Green Living Tips

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To be a Green Living person, simply: 1) Reduce the use of harmful products and wasteful consumption; 2) Re-Use by repurposing items giving them new life around  your home or office; 3) Giving or sell your unused items, so that they have a new life with someone else thus eliminating the other person's need to purchase new; and finally 4) Recycle what cannot be reused in the appropriate manner.

Can't do it all? No problem. 

Every single action or step, no matter how small, is one step in the right direction. Being Green is not a Revolution -- it is a personal, communal, national, and global evolution. No one is perfect, but when you act on these steps, they will soon become habitual. Before you know it, you are a GREENIE.

Here are some tips, although not an exhaustive list. Please add your ideas, successes, and challenges via the comments. I'd love to learn something new from you.

1. Shorten your shower – The less time your shower takes, the lower your impact on the environment. Every minute you cut from your shower is roughly 5 gallons of water saved. While serving in the U.S. Army, I learned how to take a Navy Shower in the field. Just wet yourself completely, turn off the water, lather, and then turn back on the water to rinse. I'm not advocating this for every shower, but just a few times a week can make a difference, especially if you take multiple showers a day due to going to the gym or other activities.

2. Recycle – If your community does not have curb side recycling, contact your local Garbage / Refuge center about where the closest recycling centers are and what the regulations are. Get a few large bins (plastic, metal, or recycle large cardboard boxes). Mark one for glass, another for paper, and the third for plastics. If space is tight in your home, use an extra bin to place all recyclable material in and have a weekly or bi-weekly sorting day. Get your kids involved! If using the single in-home container, teach them how to separate the recyclable materials into the separate containers once a week or as often as needed. Have the kids pull them to the curb or make a bi-weekly special trip to the Recycle Center nearest you. Many Recycle Centers return money based on weight. To keep the kids interested and motivated, let them keep this change or use it to pay for a special treat on the way home. Don't forget to rinse food from containers to keep out unwanted pests.

3. Turn down your thermostat while turning up the heat – According to many reports, for every degree lower in the winter or higher in the summer you set your thermostat translates to a 10 percent decrease on your energy bill. If your thermostat is an older Mercury based system, consider upgrading to a new electronic programable type. Most models allow you to program different temperatures at different times of the day. For example, in the winter it could be set to a cooler temperature while in bed and away at work, yet warming up in time for your return home. We live in Ohio where the winters can be cold. In the evenings, we stay warmer by wearing thick socks, sweat pants, and sweat shirts while the thermostat is just a degree or two lower. Houses with a fireplace can be a nice warm addition that is practical and romantic. If possible, convert wood burning fireplaces to gas to reduce wood consumption and raw carbon output. Want the warmth and romance with little renovation cost? Consider adding a alcohol based gel fireplaces that burn clean and can be added to any room without the need to add an exterior vent.  Just be sure to follow the manufacturers installation recommendations.

4. Turn Off / Change the lights– This is a no-brainer. Your parents always told you to turn off the lights when you leave the room. You may think they were wrong about a lot of things, but here they were spot-on. Lighting is responsible for 11 percent of your energy bills, so turn off all unnecessary lights when not needed. For those wanting an automatic solution, there are interior motion detectors that will turn on and off your lights. Look for ones that allow you to program the shut of interval so that your not stuck sitting in the rest room and the lights turn out. Sure, a wave of your arms will turn them on again... but I'd rather just program the time just a tad longer than I think we'll need.

   1. CFL Lights - Compact Florescent Lights (CFLs) are a little more costly than incandescent bulbs, but use 75 percent less electricity and last 5 times longer than incandescents, so the savings are quickly recouped. Note however that CFL lights require special recycling that most communities are not equipped to recycle them. Thus they may end up in the landfill more often than not.

   2. LED Lights – These are one of my own personal favorites. They are not only designed to retro fit into standard light outlets, they also will last up to 60 years and only use around 10 percent of the energy that an incandescent uses. These do have a bit of an up front investment over all other light options, but like CFLs, the return on investment is quickly realized. Many home super stores in the USA, such as Lowes and Home Depot, now carry LED lights. A quick Google search will return many web sites that carry them as well. I like them because a LED spot light projects a very clear white light, verses the normal incandescent yellow glow, making them great as spot lights for art work (hint, hint). When shopping for LEDs, it is important to note if you want it to be able to be dimmed – mood lighting. Many LED option now include softer white light if wanting a warmer light feel. Not all LED lights have these features. It if can be dimmed it should clearly say so on the package. Styles will also be clearly noted.

5. Stop receiving the phone book – Contact your local phone book distributor and request to be taken off their list. Instead of getting a paper phone book, use an online directory instead. 600 million phone books are delivered every year. That is a huge waste of trees. Sure you can recycle it as a paper product, but by opting out, it reduces the demand for the paper and ink being consumed and you'll enjoy a little more storage space. On line directories including www.YellowBook.com are great alternative, and they are updated throughout the year for current information. It's been at least 5 years since I've used an old school phone book. That's so 1990s. :-)

6. If you have a company list it in Google Places for FREE. (http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter?hl=en-US&gl=US) When on Google maps and searching for a local business you will notice many red dots and larger red map makers with a black dot. The second has claimed their business listing on Google Places providing rich directory and services type information to your Google Places page. A company name, location, hours of operation, custom fields, photos and video uploading makes this a great free business source. I use it.

7. Spring Clean any time of year – In the past I've moved around a lot due to my former corporate career, and each time I took the opportunity to purge a bit. This most recent move however really got us thinking. We lived in the same place for just four years yet had accumulated a massive amount of baby items for our then 2 year old son. This was the longest I've lived anywhere since I graduated from High School (so a long time). I was shocked to see how much we stored away in the garage, attic, closets – everywhere there was a nook or cranny place to stuff something. I'm sure many of you have stuff around your home or office that you aren't using for which there is no sentimental reasons for keeping. Being Green is about re-use – even the plastic toys might find use in another home versus being in a landfill or taking up your valuable storage space. Sun faded plastic toys can be given a new life with spray paints that bond to plastic making them attractive to the new prospective owner. Take things that you are not going to wear or use and give it to a charity or someone who will use it. Why not coordinate a whole block yard / garage sale to attract more shoppers? Also placing items on sites such as www.CraigsList.org for sale can help bring in a little cash for your used stuff. You can also give and get free stuff as a re-use on the Free Cycle Network. Naturally there are many organizations to also donate your good used items too.

8. Car wash – Go to a car wash. Not only is it more water efficient, it is also eco-friendly. When you wash your car in your driveway, the water goes directly into the storm drains which runs directly back into rivers and streams.

9. Buy Rechargeable Batteries – Even though it will take a good initial investment to buy these, you will find yourself gaining it back in no time. Not only do they have less of an impact on the environment, they are easier to recycle than alkaline batteries.

10. Pay your Bills Online – If every house in the US alone did this then we would save 18 million trees every year.

11. Get a reusable bag – Instead of opting for plastic bags at the local market, get yourself a few reusable bags so that you reduce your plastic waste. If you live near water ways you then reduce the chance of them polluting the waters. We recently moved from Los Angeles County, California. I was so impressed with the amount of care the county and cities took to reduce street waste from entering the ocean. To such end LA County recently passed a County-wide ban of plastic shopping bags. See: L.A. County plastic bag ban clears first hurdle; LA County passes plastic bag ban; Los Angeles County Plastic Bag Ban Applied Unevenly.

12. Inflate your Tires – For every 3 pounds below the recommended tire pressure, your fuel efficiency drops by 1 percent. So keep them inflated to use less gas and extend the life of the tires.

13. Plant a Tree – TreeHugger is not a dirty word! It is good for the air, it can keep you cool, and it can increase your property value. And the more tress you plant, the more green house gasses it will offset. Be sure to plant it due South of your home so that it blocks the sun by casting a shadow on your home during the summer. When Winter rolls around, fallen leaves allow sun light through to warm the home. This is also a basic first step when creating a Solar Home.

14. Walk or Ride Your Bike When you can – If you have to go somewhere close consider riding your bike or walking there instead of your car. It is better on the environment and healthier.

Please comment with additional Green Living Tips that you've used and find useful. I'd love to have this an on-going dialog and learn from you.

Remember that being GREEN is not a revolution, it is an EVOLUTION and every small step and action you take is important and builds overtime to an effortless lifestyle where you reduce your impact on the environment while maintaining a level of modern comfort and conveniences too.