How to Go Green at Home and Work?

Each year we should strive to make a better effort in preserving our planet! Plus, going green is much simpler than you could ever imagine. An environmentally friendly lifestyle can not only fit into any budget but it can also progressively reduce your carbon footprint by tenfold. Just think if we all collectively made an effort to reduce our carbon footprint every day, little by little, our CO2 emission overage could diminish entirely. Each day you can make small steps to go green at home and in your workplace with a few effortless changes. Below you will find a few simple suggestions to turn your life green; maybe even others lives too!

Green Life

Suggestions for Going Green at Home

  • The easiest place to begin going green at home is to recycle. You can purchase or even possibly make a separate trash can for recyclables only. If you want to take it a step further you can create a few separate recycle bins; one for glass, plastic, and paper.
  • A couple no brainer ways to be more green at home is to always turn off the lights when you are not occupying a room, make sure to unplug all appliances while they are not in use, and turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth. Not to mention take shorter showers!
  • Do not throw out food but rather utilize your leftovers! Leftovers can easily be placed in safekeep containers to eat later on in the week or possibly freeze them for another occasion entirely. Starving kids all over the planet would give anything for those leftovers, so please do not take them for granite. (Beeswax wrap is also a great food storage alternative that is eco-friendly.)
  • Utilizing energy efficient CFL light-saving bulbs in all of your household fixtures will not only help the environment but it will also cut down your electricity bill.
  • Reuse, reuse, reuse!!! When you reuse, you reduce and that is the main goal – to reduce our CO2 footprint. So, reuse your glass water bottles, jam jars and dispensers. Also utilize reusable cloth napkins instead of wasting paper with one time use products.
  • Cancel your newspaper subscription! The production of hard copy newspaper adds to our current problem of deforestation and does not need to occur when we have the option to read the news digitally through smartphones, tablets, laptops, and computers. All of your billing statements should be paperless as well, have them emailed instead.
  • Purchase environmentally friendly beauty products.
  • The production of red meat adds to our current state of severe drought due to how much water cattle and pork consume. If everyone opted to take meat out of their diet for one day a week – the water saving results would be immense. Try out “Meatless Mondays” and swap your red meat for tofu, soy, or veggie based products instead.
  • Charge your phone or even power your whole entire house utilizing solar – powered energy. Solar – powered energy reduces our carbon emissions by tenfold. However, at the rate we are going we will eventually use up all other sources of energy and solar power will be our only option! If you have the opportunity to utilize solar – power today, it is highly recommended.
  • Run your freezer efficiently as well as your dishwasher by only utilizing them when full, otherwise energy and water will be wasted.
  • When washing laundry be sure to only use cold water and stop using your dryer entirely. Hang drying your close utilizes no energy and your clothes will be wrinkle free.
  • Every single drop of water counts when it comes to water conservation. In order to make sure you are not unintentionally wasting water, have your pipes and taps checked. A leaky pipe can waste liters of water over an extended period of time.
  • Be sure to cover your pool while it is not in use. Covering your pool conserves water by preserving your pool’s water level because the cover blocks the sun and does not allow the water to evaporate.
  • Swap out all of your current cleaning products for eco-friendly products! These specially crafted products reduce air pollutants.
  • Grow your own food! Creating a garden not only supplies you with your own fruits and vegetables but it also a fun project for adults as well as kids. You will aid the environment as well as your wallet.

Also Read: The basics of Recycling (the 3 R’s) – REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Suggestions for Going Green at Work

  • First things first, you must recycle all cans, paper, and eco-friendly office supplies. Make sure to clearly label each bin to ensure efficient recycling.
  • Always turn off your computer and lights when you exit the office after a long day of work.
  • When printing be sure to print on both sides of your pages! Trees are paper and our overuse of paper supplies is contributing to our growing issue of deforestation. It would not hurt to add a printer friendly message in your email signature to remind fellow coworkers how important it is to save the trees.
  • If your company allows, try not to print out meeting notes/slides and email them to all participants instead. You can save an enormous amount of paper and energy this way, plus no printing ink is required.
  • If your budget allows add greenery to your office. Plants are a natural way to purify your air.
  • Inquire if your office would be open to the idea of switching from paper towel dispensers to hand dryers. Not only do hand dryers reduce waste, they also save trees – a double energy saving wammy!
  • Use a green web host instead of your general web server. While a green web server is not cheap, the amount of carbon footprint it can reduce is noteworthy.
  • When traveling to work try carpooling, biking or riding the bus instead of driving yourself. The amount of emissions a car outputs is detrimental to our atmosphere.
  • If possible purchase a hybrid car. A hybrid car reduces your emission output by nearly half.

Also Read: Go Green in 10 simple steps

Bonus Green Tips

  • Always, always utilize reusable grocery bags. Plastic bags pollute the environment.
  • Purchase eco tickets when traveling or going to the cinema.
  • Buy a reusable travel mug for your coffee. Plenty of coffee houses offer a discount to all who bring their own cups.
  • Keep your tire pressure at capacity. When your tires are low you waste three percent of your mileage.

Every little effort to keep our world greener counts! Nothing is too small or too large. Together we can make a difference.

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