Today there are just so many amazing and innovative ways that you can use to move towards living an entirely green lifestyle, a lifestyle that Mother Nature would be proud of. The list of creative and commonsensical ideas can be overwhelming when you think about it.
And therein lies the rub. Simply use your God-given and cognitive thinking skills along with a sense of morality and caring responsibility and you could be amazed with what you can come up with. Because the list of ideas and suggestions are endless at this stage, we’ve limited our list to just 50+ innovative green methods to help you get started.
Please note that the list is in no particular order, but if you carefully scrutinize it, you can quickly prioritize a few suggestions to match your current lifestyle and implement these right away.
1. Think clean, think biodegradable – Good household cleaning habits are a step in the right direction. Better still, use biodegradable alternatives to excessive chemically-induced detergents with foul-smelling odors.
2. And add soda and vinegar – You can also save on costs by mixing your own homemade ingredients. For example, try using baking soda and vinegar to make your own cleaning solution.
3. Don’t buy plastic and don’t dump them either – The rule is simple. Next time you go to the store, avoid the plastic bags; plan ahead and bring your own. And if you have no use for the plastic bags lying about your home, locate a local recycling place and turn in those plastic bags to be recycled and put to good use. Many grocery stores provide bins to return plastic bags.
4. Burlap or canvas bags as alternative carry-alls – These bags are much stronger and more durable. Longer lasting, they can be used for a number of other convenient parceling tasks over and above your regular grocery shopping.
5. Reduce clothes washing time – Only using eco-friendly detergents, wash large loads once a week or even every second week to reduce wasted energy and water. Also take advantage of the sunniest days to reduce drying time as well.
6. And make sure the machine is full – An empty or half full washing machine wastes electricity. Better still, wash by hand, giving yourself a good work out as well.
7. Also use cold water only – Washing by hand using cold water helps reduce energy usage and costs further.
8. Preserve vegetable left-over’s – Instead of dumping, unused left-over’s can be used for a great number of things, such as making your own beauty products or organic bottled jams.
9. Build a manure heap – It is easy to make and the manure can help add nutrients to your existing garden or organic garden to come.
10. Create your own organic garden – On that subject, you can create your own organic garden, focusing on growing your own vegetables and herbs and saving drastically on your food bills.
11. Add more brightness to your garden – When planting new flowers, focus on bright blooms. These act as natural attractions for bees which are essential for pollination and further growth.
12. And you can still support your local farmer – You won’t have the space for a chicken coop or pig pen. That’s where your local organic farmer comes in.
13. But plant one tree, and then another – By planting a tree you make a huge contribution towards reducing harmful greenhouse gases.
14. Encourage recycling – If you’re a parent, encourage your child to do recycling. Tell him about the benefits of recycling and how taking small steps can preserve this environment.
15. Buy eco-friendly products – Eco-friendly products are the products that do not harm the environment whether in their production, use or disposal. There are so many eco-friendly products available in the market that you can start using rite now to minimize your carbon footprint on planet Earth.
16. Time to go back to good old fashioned family values – This may be challenging but reduce the amount of time wastefully watching TV and spend more time doing things which only enhance your family’s well-being anyway.
17. Go organic shopping with the whole family – Weekend shopping can be fun-filled. Bypass energy-sapping malls and visit arts and crafts and organic produce stores instead.
18. Use cloth diapers –The modern habit of using disposable diapers is one you need to break. Get used to washing baby’s diapers. The modern waste adds far too much to already overflowing landfills.
19. And then watch everything grow – Tying all these new lifestyle habits together, you will soon see the reward in your change. It doesn’t take that long but right before your eyes, you and your children become privileged witnesses to life and its growth.
20. Recycled paper for when you need to go – Some habits are necessary and can’t be broken just yet. To compensate, green, recycled toilet paper is now widely available.
21. Think what you can do with recycled glass – Earlier we mentioned bottled jams. Think of the many other resourceful and creative things you can do with glass. Candles and storage containers already come to mind.
22. Reduce food waste – Every year tonnes of food get wasted because we do not complete the food that is served to us. Americans, particularly, seem to waste just as much food as they consume. Check out these 31 cool and easy ways to reduce food waste.
23. Learn off-grid living – Living off the grid means living away from modern technology and lifestyle on all levels. Have a look at these smart and easy ways to live off the grid.
24. The curtain trick – This is a natural HVAC system second to none. Before you leave the house, simply close your curtains and/or blinds. This helps keep things cooler during summer and warmer during winter.
25. Home-made beauty second to none – We mentioned earlier that recycled food waste can be used for this purpose. No need to spend a fortune on beauty products when you can now easily make your own.
26. Email only and no more printing – Read again. No more wasteful printing. It is as simple as that.
27. The re-usable mugs – Exponentially, using your own mug wherever you go reduces your carbon footprint. But cutting your caffeine intake is a smarter and healthier move still. Think how much gallons of water it takes to produce just one mug of your favorite brew.
28. Organic fabrics are better quality anyway – Previously, mainly due to its rustic and coarse texture, the organic alternatives where fabrics and cloth are concerned were overlooked. No longer, organic cloth is on a par, and sometimes exceeds, the quality normally found in traditional materials such as cotton.
29. Shoes-wise, do what the Japanese do – The Japanese are legends when it comes to cleanliness. One practice worth adopting is the removal of shoes whenever you enter your home. By doing that, you reduce dust and dirt making its way into your home and also reduce the time spent on energy-consuming cleaning practices.
30. Only use fluorescent lights – Simply put, fluorescent light bulbs last a lot longer and use far less energy than the traditional bulbs which are all being phased out anyway.
31. Build environmentally friendly home – If you’re building a new home for yourself, learn how you can build an environmentally friendly home. An environmentally friendly home is sustainable, saves you money as well as preserve the environment.
32. Better still, use candles more often – Being environmentally conscious within the confines of your home also means adding a touch of romance and nostalgia to your life. Create more such occasions by utilizing your recycled glass as candle holders.
33. Park the auto and do this instead – Cities around the world are moving in this direction anyway. You should too. You also save thousands of dollars on your gas bill. Rapid bus transport networks and cycling lanes are being added to busy urban transport networks. Take advantage of these healthy alternatives.
34. Tap water is actually good for you – It is a pretentious myth that bottled water is better. Stored in plastic it is an excessive waste. And unless otherwise advised, your tap water has been cleared for healthy use and remains largely free of harmful chemicals, pollutants and toxins.
35. Overall, less is more – Over the years, we became so used to our consumerism and material habits. But consuming far less is energy-efficient, a cost saver and also aesthetically stylish.
36. Travel green – When you go out on a trip, consider staying in eco-friendly hotel. Use solar charger to charge mobiles and/or iPods. Use public transport instead of hiring personal cab. Switch off lights when you move out of your room.
37. Green toilet paper – Use toilet paper made from recycled products to stay eco-friendly and reduce your environmental footprint. Green toilet paper is readily available and is inexpensive.
38. Subscribe for e-bills – Why to waste paper when you can subscribe for e-bills. This reduces your paperwork and in some cases saves you money on paper bill fees.
39. Reduce reuse recycle – Learn the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce simply means reduce the amount of waste that you produce by choosing what rubbish you throw away. Reuse means reusing the old items before you throw them out. Recycling is a series of steps that takes a old used material, processes, remanufactures and sells it as a new product.
40. Invest in carbon offsets – The money that you will spend on buying carbon offsets will be invested in sustainable energy technologies or other sustainable ventures.
41. Learn about various ways to conserve energy – There are various ways to conserve energy. Learning and implementing them in your daily lifestyle will help you to reduce your carbon footprint on the environment.
42. Stop junk mail – There are lot of services available online like this that can help you to unsubscribe from the junk mail that is sent to your home each year. Its just a matter of few clicks and you will be able to get rid of all those unnecessary junk mails.
43. Avoid plastic water bottles – Each year millions of plastic water bottles end up in landfills and we all know that plastic does not decompose that easily. The best you can do is to carry a bottle of your own when you step out of your home.
44. Purchase green power – Install solar panels or wind turbines at your home and reduce your dependency on local power grid. This will not only reduce your monthly electricity bill but you can also sell surplus electricity to your local utility company.
45. Buy rechargeable batteries – Whenever possible, buy rechargeable batteries. This will reduce the number of batteries that go to garbage each year. Dispose of old batteries carefully.
46. Start a compost pile – Start composting at your home that could be a great source of nutrient for your plants.
47. Do car pooling – Car pooling is yet another way to reduce your impact on the environment. Not only it will save you money but also helps you to socialize with your colleagues.
48. Switch to CFL’s or LED’s – Switch to CFL’s which last 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, or LED’s which last even longer.
49. Buy Energy star appliances – If you are thinking to upgrade your appliances, switch to Energy Star-qualified appliances. They might be little expensive but will save you on your electricity bill in long run.
50. Switch to electric or hybrid car – There are many options available in the market in case you are planning to buy a electric or hybrid car.
51. Buy e-books instead of new – Go for e-books or purchase old books instead of buying new books. It will help you save money and paper too.
52. Educate yourself and community – While you are taking steps to go green, you must be aware with the reasons why green living matters. Do a quick research and you will find tonnes of articles on internet related to green living. Be an inspiration for the rest of the people and let your action speak for yourself.
What more can be added? Perhaps there’s something we’ve left off this list. The onus is, however, still on you to examine your own lifestyle to determine what greening initiatives you can implement as early as today.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed going through this list as much as we enjoyed putting it together for you. You can use this as a handy checklist, but remember, store or file it somewhere accessible on your laptop or mobile and do not print this list.
