How to Live the Green Life in the Real World: Common Sense Tips Everyone Can Use

Just about everyone today realizes that the environment has always been an important part of our lives. Most people want to protect it, both for our use today, and to preserve its availability for future generations. The question becomes, of course, how to go about doing it in a practical way. If you're searching for easy ways that you can help sustain and protect the environment, look no further. Here are a few overlooked possibilities.

Living Green Tip # 1: Cool Water Laundry

Believe it or not, every time you do a load of laundry, you could be helping to preserve the environment and making it a better place for all involved. According to the Consumer Energy Center (www.consumerenergy.org) nearly 90% of the energy used by a washer is used to heat the water for the washing and rinse cycles. That means that if you were to wash your clothes in even warm water, you would see a significant reduction in both your energy bills, and the amount of resources used in heating the water. In fact, many manufacturers also have cold water detergent - with a specific formulation designed to be used in cold water and still get your clothes clean.

Living Green Tip # 2: Unplug The Phone!

Nearly everyone understands the need to conserve electricity and energy. Most accomplish this task by turning off the lights or television when not in use. However, did you know that even when the device is turned off it will still draw energy from your wall socket? According to the United States Department of Energy, only 5% of the energy supplied to a cell phone is actually used to charge the battery. That means that almost all of it is wasted into the environment. The solution is so simple. For the things that can be unplugged, do so. Over time you'll discover that your energy bill won't be as bad as before.

Living Green Tip # 3 Shorten Your Shower

If you're like me, a morning shower is the only way to wake up. Coffee and breakfast are fine, but in reality until I feel the pounding sensation of water on my head, I'm just sleepwalking through life. However, my long, wake up shower was wrecking both my water bill, and the local area resources. By doing a little research I discovered that for every minute that I am in the shower I am using up 2.5 gallons of water. That means that my invigorating morning shower of 15 minutes was costing the environment nearly thirty-eight gallons. Add it all up, one person; showering just four days out of the week will use approximately 7,904 gallons in a given year. That is a lot of water just to rinse dirt off your body and wake up.

Instead, I have found that by reducing my shower time by a few minutes - say five is a great way to help reduce my overall consumption of water. And it really is easy to do. I started by setting a timer for myself, one that buzzes quite loudly when a certain set time is up. Now, however, I can't imagine taking a longer shower.

Living Green Tip # 4: Visit Your Local Farmer's Market

How would you like to help the environment by doing a little bit of shopping? Believe it or not, one of the easiest and most effective ways to help the environment is to go to your local farmer's market and do some shopping. The food is most often locally grown, and often doesn't use many of the harmful pesticides that larger growers use. Plus, you are supporting your neighbors in this tough economy.

Living Green Tip # 5: Consider Using Cloths Instead of Paper Towels

Often living in an environmentally friendly way means making decisions where there doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer. A great example of this is the old cloth versus paper towel debate. On one hand, cloths have to be laundered, and take energy to make, while paper towels are a one-time use item, and take a significant amount of resources to produce in any significant volume. It seems no matter which way you go, you'll be harming the environment in some fashion.

In this case, however, there is a choice that could be considered the lesser of two evils as it were. All things being considered, using cloths to clean your house cost less environmentally speaking than using paper towels. Think of it this way. Every time you use a paper towel, even if you use it a few times, it ends up in a landfill somewhere, taking up space. Now, consider the next roll that you use. According to the National Resource Defense Counsel, if each household in the U.S. replaced one roll of paper towels with one made from recycled materials, over 544,000 trees could be spared. Imagine what would happen if we replaced our use of paper towels with cloths?

These are just five simple tips that anyone can use to make their life and their world a more environmentally friendly place. There are many available, and most of them require just a few minor changes to your day.