Have you ever wondered what type of eco footprint you are leaving on our environment? You should..every day you are faced with opportunities to green this world- are you going to take them? Do you know when these opportunities present themselves? We have compiled these green tips to help you make smart, green decisions. Now you have no excuse… 🙂
Green Tips for everyday life
- Recycle– So many people want to make a positive impact on the environment, yet they don’t even recycle. Come on people!!! This one is easy!
- Buy energy efficient lights and replace every bulb in the house. It will give you a reason to dust those light fixtures.
- Don’t use plastic grocery bags. Carry your own bag to the store…now the spaghetti sauce won’t come flying out of those cheap plastic bags anymore. San Francisco just passed a ban on plastic bags so you will be ahead of the rest of the population when similiar laws are posted in your city.
- Stop buying bottled water and buy a plastic water bottle instead. Fill it with tap water, and you just saved a couple bucks and a plastic bottle from going to a landfill. In 1997 the Food and Agricultural Organization said that bottled water was not any cleaner than tap water, so don’t think that bottled water is all they crack it up to be.
- Opt-out of junk mail. This one tip will save TONS of trash from going to the landfill every year. Find more info on opting out here.
- Use leftover paint in your garage or basement to help spruce up a local park or school. Try creating a green mural with the leftovers and get the community involved.
- Use alkaline manganese batteries because they are free of toxic heavy metals. Better yet get some rechargeable batteries and save some money. They are also more environmentally friendly!
- Put all major devices in your home on a power strip. I have a master wall switch in every room that has a power strip connected to it. Before bed, all the switches get turned off except for the freezer, refrigerator, cable modem, telephone, and alarm clock.
- Pick up some solar chargers, generators, or other solar powered tools in our solar store. Try this Power Bar solar charger out for all your gadgets.
These tips DO make a difference, but they need to become habit in order to stick to your daily routine. Make up your mind to change the way you live and impact the environment.
I am going to try opting out of the junk mail. I get a ton.
I have been opting out for years. It saves literally pounds upon pounds of junk mail every year. Some of these direct mail companies won’t take no for an answer though. We will do a piece on how to stop them for good- there are some great tips for getting them to not send you their crap.
I came across these tips this morning, and I have to say that I am quite inspired. I am a 2nd grade teacher in Vermont, and I am showing my young students about how to protect the Earth. I love your suggestion about painting a local school! We need some work done in ours, and because of your tip, I am putting together a Earth Day program for our school that will get more of the local community involved. Thanks!
Kim
Some great tips here. I try to incorporate a new green tip into my life every week so I’ll definitely be adding some of these. You can find more great tips at http://www.skiblacklivegreen.com
I have just finished reading “Earth in the balance” by Al Gore. This has inspired me to really commit to greening my life. I have 3 kids so I am also trying to educate them. My youngest attends an ECO school, this is an ordinary primary school that has attained a high level of sustainability, recycling and other eco standards. I am going to try several of the tips from this site to improve my eco footprint.
These tips are great, but I want to one. 1. Get your school, work, and neighbors involved by organizing a community clean up day every two weeks and community tree plantings every 6 months. Remember to recycle when cleaning up.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.