a motorcycle is a lot more fun than riding in a car and you get to keep the independence of having your own vehicle. That and motorcycle gas mileage is so much better than that of a car! Green commuting is green living. Green Living is better fuel efficiency.
RULE #2: Green Living House and Work Rules
Take advantage of cool summer days & nights. Open a window. Let the breeze cool you. Install a ceiling fan or use floor fans to circulate air. Circulating air makes you feel cooler by taking advantage of the wind chill effect. Yes, a wind chill in the summer is gooood!
If you own a business, check out one of my favorite companies, Big Ass Fans. If you must use AC, use it only at night for sleeping or turn the temp to 72 rather than 68.
Winter Green Living. Your home loses most of its heat from windows and doors. Use 3M window treatments and caulk up to stop heat loss. One way to tell where you’re home is losing heat, is to use a candle. Light it, then blow it out. Hold the smoking candle up close to your window frame and watch the smoke. It’ll tell you where the heat is going.
-Turn the heat down to 68 or even 65 if you can stand it. Or at least turn it down at night while you’re under the covers.
-Wear a sweater.
-Alpaca Socks! I bought mine from a friend who doubles as an alpaca farmer. Think of Alpaca fiber as having all the goodness of wool, but none of the itchiness. It’s soft, luxurious and warm!
RULE #3: Save Electricity, Save the Environment
Harness sun power without a solar panel on your roof! Open shades, use residual light from other rooms to light up your place.
Even at high noon, some rooms in your home don't get any light. My bathroom is a perfect example. There are no windows in the room. However, when the timing works out, I like to shower with the bathroom door open. I get just enough natural sunlight from the hall to light up my shower. When you think about it, do you really need the lights on to shower? A little residual natural light goes a long way!
An even better idea is to install a skylight in your bathroom and other rooms without windows. Stimulate the economy and add a skylight!
CFL’s Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL’s) can last ten times longer and use 75% less energy than standard light bulbs! Wow! However, they also contain a little bit of mercury. Mercury is bad if the bulb breaks and gets on you or spills in your home. Contact the EPA if this happens. Also, when the CFL eventually burns out, don’t just throw them in the trash. Dispose of CFL’s properly by taking them to a hazardous waste disposal or recycling site.
Unplug Appliances. It turns out that just because the DVD player or coffee maker is off, it may still use electricity. It takes power to light up the clocks on your microwave, the LED on your cell phone charger and to power your computer in standby mode. I like to unplug appliances when they’re not in use. It’s easy enough to unplug the coffee maker and the floor fan when I’m not using them. I don’t use the clock on the coffeemaker to tell time. I simply plug it in and turn on the brew cycle.
Also, plugging certain hard to reach items into a power strip and then turning the strip off, has the same effect and is a lot easier than unplugging each individual item, like your computer, printer and monitor. Doing this, I’ve noticed a drop in my monthly electricity bill!
Go the extra mile! Learn about living off the grid.
RULE #4: Smart Grocery Shopping
Shoot! I thought getting paper over plastic was one way to save the environment at the checkout counter. I recently visited the "Mythbusters" site and learned that both paper and plastic aren’t that great for the environment. I suspect the cons to plastic are already well spoken for.
“While paper bags are made from a renewable, sustainable resource and are easily recycled, they require 40 percent more energy to manufacture, cause more air and water pollution in the process, and, because they are bulkier than plastic bags, use more energy to transport.” –Mythbusters.
Mythbusters goes on to say that the best way to carry your groceries home is to bring your own re-useable fabric shopping bag. At least I recycle my paper grocery bags and use them for garbage bags.
RULE #5: Save Water, Save the Environment…
... one gallon at a time. My mother-in-law once told me, “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.” Gross, but it saves water. That and we were having plumbing issues. Even if you already have a low consumption toilet, not flushing, Saves Water!
Green Living is Showering Smarter! Turn off the water in your shower while you lather up. Think of all the water you waste when you’re already wet… All you need is enough water to get wet and rinse off. In between, you’re soaping your beautiful physique and water may actually get in the way. You could also try showering every other day, or skipping showers on weekends.
More Ways to Save Water While Saving the Environment. Replace all your faucets and shower heads with aerators and low flow heads. Fix leaks!
Free water from the Gods! Collect rain water in buckets to water your garden. Turn off the faucet when you’re brushing your teeth, shaving and hand washing dishes. Bathe young children together. That’s still legal in this country right?
RULE #6: Help The Environment by Recycling
You can recycle darn near everything these days. From that junk car sitting in your driveway to printer cartridges, recycling today is so much more than paper, glass and aluminum cans.
Green Living Everyday
Saving the environment takes a conscious choice by you and everyone else. We can all contribute. Green living is simply, good stewardship of Mother Earth. It’s conserving our resources for future use. It’s keeping us healthy! If nothing else, saving the environment can save you money! Green living is important, easy and your Mother (Earth) will thank you.
"It's going to be fun to watch and see how long the meek can keep the earth after they inherit it." - Frank Hubbard (1868-1930)