Going green has many benefits: it benefits the Earth by cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the use of natural resources, and reducing our impact on natural spaces. Luckily, going green is both easy and economical. There are simple things that you can do today that will make a big impact on the World as well as on your household budget.
1. Change Your Light Bulbs
A "normal" light bulb is known as an incandescent light bulb. You probably use incandescent bulbs to light most areas of your home. The trouble with incandescent light bulbs is that they generate a high level of heat while running, which wastes a lot of electricity. Thus, they are very inefficient.
Comparatively, fluorescent bulbs create light without generating heat. This allows them to be much more efficient and produce between 50 and 100 lumens per watt, making them four to six times more efficient than incandescent bulb. They also last much longer than incandescent bulbs.
Replacing your bulbs is simple. The next time one blows, simply note the wattage on the incandescent bulb and visit your local hardware or lighting store. Fluorescent light bulbs are marked to indicate their actual wattage and the comparable wattage to an incandescent bulb. This means that if you had a 60-watt incandescent bulb, you can buy a fluorescent bulb marked as 15-watts (equivalent to 60-watts incandescent).
Once all of your bulbs are replaced, you will notice a significant cost-savings in your energy bill. This is a truly win-win situation, as you will also have the added benefit of replacing your bulbs less frequently!
2. Switch to Low-Flow Shower heads
Water is a precious resource that is limited in many regions of the U.S. This natural resource is increasingly affected by our population growth: the EPA reports that the public demand for water has more than tripled since 1950.
One of the largest household uses of water is showering: the average shower takes 10 minutes and 20 gallons of water. Significant progress has been made towards creating low-flow shower heads that feel just as powerful as regular shower heads but can cut water use by 25% to 60% and reduce annual water bills by almost $100 for an average family of four people. These cost (and environmental) savings include both the use of water and the energy cost of heating it.
Installing low-flow shower heads is simple to do. Simply visit your local home improvement center and choose from the many options available.
3. Recycle
The reasons for recycling are many. First, recycled materials allow us to conserve land and use less energy to harvest virgin natural resources. Secondly, significantly less energy is required to create a recycled product as compared to refining a product from raw materials. Aluminum is one of the best examples: it takes 95% less energy to create it from recycled materials. Thirdly, recycling cuts down on the space and resources required for landfills.
The ease of recycling varies based on where you live. Some cities have curbside recycling bins that require you to separate items, others have you place all items in a single bin, and some cities have not yet adopted a curbside recycling program, which means that you may need to take your recycling items to a recycling center.
Typical items that can be easily recycled include paper, aluminum and glass. Plastic containers, bags and packaging can be difficult to recycle, so you have to check for the recycling code on the packaging. Better still - reuse plastic bags, or avoid them altogether, as much as possible.
Some cities pay for certain recyclable materials, so check with your local recycling center to see if you can financially benefit from your good deeds.
By taking these three simple steps, you can greatly reduce your impact on the Earth, while also making a positive impact on your wallet. There are many resources available online through government agencies to help you make green decisions about your household - check them out!
Copyright (c) 2008 Virginia Ginsburg
Green living is no longer a vague term known only by environmentalists. One of the ways we know that an important social trend has hit the big time is when major consumer providers adopt the term. Just about every major influencer in our society from Walmart to national broadcasting networks, are using the term to promote products and attract audiences. Green living is a welcome lifestyle that individuals, families and companies are choosing to ensure that the things they do and the products they use have as little an impact on the environment as possible. One of the best ways that you can build this thinking into your lifestyle is to live in a community that subscribes to green living.
If you are among the population of people who live a green lifestyle as a member of a rural community, you are in a good position. I would suggest, however, that you think about ways you can support a lifestyle movement that seeks to protect rural areas of our country (like your community), by making the more urban areas more livable, sustainable and green. This movement is here and it is strong and it is called new urbanism. New urbanism is a movement affecting areas where most of us live, including those in the suburbs and city centers.
One of the key threats to our beautiful rural areas and farming communities is the spread of urban development. New urbanism seeks to contain that spread by encouraging the development of communities that can accommodate more people. I'm not talking about increased high rises and ugly housing complexes. I'm referring to the development of lovely and affordable urban houses, town homes and condos/apartments that reflect the beautiful architecture and unique detail of those neighborhoods that were created in America before World War II.
New urbanism neighborhoods are found in newly built developments and renovated communities both in the suburbs and older city centers. This new mindset has taken almost 20 years to take root in our national psyche. It is at its essence a straightforward, fundamental focus on changing where we live to improve our quality of life. We are tired of choosing or rating successful neighborhoods based on the largeness of the yard or house. Life is much more than that.
In the new urbanism mind set, quality of life is defined by how our environments affect our emotions and our ability to live a life according to sustainable, healthy values and core life priorities. New urbanists believe that if we can develop more communities that make it is easy to enjoy green living, working and socializing right in our own neighborhood we can make a positive impact on our environments.
Benefits of New urbanism communities:
? New urbanism will contribute to less vehicular pollution by making it easier for people to find employment close to where they live or to establish their own businesses at or close to home. New urbanism communities, because of their location near or close to population centers, have the technological and business resources to support entrepreneurs and a wide range of businesses.
? Communities that subscribe to new urbanism principles attract residents who want to live a green lifestyle so it will make it easier for you or your family to adopt green lifestyle practices.
? The greenbelts surrounding your city or suburban area will be better protected if new urbanism communities in your region thrive since new urbanism encourages home buyers and renters to choose existing urban centers over new developments on large lots in shrinking rural regions.
New urbanism provides the structure needed to influence the largest percentage of our populations in North America and around the world.
Both Virginia Ginsburg & Sharon Mcmillan are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Virginia Ginsburg has sinced written about articles on various topics from Family, Health and Pets. Virginia Ginsburg specializes in research related to ecologically-sound life and business practices. She writes about green living and socially-conscious investing. Her company, Green Baby Gifts. Virginia Ginsburg's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.
Sharon Mcmillan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Food and Drink, Parenting and Careers and Job Hunting. Sharon McMillan is a writer and advocate for the healthy ?new urbanist? lifestyle. She's a suburban mom of two who has developed a career around marketing and promoting healthy productive communities for families and businesses. If you have comments or qu. Sharon Mcmillan's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.