Small changes in our every day life count. Tomorrow is the Earth Day, but make changes in your lifestyle to make every day an Earth Day. I am hoping that Earth Day will inspire you to not just think about environment for one day, but to switch to a more sustainable lifestyle. Green living also impacts directly to your wallet, and saves you money, leaving more of it for fun. I make all of my purchasing decisions thinking how long I will use the product and what I will do with the product after I no longer need it, and have a plan for the product’s cycle. Not just that – I also think how products are packed, and if there is a lot of packaging that will end up in trash, I simply just won’t buy the product, or always choose the product that is packed in material I can recycle.
Also, if you want your children to be environmentally responsible when they grow up, you’ve got to teach them while they’re still young and be an example. My parents are a text book example of people who care about environment and they taught me about recycling and how to make smart choices already when I was a kid. Now it doesn’t feel like it’s a hassle – it feels like natural lifestyle. Even if you didn’t grow up composting and recycling, you can start it and be an example for the next generations in your family.
Here are some easy tips what to do to save the earth, one small thing at the time.
1. Turn off lights and appliances at the wall when not in use, it is an easy way to reduce wasted energy and carbon. If you switch off just one appliance at the wall you could save 99 pounds of greenhouse gas!
2. Stop using plastic containers. Every bottle you throw in the trash sits in a big pile at the local dump – think if we could eliminate it.
3. Layer up – or take one layer of clothing off. Simply by using warmer clothing during winter and less during summer you can get yourself used to not using the air-conditioning as high, nor the heat as high during winter time. Use extra blanket in your bed in the winter, and switch to only using a flat sheet as a blanket for summer nights.
4. Use candles for light, and fireplace and sunlight to warm up a room. Open blinds and drapes on a sunny but chilly day and enjoy the glorious warmth that pours in through the windows. Light up fireplace to warm the room, and use candles for ambiance, light and for saving energy.
5. Watch your water use. Only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water, and of that, two-thirds is frozen in glaciers and polar ice-caps. Turn off the water while brushing teeth, and take shorter showers. Sharing shower with your husband can be… fun, and eco-friendly too.
6. Walk more, use public transportation or car pool. Buses and trains ease congestion, reduce emissions, and walking is not just eco-friendly, but also good for you! If these options are not possible, maybe you can car pool? reduces emissions, saves money and can also be fun to share your daily commute with someone.
7. Take a reusable cloth bag when you go shopping or at least reuse the plastic shopping bags as trash bags. Did you know that American use 380 billion plastic bags every year? In addition to being manufactured from non-renewable fossil fuels, plastic bags degrade extremely slowly.
8. Buy local, seasonal produce. Food produced locally costs less to process and transport, and it’s fresher and better for you.
9. Cut down on meat. Try to eat a little bit less meat by having one extra vegetarian meal each week. It takes only about 723 gallons of water to produce 2.2 pounds of wheat, but 3250 gallons of water to produce 2.2 pounds of beef.
10. Start a compost. Almost 75 per cent of household waste is compostable. Composting not only saves landfill space, but recycles material and saves money on fertilizers. Worms to speed up the process. The “garbage” literally becomes rich dirt that you spread around to make your garden grow.
Small changes in our every day life count. Tomorrow is the Earth Day, but make changes in your lifestyle to make every day an Earth Day. I am hoping that Earth Day will inspire you to not just think about environment for one day, but to switch to a more sustainable lifestyle. Green living also impacts directly to your wallet, and saves you money, leaving more of it for fun. I make all of my purchasing decisions thinking how long I will use the product and what I will do with the product after I no longer need it, and have a plan for the product’s cycle. Not just that – I also think how products are packed, and if there is a lot of packaging that will end up in trash, I simply just won’t buy the product, or always choose the product that is packed in material I can recycle.
Also, if you want your children to be environmentally responsible when they grow up, you’ve got to teach them while they’re still young and be an example. My parents are a text book example of people who care about environment and they taught me about recycling and how to make smart choices already when I was a kid. Now it doesn’t feel like it’s a hassle – it feels like natural lifestyle. Even if you didn’t grow up composting and recycling, you can start it and be an example for the next generations in your family.
Here are some easy tips what to do to save the earth, one small thing at the time.
1. Turn off lights and appliances at the wall when not in use, it is an easy way to reduce wasted energy and carbon. If you switch off just one appliance at the wall you could save 99 pounds of greenhouse gas!
2. Stop using plastic containers. Every bottle you throw in the trash sits in a big pile at the local dump – think if we could eliminate it.
3. Layer up – or take one layer of clothing off. Simply by using warmer clothing during winter and less during summer you can get yourself used to not using the air-conditioning as high, nor the heat as high during winter time. Use extra blanket in your bed in the winter, and switch to only using a flat sheet as a blanket for summer nights.
4. Use candles for light, and fireplace and sunlight to warm up a room. Open blinds and drapes on a sunny but chilly day and enjoy the glorious warmth that pours in through the windows. Light up fireplace to warm the room, and use candles for ambiance, light and for saving energy.
5. Watch your water use. Only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water, and of that, two-thirds is frozen in glaciers and polar ice-caps. Turn off the water while brushing teeth, and take shorter showers. Sharing shower with your husband can be… fun, and eco-friendly too.
6. Walk more, use public transportation or car pool. Buses and trains ease congestion, reduce emissions, and walking is not just eco-friendly, but also good for you! If these options are not possible, maybe you can car pool? reduces emissions, saves money and can also be fun to share your daily commute with someone.
7. Take a reusable cloth bag when you go shopping or at least reuse the plastic shopping bags as trash bags. Did you know that American use 380 billion plastic bags every year? In addition to being manufactured from non-renewable fossil fuels, plastic bags degrade extremely slowly.
8. Buy local, seasonal produce. Food produced locally costs less to process and transport, and it’s fresher and better for you.
9. Cut down on meat. Try to eat a little bit less meat by having one extra vegetarian meal each week. It takes only about 723 gallons of water to produce 2.2 pounds of wheat, but 3250 gallons of water to produce 2.2 pounds of beef.
10. Start a compost. Almost 75 per cent of household waste is compostable. Composting not only saves landfill space, but recycles material and saves money on fertilizers. Worms to speed up the process. The “garbage” literally becomes rich dirt that you spread around to make your garden grow.
