Ok, so you have heard of GREEN LIVING, but you are not quite sure how you could be a part of it. After all, not everyone is a scientist who is a team member of a high-profile Carbon Sequestration project at MIT Labs, or involved in Solar Panel research or with Wind Farms. So is there anything that an ordinary person can do to make a difference? Absolutely, because LIVING GREEN is about changing an attitude about life, about consciously engaging in responsible behavior, about thinking of the shared destiny with other mankind. It is amazing how the small steps add up when we all work together.
Water: Gallons of water go down the drain every day, in non-value added activities. In letting the faucet run for two full minutes while brushing twice a day, we could be wasting as much as 8.8 gallons. Households waste 6.3 gallons of water per day waiting for it to heat up. The average daily shower lasts 8 minutes 30 seconds. With a 2.5 gallon per minute showerhead that’s 21 gallons for each shower- cut the shower time down to 5 minutes, and you will save nearly 9 gallons. Also, cut the frequency at which you water your lawn and always check the weather for predictions of rain before watering your lawn.
Use gasoline responsibly: Carpool as much as you can, use public transport if available, invest in Hybrid vehicles wherever possible- this will not only lower your gasoline bills, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Combine chores and map them out along the shortest path, Turn off the car instead of idling when waiting in a carpool lane at school. When a car idles for more than 30 seconds, it uses more gasoline than when it runs, thereby generating more greenhouse gas pollution.
Natural air: In summer, turn off the air conditioner and open doors and windows. Good ventilation will not only cut down your electricity bills, but also significantly reduce indoor pollution.
Using electrical appliances: Energy used by major appliances add up quickly. Refrigerators alone can consume about 19% of the domestic electricity load. The ENERGY STAR® program identifies appliances that offer superior energy efficiency, such that the en-user can save water, energy, and money.
ENERGY STAR refrigerators use at least 15% less energy than the current federal standard.
ENERGY STAR dishwashers are at least 41% more energy-efficient than the federal minimum standard.
ENERGY STAR washing machines are at least 50% more energy-efficient than the federal minimum standard.
True, ENERGY STAR appliances are more expensive than regular ones, but major appliances can remain in operation for 15 to 20 years, and so a higher initial purchase price is easily offset by years of savings from lower operational costs-the cost of the electricity, gas and water required to run the appliance.
Recycle paper: Do not print documents and emails unless absolutely necessary. Recycle your paper. 17 trees can be saved for every ton of recycled paper. If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees.
Replace Incandescent bulbs with Fluorescent ones: If every American did, it would reduce greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars.
Bottled water in plastic bottles: Plastic has many harmful effects on the environment. Trade throw-away plastic bottles for reusable aluminum or glass bottles.
Food: Try, as much as possible, to buy locally grown produce. Buying local produce is a win-win because it helps support local farmers, as well as saves the environment by eliminating the pollution associated with transportation of fresh produce across the country.
If you are able to work one or more of these changes into your lifestyle, you would be making direct contributions to preserving our planet. Consider keeping a journal, so you can track your monthly progress in each of the above-mentioned areas.
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