Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 1

Replace your plastic water bottle with a glass bottle. Search your cabinets for a glass bottle with a lid. If you are concerned about breaking it, purchase a bottle cover or put it in a foam holder. I have seen new holders at thrift stores and garage sales. Banks and other places give them away for promotions.

Using glass instead of plastic reduces landfills and streams of petrochemicals. Many feel the petrochemicals cause cancer. If everyone in the US stopped using plastic water bottles, we would reduce the production of 144 billion plastic bottles per year.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 2

Join freecycle.org. It's a place to post items to give away or to claim items that are posted. Recycling saves money and landfills.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 3

Join dmaconsumers.org to stop junk mail. Junk mail contributes to litter, landfills and resource consumption.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 4

Pour your morning coffee grounds around a houseplant. The grounds increase soil acidity which most plants like. The grounds are also a natural fertilizer which repels snails and slugs.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 5

Clear food from the back of the refrigerator so the air circulates easily. This decreases energy consumption. Turn the thermostat to 37 degrees and the freezer to 0 degrees. These temperatures are the most energy efficient for refrigerators.

Check if the seal is tight enough on your refrigerator. Place a dollar bill so it is sticking out the door when it is closed. If you can pull the bill out while the door is closed, your seal isn't tight enough. Consider having a repairman replace the seal with a new one. Refrigerators are considered the largest energy consumer in our
homes.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 6

Find some paper, plastic or glass in the house that you can recycle today. If everyone recycles these, we can save 162 million tons of material from landfills each year.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 7

Call a friend today and plan a grocery trip together to save fuel consumption. Better yet, walk or jog to the grocery store together.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 8

Contact your representatives and let them know how important these issues are to you. Better yet, send the link to this article to them and ask them to read it.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 9

Add a fluorescent light bulb to your shopping list. They last longer and save energy which saves money. The Department of Energy says one compact fluorescent light bulb in every household in America would save:

1)Enough energy to light 7 million homes
2)Reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1 million cars
3)Save you $41.25 compared to a regular bulb in energy costs (@ 9cents/kWh)
4)Reduces acid rain, green house and smog gases in these amounts:
*Carbon Dioxide 605 lbs. *Sulfur Dioxide 2.2 lbs. *Nitrous Oxide .4 lbs.

Plan to purchase one fluorescent light bulb per month to replace a regular bulb when it goes out. Their initial cost is higher but the energy savings make them the better choice.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 10

Pull power strips out where you can easily turn them off when appliances such as DVD, tv, computer and radio are not used. Better yet, unplug them at night.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 11

Turn your thermostat up or down 2 degrees. Each 2 degrees either way can save up to 8 percent of your utility bill. Learn to layer clothing for temperature changes throughout the day or evening.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 12

Take out the phone book and find your local farmer's market. Our food industry is the largest consumer of energy in the US because of the production and distribution of food products. So support local food growth which is also considered healthier because it is fresh.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 13

Write a reminder note to turn water off when brushing your teeth and while sudsing up in the shower. The world's demand for water has tripled over the last 50 years. Now water tables are falling and springs that feed rivers are going dry. More than half the world's people live in countries where water tables are falling. Water is in danger of becoming scarce.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 14

Mix up your own natural cleansers with household products.

All-Purpose Cleaner

1 Tbs. Vinegar
1 Tbs. Liquid Soap
1 Cup water
Optional: 1 Tbs. Lemon for degreaser and/or several drops tea tree essential oil for anti-bacterial use.

Mix in a glass jar and shake before each use. Dampen cloth and wipe. Good for counters, microwave, stoves, car interiors and anything else that needs cleaning. Works well in a spray bottle too. Click here for our article on kitchen spring green cleaning tips.

Green Living Tips: Go Green in One Hour: Tip 15

Mix your own scouring powder from household ingredients.

Tub Cleanser

1 cup baking soda
¼ cup salt

Mix well and scrub with a sponge. Spray with the all-purpose cleaner when done.

These 15 Green Living Tips are a good jump start for going green. Since you can go green in one hour, just think of the impact if you multiply that hour each week. Some of these tips will become habits that all of us benefit from including the planet we share.

Over 85 percent of Americans express concern about the environment. We invite your Green Living Tips in our comments section. Click here for our current articles and future articles on natural remedies, how to afford organic produce, a review for a green cleaning product and natural sunburn prevention. Go green and celebrate Earth Day every day.

Sources:
Author's Own Experience Over a Number of Years of Green Living
Living Green, Greg Horn
The Herb Quarterly, Maggie Howard
https://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Seg/PB2ch03_ss2.htm