If you’ve made a resolution to lead a more eco-friendly way of life in 2012, you’re making a wise decision that helps the environment be reducing waste and contributing to a cleaner future. Here are a few tips for leading a greener lifestyle in 2012.
- Don’t use plastic bags. By investing in re-usable shopping bags and using them, you reduce the need for plastic bags that take forever for nature to break down and also the dangers they present to wildlife. When these bags litter beaches, coastlines or bodies of water wildlife can get entangled or ingest plastic material which endangers their life. According to Greenpeace over 267 marine species have been affected by these seemingly innocent shopping bags.
- Use your recycling bin. Many communities now offer recycling pickup to their local residents. Instead of just throwing away cardboard boxes, break them down so they can be recycled so the paper resources can be used again. This helps reduce the number of trees that need to be killed to provide goods packaging. Same goes for plastic. If you must use plastic bags, be sure to recycle them as well. This assures that these bags are being re-constituted and aren’t a litter nuisance.
Green Living For 2012
- Don’t let your water run. Although it’s easy to take water for granted, water is actually a precious commodity. By turning off running water while doing tasks like brushing your teeth or washing dishes you can start reducing your monthly water bill and save several gallons of water from going right down the drain.
- Turn down lights or electronics in rooms not being used. Let’s face it, it costs money to run a household so if there’s no one in a room, there’s no reason to have a light on or power electronics that aren’t being used.
- Add some plants to your home. Plants help improve overall air quality in your home and are nice to have. If you have household pets, check to make sure that any plants you bring into your home aren’t poisonous to them.
- Use baking soda for cleaning. Baking soda does a bang up job when it comes to tackling cleaning duties and can be used as a paste to clean tough stains. It’s perfect for cleaning the kitchen, the bathroom and is even safe enough to use as a toothpaste. Baking soda doesn’t contain all of the harsh chemicals that cleaning sprays and solutions have, so your home is safer and the air is cleaner.
- Dispose of old electronics and batteries correctly. Although it might seem easier to just throw dead batteries straight in the trash, it’s important to remember that chemicals inside of batteries are harmful to the environment if they are disposed of in landfills. The same idea applies for the disposal of computers, hard drives, computer monitors, old televisions and other electronics.
Living a more eco-friendly lifestyle isn’t that hard to do if you know some of the right moves to make. Once you’ve started building the good solid foundation you need to be “greener” you can look for other changes you can do to to help the environment and lessen your carbon footprint.
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