05 Dec 09 Go Green This Holiday

Going green is a good idea for any time of year, but especially during the holidays. When we are buying and wrapping presents, most of us have little thought for the environment. Or many of us believe that there really isn’t a way around the traditions, that would also be healthier for mother nature. But in reality, it’s easy to go green for the season, it just requires a little more thought on your part.

For example, all the holiday cards that you send out this year, to family and friends, can amount to a lot of trash. But by purchasing recycled cards, you cut down on the amount of new material being produced. And with a little luck, everyone will be inspired to recycle again when they receive the cards. Therefore really cutting down on that holiday carbon footprint.

When gift shopping try to shop locally as often as possible. This means staying clear of the big chains, and finding items at your local stores. This will cut down on the fuel expended on shipping items across the country, like bigger chain stores practice. That’s less fuel lost, and less harmful emissions sprayed into the air. Plus buying locally is better for your community’s economy, and that’s a huge positive for everyone.

If you’re planning on decorating with lights, try to stick with LED lights. LED lights still look great, and conserve energy when in use. Also you can try and limit the amount of time that your lights are on, which will also conserve energy. Plus the energy you save will also save you money, and nobody would argue with that.

Finally, if you’re really looking for a way to be eco-friendly and want to do the most you can, try using a live tree this year. Instead of cutting down a tree, or buying from a lot where the tree is cut down, instead transplant a live tree. You’ll have to buy a few items for set up, but it’s definitely worth your time. You’ll want to take the tree out of the ground about a week before Christmas, and then put the tree back outside promptly afterward. Then you’ll have a live reusable tree for many years, saving you money, and saving a tree.

Tags: Amount Of Time, Carbon Footprint, Chains, Christmas, Economy, Family And Friends, Gift Shopping, Going Green, Harmful Emissions, Holiday Cards, Holidays, Led Lights, Little Luck, Local Stores, Money, Mother Nature, Time Of Year, Traditions, Trash, Week Before Christmas

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08 Jul 09 5 Ways To Help The Environment You Hadn’t Thought Of

There are plenty of ways to be more environmentally friendly without really changing your lifestyle in a way that will affect your daily routine in any sort of negative way. In fact there are plenty of ways to be much more environmentally friendly, that are also fairly easy to accommodate, that you probably haven’t even thought about. And here are five tips that you may not have considered that will bring you five steps closer to reversing that carbon footprint you’re leaving behind:

Eat a meatless meal at least once a week.
Unplug chargers when not in use.
Don’t preheat your stove.
Read the news online, opposed to buying a newspaper or magazine.
Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.

If you’re a meat eater, one thing you probably don’t realize is that meat exhausts a massive amount of resources to maintain and produce. From feeding/transporting the animals, to processing their carcasses, a lot of irreplaceable fossil fuels are exhausted, not to mention carbon emissions are released into the environment. Fruits and Vegetables cause far fewer resources to be exhausted in route to you at the grocery store. I’m not saying go vegetarian, but just cut it down a little bit. You’ll be healthier, and the environment will become a little bit more healthy with you.

Your charger for your cell phone, or any other portable device, will continue to draw power when plugged in to a wall socket, whether your device is present or not. This wastes energy, and also costs you more money on your electricity bill, for absolutely no reason. So save some green, and help yourself go green by unplugging any charger that isn’t currently in use.

When cooking a meal that will take over an hour in a stove to cook, don’t preheat your oven. The preheat time will only waste energy that doesn’t need to be consumed through a preheat process. Something like a roast doesn’t need a preheating process beforehand, and you’ll save energy this way. Also you can turn your oven off ten minutes prior to the meal’s cooking time ends, and the heat will remain to cook the food, but you will be consuming a little bit less energy by shutting the stove off early.

Newspapers and magazines are recyclable, but the problem is that very few people dispose of them in the proper fashion, so most newspapers and magazines just end up as more trash polluting our world. Instead cut down on the amount of trash, as well as the resources consumed to produce them, by just reading the same articles and news online via the internet instead.

Compact bulbs might be more expensive at the store, but they use 75% less energy than conventional light bulbs, and they last 10 times longer, making the energy savings alone worth the price. Plus it will actually save you more money in the long run. And Mother Earth will thank you for your efforts to conserve power.

Tags: Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Carcasses, cell phone, Chargers, Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, Daily Routine, Electricity Bill, Five Steps, Fluorescent Light Bulbs, Fossil Fuels, Fruits And Vegetables, Fruits Vegetables, Grocery Store, Lifestyle, Little Bit, Meat Eater, Meatless Meal, Wall Socket, Ways To Help The Environment

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03 Jul 09 Tips To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

The word carbon footprint gets thrown around a lot these days, amid concerns about the effect mankind is having on the environment. But what is a carbon footprint exactly? Well to put it simply, it’s the measure of the amount of carbon dioxide that gets put into the atmosphere as you go about your daily life. Basically everything involving technology emits harmful greenhouse gases like these, as almost everything in our society today involves travel, and every bit of that travel on gas powered vehicles does damage to the environment. But there are some easy ways that you can adjust your life and begin to make a difference, and most importantly reduce the carbon footprint you are stamping on our atmosphere.

Firstly you can do something as simple as turning your thermostat to be a few degrees colder in the winter, and a few degrees warmer in the summer. This won’t affect you in a negative way, as it will be a slight temperature change, but the difference to how much energy you’ll be using up will really add up in the long run. This reduces your carbon footprint, and saves you money in the long run.

Use a dishwasher whenever possible to wash your dishes, as these use less hot water than washing dishes by hand, on average. Hot water is bad, because it exhausts energy and causes more carbon emissions to be released into the environment. So you should shy away from using too much all the time. This means taking shorter showers, and washing your clothes in cold water. Or in fact take a cold shower every once in a while. Studies suggest that cold showers are better for your health, as they strengthen your immune system, and help increase circulation and blood flow throughout your body.

Turn off your lights when you leave a room, even if you’re only going to be gone for a short period of time, as this will conserve more energy than you think. Use a microwave instead of your stove whenever possible, as a microwave uses far less energy than your stove. And just in general follow guidelines like these for using less energy. It’s great for the environment, and will also save you money in the long run.

Tags: Blood Flow, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Circulation, Cold Shower, Cold Showers, Cold Water, Dishwasher, Few Degrees, Greenhouse Gases, Hot Water, Immune System, Mankind, Microwave, Period Of Time, Short Period, Temperature Change, Thermostat, Washing Dishes

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05 Dec 09 Go Green This Holiday

08 Jul 09 5 Ways To Help The Environment You Hadn’t Thought Of

03 Jul 09 Tips To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

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