As a Christian(Cross-Bearer), I want to be a good steward of God’s Earth. So what kinds of things can I do to be a better person for green living. Explain what it is…per say….and some help in areas of change. Thanks
I already recycle what i can and I am very much a conservative with my utilities. I hang my clothes instead of using my electric dryer, have turned down my electric water heater, and stopped using my A/C…My electric bill was out the roof.
I saw this on another question and this answer belongs to PENNY….thanks penny for your answer.
I currently do all these, except i do run a little water while i brush my teeth. I tried to turn it off, but I kept turning it on and off…..Thanks again Penny what you are doing….
I have energy efficient light bulbs.
I have a canvas bag I keep in the car when getting a small amount of groceries.
I recycle paper, glass, and plastic – I even take the papers from my classroom home to recycle them.
I have energy efficient appliances and windows in my home.
I only do full loads of laundry and dishes – I dry a LOT of my clothes on the line.
I never leave the water running.
I have an programmable thermostat in my home.
I always turn off the lights, tv, computer, etc.
Except this…..I have an programmable thermostat in my home.
However, my mother lives in another town and I recycle her stuff too and bring it to my town instead.
I live in what is considered a green home. The heating system is the hot water heater in tubes running through the floor of the home. The floor is concrete, no carpet. It also stays cool by opening the windows downstairs and letting it flow to the second story. There is also a air cleaning system, which I don’t run because it cost an extra $10 a month, but when I had it on I could tell that the air quality was better.
great grow a nice garden try to stay on top of the issue, as green living is a relatively new concept and many people are retrofitting their lifestyles to turn green……
Sounds like you have done much………
You can compost/Bokashi bucket your scraps to use as fertiliser and reduce landfill.
Stay on top of your carbon footprint, ask your supplier for green energy certification or carbon neuteralise it with a carbon sequestration company.
Mainly stay aware of the issue and aware of what you are consuming and how it effects the planet, if you have this attitude you will be living green and be caring about the planet. Sounds like you have already taken some good positive steps.
Switch to non-toxic body care and cleaning products.
Conventional products are made with filthy petroleum by-products which pollute during the manufacturing process, create more waste from excessive packaging, increase risk of cancer, thyroid disorders, liver damage, neurological impairment, and the list is long. In addition, after you use conventional products, the waste released into the environment causes additional environmental harm as they break down into dioxins.
I’m no Cross-Bearer, I say that with respect, but not only would you be a good steward of God’s Earth, for me that would be Mother Nature’s Garden, but you would also be a good steward of a loyal Christian – you.
The solution is simple, if we clean up our home environment, we’re cleaning up the rest of it as well.
how do you kep food cool ! make a cooler box in the ground where the temperature remains constant. Its free and use a pully system to bring food up and down as your great great great gran did, be eco cool and keep your food cool.
I read the first post and it is very informative, you should be proud of being a good citizen and caring for the world around you. I think you should also help by SPREADING THE WORD, helping other people make thouse lifestyle changes!!
Sounds like you are doing a great job already. If you want to learn more ways you can help out, check out http://www.greenandsave.com
U-SEE – We must save the world from over-exploitation of natural resources
Knowingly or unknowingly we are all partners in misusing of costly electricity for our lighting purpose during day time when the solar light is available just outside our windows. Why can’t bring home the sunshine?
Yes. This has been successfully adopted by a number of people in Bangalore, India. This innovative but simple method of bringing home the sunshine was suggested to the World Bank as a Grassroots Initiative for Preservation of Natural Resourcs during IDM-2007 competition – Project U-SEE (Unlimited Savings of Electrical Energy). U-SEE does not involve any nano technology nor does it requires billions of dollars for implementation. Moreover, U-SEE you get free lighting for life. No charges.
The World Bank honored this initiative and has created a permanent blog on the World Bank URL at http://dmblog.worldbank.org/mirrors-can-bring-light-rural-homes.
How is it implemented? U need a house hold mirror of 12"X18" and a pillow. Identify where u can get maximum sunshine just outside the windows with clear glass or on the balcony, keep the pillow on a stool or chair and place the mirror on the pillow, go on nudging the mirror till the solar light is deflected from the mirror, through the window and on to the white ceiling inside your home. U will be surprised to find the light spreading from the ceiling – it can be 40 to 60 watts (see the picture above – notice tube light and table lamp in the corner are not burning but there is enough light). If u can keep a bigger mirror, u will get more bright light. U can control the light just by covering a portion of the mirror.
Earth moves on its latitude. When u find that the deflected solar light is moving elsewhere, just go to the mirror, nudge a little and u can get back your light as before. THIS IS THE BASIC IDEA and once u have done it, u be the Innovator of your light requirements for your home and U-SEE PROVIDES YOU FREE LIGHTING FOR LIFE. Many homes/huts in rural areas in developing countries do not have proper lighting and people are living in dark, damp and dingy environs but urbanites living in concrete jungles in cities with tinted glasses are misusing electricity for their lighting purpose even during day time.
U-SEE the Benefits: ONE incandescent bulb/tubelight burning for 6 hours during day time consumes 7 units of electricity in a month. If half the world can adopt U-SEE and switch off one bulb for 6 hours during day time, how much of electricity can be saved? Your guess is as good as mine + saves cost of fossil fuels, coal, water+saves cost incurred for machineries and equipments+saves overhead charges+saves transmission loss charges+saves the world from global warming (burning bulbs/CO2 etc) with n’th value+ U GET FREE LIGHTING FOR LIFE with n’th value. The savings that accrue can off set the load on our productive requirements like A/c, refrigerators, mixies, fans etc.
Solar light will be available at least for about 200 days in a year and it is infinite and why should we let it go waste? We are not harnessing this infinite energy. U-SEE is ssoo simple.
First adopt this method, innovate solutions if u face small problems. U be the winner. U-SEE It is a win win situation for all of us. Need clarifications, mail: vkumar_m@yahoo.com U-SEE – The author’s ambition is to spread this friendly initiative to one and all. No charges!!
Vasanthkumar Mysoremath, Bangalore, India
You are off to a great start & it is very encouraging to see so many others doing there part to protect our resources.
Keep up the good work !!!! people have given you good advice & websites.
Here are a few other websites to check out :
http://www.Earth911.org helps you find places to recycle difficult stuff ( batteries, paint,ect..)
http://www.care2.com for green living tips & some very worthy causes to support.
http://www.ReusableBags.com for cool cloth/ canvas bags.
http://www.theGreenGuide.com tips for converting your home .
http://www.fuelEconomy.gov getting the most out of your vehicle.
http://www.EarthEasy.com more earth enhancing tips
http://www.LesleysLifeIsSweet.com chocolates that chnge lives for the better.
There is a book called "Serve God Save the Planet" A Christians call to Action by Matthew Sleeth, MD .
There’s a section on yahoo that deals with this: http://green.yahoo.com/
There’s also usually state groups, ivillage groups, etc.
You might want to take one of the green living quizzes so that you have the best idea what steps to take in your own life.
For energy used in your home, I’d recommend the book The Home Energy Diet.
You might want to consider what you could buy used that you’ve always purchased new before?
I just read this under a different category so I copied and pasted someone else’s response…I found it very informative!:
to start out you can plant a tree…i know it sounds silly but they take in carbon and produce oxygen.
eat less beef….sounds super super silly BUT cows are one of the biggest polutants on earth…they have three stomachs……and alot of gas. plus the grain that goes to feed them can feed a whole lotta starving children. …….Fight global warming with food
Did you know that you can prevent heat-trapping pollution by tweaking what you eat? We’re not suggesting you go vegetarian, but cutting back on meat once a week can prevent pollution.
change at least ONE light bulb in your house to fluorescents.
change your electric company to green power. basically it’s wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power…wind and solar power being the easiest and cleanest.
* In summer, keep shades drawn to keep the cool in.
* In winter, open shades to let the sunlight to help warm rooms.
* In winter, keep your thermostat cooler at night or when the house is empty.
* Install a programmable thermostat to heat and cool rooms only when necessary.
* Plant trees around your house to cut cooling costs in summer.
* Insulate your walls and ceilings.
* Install a light-colored or reflective roof.
that little light that comes on when you turn your tv off….yep…it’s using electricity and aiding global warming. unplug things like your tv vcr/dvd, microwave, phone chargers etc etc…
use, reuse, recycle. big big big step!!!! buy rechargable batteries instead of the one use kind. more expensive upfront but in the long run saves tons of money AND keeps the landfills cleaner. instead of throwing old food away grind it up and make compost….food makes up 12 percent of the solid waste produced annually in the u.s. let me paint a realistic picture…..29.4 million TONS of food EACH YEAR!!!! thats alot.
carpool, public transportation, ride a bike, skate, skateboard. of course it is not realistic to skate board everywhere but if you live close to someone you work with fill in the empty space in their car or let them ride with you….one cars emissions is way better than two cars.
* Use the energy saver cycle on your dishwasher and only run it when full.
* Wash clothes in warm or cold water, not hot.
* Turn down your water heater to 120°Fahrenheit.
* Clean or replace the air filter on your air conditioner.
* Install low-flow shower heads to use less hot water.
* Caulk and weatherstrip around doors and windows.
* Ask your utility company for a free home energy audit.
only turn your thermostat up 3 degrees in the winter and down 3 degrees in the summer…..helps a ton. also…use your fireplace if you have one!!!!!!
buy the "an inconvenient truth" dvd….it is very informative and has researched information on this subject….also google, GOODSEARCH(make sure you put in a good charity…i use greatdanerescueofnorthtexas…… it gives a penny everytime you use it), askjeeves, etc etc.
thank you for being so concerned….help us save our beautiful home. reverse global warming!
Source(s):
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/arti…
http://freegan.info/
http://www.fightglobalwarming.com…
http://www.climatecrisis.net/