Green Living Challenge: 30 Days to a Greener Life

For some of us, it's the little things that make a difference. Not everyone can afford to go out and replace all of the appliances in their home with the latest and greatest in eco-friendly technology. We can't all drive hybrid or electric cars and we can't all afford to install solar panels and wind farms in our backyard. Fortunately, there are plenty of little things you can do each month that will help you lead a greener life.

Week One

During the first week, take baby steps and don't overdo things. To start, you can swap one weekly grocery item (think milk or eggs,) with an organic item. Doing this once a week for an entire month (and if you can manage, the rest of the year,) you'll make a small difference. Don't try to buy all organic right away; you'll tire your budget out and you'll end up giving up too quickly. Remember, baby steps.

Week Two

Have you ever walked into a hardware store or some other retailer with the intent of buying and replacing all of the light bulbs in your home with CFL bulbs? Then, once you find the bulbs and find the prices, your jaw drops, you give up, and you go home? Well, you're not alone.

For week two, buy at least one CFL bulb and replace it somewhere in your home-preferably in a location that gets a lot of use, like the bathroom or a living room table lamp. It's expensive to replace them all at once. But, replacing one here and there when you can afford it will help to cut down on the initial sticker-shock.

Week Three

Commit to lowering your thermostat, even by one degree, for an entire week. If you can do this permanently, then that's even better. The reality is, one degree lower translates to up to a 3% reduction in your heating bill, according to the Daily Green.

So, put on a sweater, turn down the thermostat and cuddle up with a blanket if you must. Save money, save energy, save the planet, right? Besides, it's only one week.

Week Four

For your third week in your 30 days to a greener lifestyle challenge, take meat out of your diet on one day (one day!) for the entire week. That means you can eat meat of any kind on the other 6 days, but on that 7th day-go without. Eat leftovers, make a salad, do whatever it takes but avoid meat at all costs.

We've all heard that cars make a lot of unnecessary pollution, but so does the production of your steak. According to the chair of the UN intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or, the IPCC,) Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, up to 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions is caused by the production of meat.