Green Living - Is It A Simple Thing To Accomplish?

By Peter Brill


People frequently think that it is too hard to adapt their lifestyle to be more earth friendly. The truth, though, is that it is not difficult and even by doing relatively modest things you can bring down your carbon footprint and make a good impact on our environment.

Unhooking electric appliances when they're not being used is one way you can begin to live a greener life. You may not realize that even when something is switched off, it still consumes a minute amount of electrical energy which leads to higher energy consumption. While you may find it tough, eventually you will be able to do it without thinking and in the process save yourself some money.

After you get home from grocery shopping, don't throw away the bags that you used to carry your store buys. Make sure you take them with you when you go to the grocery again. This way you will be cutting down the amount of bags that you use montly which in turn will not only save you money (particularly if you have to purchase the bags each time) but will also mean less rubbish is being generated that could potentially contribute to pollution. Don't forget that you can easily use these bags to carry other items from place to place.

You can further bring down your carbon footprint by not driving too often. It is understandable that you may want to drive to your job, the store or even visit friends and family but there are frequently times when you can car pool (use one car for several people) or simply walk. When you drive less, you produce less pollution and can also save some money. This is one area where you can absolutely save a lot of the money you spend on rising fuel costs.

Although there are numerous ways to decrease pollution, one thing that instantly comes to my mind is the water bottles that are bought in large numbers all over the world. The water in these bottles may be safer than tap water but they cause a considerable amount of pollution as they are usually tossed after just being used once. If you wish to continue drinking bottled water then go ahead. It's a good idea, nevertheless, to recycle the bottles as much as possible. You may be wondering just how you're going to be able to do that. You can get a water filter that you can use in your water bottles and you can store the bottles in the fridge for the next use. Again, similar to the other examples previously, this will cut down your impact on the environment as a result of less potential pollution and will also save you money.

All in all, I am certain that you can see that all these things are kind of little changes but collectively they can contribute to make a great difference, both making you more eco-friendly and also lowering your monthly spendings. Green living, therefore, is not that hard when you take the first step to changing your purchasing habits.




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