Green Tips

You have the power to make the world a better place by reducing your negative impact on your environment. Here are some simple tips that will help you get started. In many cases, especially Energy Efficiency, these tips will also save you money!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Everyone knows this saying, but have you really thought about it? These action steps are listed in the order of importance.

• Step 1: Reduce. Do you really need that new plastic shiny thing? Maybe the one you have already is good enough for now. Do you really need all of the lights on in the house, or just in the room that you're in? Saving energy is a part of reducing.
• Step 2: Reuse. Many items that are usually thrown away or recycled can instead be reused. If you've already bought or made something, and it's still in good condition, why not reuse it? Glass bottles, plastic containers, bags from the store, even bigger items like construction materials, can often be reused.
• Step 3: Recycle. If you can't think of any way to reuse it, then recycle it. Recycling often takes more energy than reusing because you have to add heat or chemicals or labor to make the item into a new item. It's not as good as reusing — but it's better than throwing something away, because there is no such place as "away"! That item will go to a landfill — and eventually we'll run out of room for landfills!

Energy Efficiency

Energy use at home, in the workplace, and in your vehicle may be causing your biggest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems such as deforestation, mountaintop removal mining, and toxic chemicals in the water, soil, and air. Some of these problems can only be addressed by changing large economic and political institutions. But there are also many ways that you can do good for the environment by improving your personal energy efficiency. This is one of the best places to start greening your home or business because it will actually save you money!

• Lighting. Many homes and businesses still use incandescent bulbs. Switching to compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) saves energy and money. They cost a little more per bulb, but they last longer and save so much energy that they pay for themselves. LED bulbs are even more energy efficient. They cost more per bulb than CFLs, but they are the longest lasting and most energy efficient of all bulbs.
• Insulation. You may think of this most in the Winter, but insulation is important in the Summer too if you've got the air conditioner on! In addition to insulation in the walls and ceiling, you can also use caulk, insulating strips, and other methods to ensure that your doors, windows, and walls aren't leaking out energy. If you own your home, installing windows with double panes or similar insulating technologies can noticably improve your energy efficiency.
• Natural Light and Heat. The Sun is the source of all of our energy. In the summer, it may be providing us with too much energy! You can reduce your heating bills by using curtains or blinds to block any direct sunlight. This is especially helpful if you're off at work anyway during the hottest hours of the day and don't need the extra light. In the winter, letting in as much light as possible helps to heat the house. You can use "heat sinks" such as a tank of water or a stone floor to absorb this radiant light and heat up the room. Be sure to close the curtains at night, though, to prevent that heat from leaking out. Finally, if you have windows facing the south (for people in the northern hemisphere), you can maximize the benefits of natural light and heat using an awning. An awning of the right width will keep the sun out during the summer but let it in during the winter when the sun is lower in the sky
• Fuel Efficiency. Choosing a fuel efficient form of transportation is the first step. Bicycles, electric cars, hybrid cars, small cars, and cars or trucks with higher gas mileage will save you money and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases you're contributing to the environment. If you don't have the money to change your mode of transportation, you can improve your mileage by keeping your tires fully inflated and taking any unnecessary items out of the back seat or trunk.
• Energy Vampires. Many appliances consume energy while they're plugged in, even if they're turned off! These are called Energy Vampires. To fight energy vampires, you can put devices such as computers, televisions, stereos, and DVD players on a power strip and turn off the strip when you're not using these devices. You can also track down any other energy vampires by using a special device to read your energy use or simply unplugging everything in the house and seeing which devices keep your power meter turning.

Buy Less, Buy Local, Buy Green

Just like the Three R's mentioned above, these two ideas are expressed in order of importance.

The first step is to consume less. We're all happy to have abundance in our lives — but at what point does abundance become clutter that doesn't even make us happy?

The second step is very important. Buying local products and services has both social and environmental benefits. The social benefit is that you are stimulating the local economy and keeping money in your community rather than in the hands of some large corporation that doesn't even know your community exists. The environmental benefit is that you're not spending large amounts of fuel transporting that item halfway across the world.

If you've decided you need an item, and it's not made locally, then buy green. This includes several factors such as buying as close to local as possible, buying organic or ecologically-grown foods, buying from cooperatives or companies that produce their goods with a minimum of waste and pollution, etc.

Paper

Paper is another source of waste. Producing paper from trees requires a lot of energy, water use, and often logging of public forests. You can reduce junk mail, go paperless in your office, and use recycled paper when paper is called for.

Further Steps

For more tips like this, visit Green Living Tips.

Ultimately, each of us as an individual can only do so much. If we want to ensure that our generation leaves the planet in a healthier state than we found it, we have to work together toward this goal. Here are some suggestions on where to get started:

• Share this page with your friends.
• Talk to your friends about projects you can do together.
• Talk to your coworkers, employees, or boss about how your workplace can go green.
• Go to the public meetings of your town or city government and find out what they're doing for the environment.
• Read environmental news stories at Grist Magazine and elsewhere so that you can stay informed about bigger environmental issues.