Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Everything in Your Life

When you wake up, what's the first thing that you do? Most likely, it's head to the shower, or maybe make a pot of coffee. With your showers, you can reduce your water use through a low flow shower head, and by reducing the amount of time you're in the shower. After your shower, be sure to use an organic facial care product instead of using a harsh, chemical filled lotion or abrasive cleaner.

Wake Up Art Print

Next up, your coffee and breakfast. Compared to other meals of the day, breakfast uses less electricity and energy from the farmland to your plate. So where should you start to have a greener breakfast? Brewing up your own coffee can actually be a good thing. Go organic with your coffee and bring it to work in a reusable container, which you can also use for your water and other drinks. Fresh, locally grown fruit, eggs, along with vegetables in your morning omelette will taste better, fresher, and might even be cheaper.

Your work day could be one of the least green parts of your day. Why? We often opt for convenience and time saving techniques instead over saving energy and resources. Who can blame you? You're at work, and it's probably the last thing that you want to think about. What's the solution? A few reusable items for your workday, and a few small habits to break yourself into.

Instead of filling up a styrofoam cup at work, bring your own. You could even reuse your coffee travel mug (this will keep it cold, too). Next, you probably have some sort of snack at some point in the day. Are you snacking on small, individually wrapped 100 calorie packs or other snack portions? Not only are these bad for the environment, but they're bad for your wallet. Manufacturers charge an arm and a leg for the added convenience of mini snack bags. Portion out your own into reusable ziploc (or tupperware) food safe containers that snap on, and you can rewash the containers.

Lunchtime suffers from the same convenience based vices. Take out from local restaurants, sub sandwiches, fast food.. these all have an enormous amount of packaging, and most aren't all that healthy for you. Bringing your own lunch to work can change all of that. It adds up to huge savings, plus the food will be fresher. The problem most people have with bringing their own lunch is the time preparing it, and where to keep it during work hours. If you do not have a fridge, consider buying a freezepack (or two) along with a zippered insulated lunch case to keep your food cold. Even if you can reduce your takeout food intake, this will be a big step in the right direction. For those days that you do decide to get take out, you can opt for reusable bamboo utensils instead of the disposable ones. The other bonus of doing this is that they won't snap or break on you!

Salads Art Print

Reducing Energy Consumption at Work
It's hard to change policies of a company that you work for if you're not the guy in charge, but you can do a few little things to reduce your energy consumption during the day. Turning your computer off instead of putting it into sleep mode can save a lot of energy. Does your company have a suggestion box? Suggesting they add power strips that everyone needs to turn off before they leave for the day would save the company many dollars, and save some precious energy. You can also recycle your paper and use double sided printing, which will save more paper from being used.

Now, you might know where this is headed, but public transportation and carpooling are major ways that you can save money and energy on your work commute. Roughly a third of global emissions are caused by cars, especially cars that have bad gas mileage. Large SUVs often get the worst gas mileage. Small cars that have been maintained and hybrid vehicles get the best gas mileage, and emit the least.

Commuter Train Curves Homeward, Silver Spring, Maryland Photographic Print

Even better than driving into work is public transportation. Trains and buses will wind up saving you a lot of money in the long run. If you live in the city, you might even consider foregoing a car altogether (imagine that - no car insurance, no gas, no maintenance, no car payments!). If you're not living in the city and public transportation isn't an option, nor carpooling, maintaining your car so that it's performing properly and efficiently will give you car the best gas mileage and ensure a long healthy life for your vehicle.

What else can you do? Opt for windows instead of air conditioning when possible, use less heat in the winter, and use a dashboard cover to keep your car cooler in the hot summer months. This will protect your dashboard and save you from air conditioning the car. Also, parking in shady spots will help with this.

Reduce Art Print

You're only one person, and you can only do so much! Greening up your kids life will not only benefit the planet, but benefit your children and yourself. Kids can consume just as much as adults, you just might not realize it.

First, we'll start with babies. Disposable diapers are a giant source of waste, consisting of 10% of landfill waste by some estimates. They're also unhealthy for babies and cause severe irritation. Disposable diapers are loaded with chemicals that your baby's skin absorbs. Cloth diapers are the green solution and cost far less than disposable ones. You can even have a diaper service come to pick up and deliver new cloth diapers for your baby. Washing your own diapers is an even greener solution. You should also consider the impact some of the harsh ingredients on items like diaper cream might have on your baby's skin. Parabens and artificial fragrance (found in many diaper creams and baby products) can cause rashes, irritations, and other skin problems. Switching to a natural diaper cream and other organic baby products can save your baby from the irritation and chemical exposure.

Now, some tips on greening up your older kids. Children in school have the same day as you might have at work - they commute, they eat lunch and snacks, and they need a ride back. On their way to school, you can always try to carpool other children in your car, or have your child driven to school by another trustworthy parent. Try switching off weeks or days driving with the other parent(s). Cafeteria lunch at schools are often not all that healthy for your child, and not very green either. These carbohydrate and meat heavy meals lack some of the necessary nutrients found in vegetables and fruits that your children need. Providing a simple sandwich in a reusable container with lettuce, tomato, and a piece of fruit is a great way to reduce the amount of throwaway items, and keep them healthier.

Schools often have recycling programs in use, so they'll probably be recycling all of their paper, however, they're old homework papers can be recycled when they get home.

In many households, it's all about convenience and eating quick. The actual habit of eating quick has to go the way of the dinosaur. Fast eating is unhealthy for a number of reasons. First, your body needs time to tell you that you're full. Slow eating will let your stomach communicate with your brain to tell it to stop eating, and will prevent overeating. Second, slower eating will let you actually enjoy your meal, something we should all be doing. Third, slowing down during preparation and preparing your own meals instead of opting for TV dinners and take out will make you healthier.

One way to save time and still make your own dinners is to prepare a few meals in advance on a designated day of the week. For example, you could cook some lean chicken breasts, spinach, and carrots on Sunday nights and refrigerate or freeze the veggies. Simply throwing these items into a frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and some spices will create an instant meal.

Next, you should consider what you're eating. Upping your vegetable intake, lowering your meat intake, and lowering your carbohydrate intake can reduce your impact on the environment. Meats use ten times as much energy to farm as vegetables, and emit far more toxins into the air. Making more vegetable based recipes, as much as your kids might initially hate it, will have a great positive impact on your life.

Is it really possible to be greener when you sleep? Yes! In the summer, you might be inclined to use the air conditioner in the summer, and sometimes it's almost necessary. However, on those cooler nights, let in that cool air instead of indulging on the AC and let some fresh air into your home. Fresh air is also important to ventilate out toxins from VOC, plastics, and electronics.

In the winter, ventilation is also key. Creating air flow within the home can reduce your energy bill by moving the warm air around. This will let your thermostat properly gauge the temperature, and distribute warm air all over. This can be done through ceiling fans, as well as an occasional cracking of a window.

Your bedding is also another issue while your sleep. Mattresses contain many toxic substances, as mandating by the government to prevent fires. Buying an organic mattress, bed sheets, and pillows can prevent you from breathing in these toxins.

Reuse Art Print

Traveling is a time to relax, forget about work, and forget about anything strenuous. This is why it's so hard for many people to go green while traveling. Some people consider "going green" work, and it can be. For your vacationing, however, being green is quite simple. Book a hybrid for your rental car. Don't take the free soaps if you don't need them. Reuse your towels. Walk more often than you drive if possible. Eat more local produce. Now, go and enjoy your vacation!

Your pets don't know it, but they have a carbon footprint. We as owners are responsible for what they consume however, and can reduce that. First, think of what your pet is consuming. Food, cat litter, disposable dog poo bags, flea and tick treatments... these are all things your pet might be using up.

The solution is to find some green alternatives for what they're already consuming. Biodegradable pet poo bags, vegetables mixed into your pet's diet, and natural flea treatments are the obvious choices!

Your pet might actually be responsible for making you healthier as well. Dogs that require long walks can get you in shape and motivate you to walk. Studies have shown that stress levels become greatly reduced by having a pet in the home, which might prevent you from a doctor's visit down the line.

Exercising in itself is "green." If you can be healthier, your saving yourself from hospital and doctor's visits, which will save you time, save the doctor's time, and lead you to a healthier lifestyle that leads to less consumption. On the other hand, your exercise regiment might be consuming some electricity and gas to get to your local gym. In warmer months, why not get outside to exercise? Enjoy the weather, skip the treadmill, and find a place to run or walk outdoors. If you're into lifting weights, landscaping might be able to fulfill some of your regiment. You'll be saving a little bit of electricity, and maybe saving on your gym membership.

Recycle Art Print