Start Living Green in the New Year

“Green Living, Going Green, Eco-Friendly, and Environment Footprints.” These topics have become so popular newsletters, tips, websites, blogs and even reality shows are constantly being launched to educate the masses on how we can save the planet. Though some people have adopted solutions such as wearing organic clothing or buying eco-friendly cars, there are a number of things you can implement on a smaller level to start off the New Year by living green.

Turn Off Appliances. People are generally conscientious about saving electricity; however, there is still a great deal of effort that needs to go into eliminating phantom electricity – a/k/a standby power. This is the energy that is silently used when your electrical appliances are on standby, such as with TV’s, laptop chargers, coffee pots, AC’s and many other home appliances. Although the individual amount of consumption is negligible the aggregate amount can add up to 22 percent of all appliance consumption. If you don’t want to walk around the house shutting off different appliances with the remote or power button, another simple solution for conservation of energy is turn off the appliances from the main power switch before walking out of the door.

Use Eco-Friendly Products. If you’re willing to be a green consumer the benefits to the environment are endless. There is no limit to the power consumers have when making educated decisions on the products they purchase. By showing industries that consumers are only going to buy products which are healthy for the environment, companies will be forced to change their manufacturing strategies along with the final product. Being a green consumer is quite simple. Try buying products with little or recycled packaging along with those that cause little pollution to produce. Educate yourself by finding out about the companies you regularly buy from and make sure they have some form of environment friendly goal or statement on their website.

Educate the Kids. Along with educating yourself you should educate your children on adopting a green lifestyle, as well. Instilling the importance of green living at an early age will ensure that children grow up to be responsible adults who will carry on the effort that you started. The enthusiasm of children is a great trait to use in getting them involved in activities such as recycling, ‘electricity monitoring’ duty, or even starting an organic garden at home or at school.

Recycle, reduce, reuse. Recycling was perhaps the first smart step taken by most people in saving the environment and truly living green. With more and more green living tips available the importance of this simple and proven step is sometimes forgotten. Other than the standard recycling of plastic, paper, and glass in recycling bins it is important to remember that glass bottles can be recycled in the kitchen, paper can be reprinted on, and even food scraps can be recycled to make compost for the garden. Keep your creative mind open in other ways to recycle everyday items at home; almost everything can have a second life.

Healthy Eating and Drinking. The choices you make for food and drink consumption may not seem to be the most obvious ways to live green but taking little steps such as decreasing the frequency of eating out, drinking less soda, and drinking filtered tap water or buying water in large bottles will significantly reduce your carbon footprint on the Earth. Buying things at the local farmer’s market not only increases your green living style but also supports the farmers as well.

There are many ways you can become a smarter, more proactive citizen of the Earth. The small steps taken each individual will help solve the puzzle to saving the environment. Keep yourself up to date with other simple techniques that can be implemented both at home and in the office. For more green living tips check out the article, Which is Greener? for some interesting and economical ways to reduce your carbon footprint.