Preserve the Future of Our Planet for the Next Generations
Consider the following: Going green is the most important issue that will shape our future-we have reached a tipping point on the environment. Going green is about our kids, our families, our lives. Investing in green will be to the twenty-first century what investing in technology was to the twentieth century. If you do one green thing today, it will lead to more. So take some action now.
This lens will cover many sound Go Green Tips. In this lens you can find out what can you do as an individual to become greener. Living green is about consuming less, sharing more and enjoying life.
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Go Green Tip #1: Find Your Litter Factor
Small changes such as not buying coffee in a disposable cup or water in a plastic bottle not only are good for your wallet, they actually better the planet. Every year, Americans drink more than 100 billion cups of coffee. Of these, 14.4 billion are served in disposable paper cups, enough to wrap the earth 55 times if placed end to end. Plus, those paper cups contain a plastic lining made from a petrochemical that would produce enough energy to heat 8,300 homes for a year.North Americans spent 15 billion on bottled water in 2006. Stop now, 9 of 10 of these plastic water bottles are simply thrown away, filling our landfills and blowing into our waterways. Is bottled water healthier? Federal standards are higher for tap water than for bottled water. 24 percent of the bottled water we drink (nearly one in four bottles) is actually tap water repackaged by Coke and Pepsi. Pepsi's brand is Aquafina and it costs nearly 2,500 times more than what comes out of your faucet. San Francisco has banned city employees from using tax dollars to purchase bottled water at work, and other cities are following suit.
Go Green action steps:
* Bring your own coffee cup
* Get a reusable water bottle and fill it with water from your tap
The newest generation of reusable water bottles is from SIGG and from Klean Kanteen (stainless steel bottle).
Go Green Tip #2: Paper or Plastic?
The best answer for the planet is No, thank you. One of the easiest things you can do to save the Earth is to bring your own bags to the grocery store. The positive impact of skipping bags is huge. Between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are used every year worldwide. As many as 30 billion of them end up as litter-making their way into our oceans, killing birds, marine mammals, and sea creatures by the millions. That's because man-made plastics photodegrade, which means that sunlight breaks them down into smaller pieces, perfect for wildlife to mistake for food. And they don't biodegrade, meaning they stick around for thousands of years. Several countries have banned or taxed the use of plastic bags including Ireland, Australia, and South Africa. San Francisco banned them in March, 2007.Go Green Action Step
Bring your own bags to the store when you shop. Visit www.reusablebags.com for facts on reusable bags and other eco-friendly packaging, plus a store that offers reusable bags and water bottles that make great gifts. Get your own Reusable Eco-tote.
Link to Help You Calculate Your Carbon Footprint
- Live Earth
- Take 3 minutes to get your Live Impact score and create your ECP account and get started on creating your personal plan! Be part of the solution to the climate crisis!
- Zero Footprint Offsets
- Offsetting is an interim measure that we use to deal with our ecological impact that is difficult to avoid. For example, if your business requires travel and travel is not yet "green", what do you do? You offset the impact with real, tangible, additional benefits to the environment. Offsets in this way sets a price for the services the environment provides and that our economy doesn't reward.
Go Green Tip #3: Drive Smart, Finish Rich
Nothing will improve the planet quicker than the decisions you make about what you drive and how you drive.According to the Federal Highway Administration, we use 8.2 million barrels of oil per day to fuel the 24.1 million cars and trucks that are on the road in the United States. Burning all that fuel fills the air with 1,300 million tons of CO2 each year. The United Nations Human Development Report of 2007 reported that the automobile sector accounts for 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries.
What can you do? Changing what you drive and how you drive it can save you a small fortune, clean up the air we breathe, and help to turn the tide on global warming.
Go Green Action Steps
* Increase your fuel economy
Find out what mileage you are currently getting. Visit the EPA's Green Vehicle Guide to check your car's mileage. Find a list of the greenest cars here.
* Upgrade to a hybrid
If you drive 15,000 miles per year, a hybrid that gets 45 mpg will use 417 less gallons of gas per year than a standard car at 20 mpg.
* Maintenance matters
Keeping your tires properly inflated, getting a tune-up, eliminating all unnecessary cargo (weight) and avoiding aggressive acceleration and braking can increase your gas mileage by up to 30 percent.
* Get rid of a car
If your household income is $50,000 and you own two cars, you're working four months out of the year just to pay for them! If every family in the United States gave up one car, it would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by around 413 billion pounds a year. (Go to "The real cost of car ownership calculator" at www.bikesatwork.com or www.commutesolutions.com.
* Skip a Trip
40 percent of all car trips we make in the United States are less than two miles. Hike or bike the trip. If every person in the United States cut out just one car commute per week by carpooling or taking public transportation, we'd reduce carbon emissions by 149 million tons.
More Green Tips will be added pretty much weekly so check back regularly. Go ahead, turn over a new leaf!
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Go Green Tip # 4: Buy in Bulk As Much As Possible
Check out the bulk-bin aisle at your supermarket (Whole Foods & Vitamin Cottage are great) to dispense dry goods like pasta, rice, cereal, nuts, dried fruit, and spices into your own bags, at much lower prices per unit.
Go Green Action Steps
Join a bulk buying club (Costco, Sam's club, etc)
Find a supermarket like Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage that offer organic foods in big bins
Check out www.vegfamily.com or search co-op food buying
Go Green Tip #5: Plant Trees or Shrubs
Here's an incredibly simple way to save on energy costs. Strategically planting trees and shrubs to shade your home can lower surrounding air temperatures during warm summer months by up to 9 degrees Fahrenheit-and can reduce your wall and roof temperatures by 20 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, keeping your home naturally cooler. In winter, trees can function as windbreaks as well, reducing your heating bill.The average home could save between $150 and $250 on energy costs-simply with smart landscaping. There are lots of other reasons to plant trees. Besides providing food and housing, for insects, birds, and other backyard wildlife, trees protect against erosion and clean the air as they soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Choose species that are either native to or well-suited for your location.
Go Green Action Steps
Go to www.eere.energy.gov/consumer to learn about regional considerations for tree planting. Click on landscaping.
Go to www.nrel.gov for the National Energy Lab's guide "Landscaping for Energy Efficiency" type landscaping into the search box
Go to www.arborday.org The Arbor Day Foundation is offering ten free shade trees when you purchase an annual membership for $15.
Go Green Tip #6: Get an Energy Audit
Go Green Action Steps
Use the ENERGY STAR Home Energy Yardstick to compare your home's energy efficiency with that of similar homes across the country. Go to www.energystar.gov and click on "Home Improvements".
To find a professional in your area who will conduct an energy audit, start with the local utility company or check the Yellow Pages under "Energy". Be sure to check them out with the BBB. A professional energy audit can cost from $50 on up.
You can do a scaled down energy audit yourself. Visit the Consumer's Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at www.eere.energy.gov and click on "Energy Audits" in the quick links section.
Green Tip # 7: Eat Less Meat
You probably know that eating less meat is better for your health-but did you know that it's better on the environment, too? Methane from captive livestock accounts for nearly a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans.A 2006 study called "Diet, Energy and Global Warming," by two University of Chicago geophysicists, concluded than switching from a "Standard American Diet" to a vegetarian diet takes a bigger bite out of global warming than trading in your SUV for a hybrid car!
Go Green Action Steps
Go vegetarian one extra day a week. There are thousands of easy-to-prepare, tasty, meat-free recipes on the web. Start at www.vegweb.com.
Find more recipes, plus read more about meat's impact on the environment, at www.goveg.com under "Environment." Click on "Recipes" for menus, nutrition information, and tips on eating meat-free.
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Green Consciousness Reader Feedback
monarch13 wrote...
You are one of The Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Group Member Excellence Award Nominees!
Congratulations and Good Luck!
Posted October 15, 2008
monarch13 wrote...
Great tips! Thanks for supporting the Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Group. 5 stars. Dont forget to add it to the Earth Wise Plexo :)
Posted October 15, 2008
Caseyfern wrote...
5* and rollling to my Micro-Green lens. Thanks for the tweet that let us know of this.
Posted October 11, 2008
lakeerieartists wrote...
Very nice lens. Welcome to Living the Green Organic Lifestyle.
Posted October 11, 2008
Ener-G wrote...
Love this lens. I don't always remember to take my recycled bags to the grocery store but I always ask for a box for my groceries, almost every store has them leftover from their merchandise. I get a D- for not using my own water bottle and coffee mug. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted October 05, 2008
