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RSS5 Easy Ways To Go Green
GreenWerks | 
Dec 27th, 2011 | 
While there are many simple ways to green your lifestyle we selected a five ideas for your to take a look at, let us know what your favorite ways to green are in the comments.
Save Bags
When the girl at the register asks “Paper or plastic” it should be to your delight that you can say “Neither!”
The number of plastic bags that we use when we buy groceries is amazing. Just think about it – me, buying for one person, I would accumulate 5 plastic bags for groceries every two weeks, which is 10 a month, which is 120 a year! Just for one person…and one person who doesn’t buy too many groceries, either!
There are a lot of pretty nasty things that happen because of plastic bags, too – that’s why it’s called “plastic pollution“. It’s not pretty. And transitioning from plastic bags to reusable bags for groceries and other sundries is easy. Stores make it easy, these days, to buy reusable bags – many only cost 99 cents.
And then you can be like me and hoard a bunch of reusable bags in your trunk and forget to grab them when you go grocery shopping…and have to use plastic bags anyway. But hey, we all have our senior moments. Nobody is perfect, so don’t hold yourself to an unattainable standard.
From personal experience, though, I can tell you that save for a few forgetful days, the transition from plastic to reusable is one of the easiest things that you can do – and I’ve never looked back.
Save Gas
Did you know that every gallon of gas that you burn produces 19 pounds of carbon dioxide? Yeah, neither did I!
There are a lot of ways to save gas – and that includes calming your driving habits! If you’re an aggressive driver or tend to have a lead foot, you could be burning even more than that. Don’t live a left-lane highway life.
But there are smaller ways that you can save gas as well – figure out ways to get all your errands done with just one stop, or if you can find a way to get things locally and walk or bike to wherever you need to go, that’s a great way to conserve gas as well – though it’s not something that is feasible for everyone, unfortunately.
Save Electricity
Do you have a vampire in your house? Probably…and not just if you have a teenage daughter rabidly a part of “Team Edward.” Unused electronics will still sap a lot of energy from the outlets when they are plugged in but not in use – think about all those gadgets that you have plugged in when you aren’t home – your computer, your TV, your shiny new tablet or e-reader…all those are an energy suck. Unless you need to charge these items, unplug them when you aren’t around!
It’s also quite amazing how much energy you save when you simply turn out the lights when leaving a room – lighting is responsible for over 10% of a typical home energy bill. You can also take bigger steps, like line drying your laundry (if, of course, you own the appliances) or using a toaster oven rather than a traditional oven for your smaller heating needs.
Shop Local
There is more to shopping local than it simply being convenient. Not only does shopping local support your own community and local farmers (which means that they won’t have to slowly sell off their land for development) it also means that you are contributing less to the energy that would be used to transport food from further away – you aren’t responsible for the refrigerated transport trucks or anything of that sort.
Plus, your food will probably taste better!
Water Savvy
Along the same lines of saving bags is not saving water – but being smart about how you buy and use water. The majority of water you drink is bottled and sold. Plastic bottles accumulate, and plastic bottle caps are just as dangerous to the environment as the water bottles themselves – perhaps more so, because they can present a choking hazard to many animals. And most of them are made from petroleum…and less than 20% get recycled.
So the next time you go out to run errands – take these simple steps into consideration, and you’re well on your way to reducing your carbon footprint.
Jackie Ryan is a freelance writer who works with a company that does their best to help take care of the environment by providing rubbermaid recycle bins and relevant advice to those who are looking for some tips on how to get started in their workplace or their home.
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Plus the local market provides fresher and healthier food. My wife and I makes it a point to always serve fresh and healthy food on the table so as the children will also follow such eating habit.
Perhaps every community should organize a campaign that will inform the people on how to keep the surroundings clean and green and the importance of having an eco-friendly environment.