I see the polution in the air, how do i get a good start living "green"?
17 thoughts on “What is the first steps in living "Green"?”
Earnhardt fan
I would say recycling that is how I got started but if u need some motivation look it up do a google search it is horrible the things you will find people don’t care one bit about this earth and it makes me want to puke ! some others steps would be don’t use paper OR plastic bags buy recyclable ones and the best step u can and will ever take is
1. passing on the info to get others interested
2. the most important buy one of those new cars that runs on corn oil they might be expensive to ur choosing but it will save more money then u spend u won’t have to buy gas and ur generations will go further! p.s they run on corn starch u buy that at the store!
Tracey F
The easiest ways are small things like replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones; switching to non-toxic "green" cleaning products, like Shaklee or Ecover or similar ones (and no I’m NOT a Shaklee distributor 🙂 but I do use their cleaning products and they’re great); recycle; walk or bike when possible. Then there are the common sense things… turn off lights when not in use, don’t leave the water running when you’re brushing your teeth, etc. The little things like this don’t cost much, and are easy to incorporate into your normal routine.
Ducket
A few things you can do to start with are:
1.Replace the light bulbs in your house with Energy Star Certified Energy saving light bulbs.
2.Recycle paper,metal cans,plastic and other reusable materials.
3.Try buying more USDA certified Organic foods.
4.Try busing or walking to the place you have to get to,instead of driving.
5.(optional)Buy Energy Star appliances and electronics for your home.
6.See green.yahoo.com or 18seconds.org for more ideas!
Maw-Maw
Bike around town,or skates if possible.Then there is the bus….
Cherie A
Go vegan or at least reduce the amount of animal products you eat/consume.
Welll….there are many small steps you can take that are easy and will make a huge impact.
*One big one is to start taking your own bags to the grocery store; cloth or whatever you have works. JUST SAY NO TO PLASTIC AND PAPER BAGS!
*Drive as little as possible – walk, skateboard, ride your bike, take public transit etc whenever you can.
*Buy organic – even if it’s only dairy and/or meat you’ll make a huge impact. Better yet – grow your own organic garden if you can.
This doesn’t seem like much but believe me – you’d be amazed at how much this will reduce your "footprint". Also, http://www.treehugger.com is a great website to check ou!
MarcoPolo
Make sure you eat plenty of green vegetables and take supplements like chlorella and spirulina. In no time you’ll be living green and leaving green behind!
m.p.
Buy food from local sources
Switch to compact florescent
Turn your water heater down and wash clothes in cold/warm
Improve your home’s insulation (buy a can of Great Stuff foam and have at it)
Use mass transit or drive more conservatively (watch your RPM’s)
Recycle
If you’re rolling in $, install some solar panels & go off the grid
Ryan
cut down on products that you waste. use towels instead of paper towels. use food scraps for fertilizers in your garden. try alternative means of travel (hey it is warmer out now!) or car-pool. Install a solar panel on your house to save on electricity. Buy products that are "green" products. by doing this it shows the CEO’s of companies that you want them to develop these products. they want to make a profit off of these products, and if they know the consumers support them, they will continue research on them. The best way to live green is to show others how to live green. one person living green has a small effect, but if you can convince 10 people to live green, they can convince another 10 people each to live green…our world would be a better place.
Truth
Move out of your parents house and live in the woods. Crap in a stream and use leaves to wipe. Eat tree bark and insects. That should be a good start. Good luck. Oh, by the way-all those Hollywood types that are always preaching the "green" lifestyle don’t practice what they preach. They want you to live that way but they won’t. They’ll continue to live in their huge energy wasting mansions and traveling in their limousines and private planes. Don’t let ’em brainwash you.
john m
The first step obviously would be to make the decision to live more green. The next step in my opinion would be to educate yourself on what changes you personally can make. There is plenty of info on the internet and also at your local library. You may also want to check out http://freecycle.org/ this site is a cool way to dispose of things you don’t want or need anymore and keeps them out of the landfills.
Good luck in your quest to do your part to live greener!
gouldgirl2002
1. Get one of those big washable shopping bags that you take to the grocery store & use that instead of more & more plastic bags.
2. Think about combining your trips in the car to save gas.
3. Water lawn with "rainbird" or one of those hoses with holes in it, not a sprinkler that shoots water up into the air (they have up to 90% evaporation before the water hits the ground).
4. Take the bus or subway, ride bike or even walk sometimes.
5. Keep house 1 degree hotter or colder, depending on weather.
6. Turn computer all the way off when not in use (it uses 40% of the electricity when just "logged off" as it does while in use).
7. Make your next car a hybrid.
preppy624
Decreasing our daily impact. Like recycling, buying organic foods. You can even buy recycled clothes. Take your phone charger off the outlet when not using it.
Camilla
Recognizing what is synthetic and what is real, and start by buying organic products and recycling
zeltar01
The Seattle Times is running a short article every day this month with steps you can take. I’m sure you can look it up online.
nuttergreenhome
I would recommend starting in small steps. There are certain areas that have large impacts on green living. For example, it makes absolutely NO sense to place solar panels on a poorly insulated house! So here’s my list with the most critical items at the top:
1. Increase efficiency of the building envelope – windows, doors, walls, roof, foundations – through increased insulation and air sealing. $100 worth of caulk can pay for itself in less than a year in some climates. Seal around all windows and doors, along sill plate, at rim joists, and at all attic and basement penetrations. Contact a local Energy Star Home Energy Rater (HERS) in your area to have an analysis of your home completed.
2. Increase the energy efficiency of appliances and equipment. Make sure all HVAC, water heaters, and appliances are Energy Star certfied. Remember that once you increase your envelope efficiency, you can downsize your heating and AC equipment if you are buying new equipment. Insulate hot water heaters and water lines, put timer devices on hot water heaters so that you are only heating water when you need it hot. Tankless water heaters use HUGE amounts of electricity, so if you are on a solar system, they may not be a good idea. Some tankless companies make water heaters that are solar hot water heater-compatible. If you like the idea of tankless, consider a tankless/solar hybrid system.
3. Increase water efficiency. Fix leaks, get low flow toilets and faucets, stop using municipal water for landscaping and lawns (use a rainbarrel to collect water for outdoor uses instead)
4. Stop commuting. Discuss the idea of telecommuting – even if only for a few days each week – to reduce the amount of auto use. I telecommute 100% and my spouse works 5 days a week, for 9 months a year at a location 5 miles from our home. If you can reduce your commute to under 20 miles each way, you may consider purchasing or converting your car to an electric vehicle that you can charge overnight or at work. If you have solar panels on your roof, you can drive for free using the sun’s energy. (or for pennies if you have a grid-tied solar system) Walk or ride a bike or high efficiency vehicle to work.
5. Stop mowing lawns. Increase the amount of landscaped area around your home and keep manicured lawn areas minimal. Use low mow grass mixes or xeriscaping depending on your climate. Use native plants to eliminate the need for watering, fertilizing, and mowing. As one book’s title calls it, grow food, not lawns. Plant a garden.
6. Install a solar hot water heating system. They pay for themselves very quickly.
7. Make the choice not only to live green, but live healthy. Improve your indoor environment by increasing natural light, fresh air, and indoor plants. Indoor plants purify the air and combat toxins. Increased natural light decreases the amount of artificial light and electricity used. If energy efficient windows are used, bringing in natural light also reduces indoor heat loads by eliminating the need for interior artificial lights to be on durnig the day.
I could go on all day, but I’ll stop at 7. Enjoy living green!
I would say recycling that is how I got started but if u need some motivation look it up do a google search it is horrible the things you will find people don’t care one bit about this earth and it makes me want to puke ! some others steps would be don’t use paper OR plastic bags buy recyclable ones and the best step u can and will ever take is
1. passing on the info to get others interested
2. the most important buy one of those new cars that runs on corn oil they might be expensive to ur choosing but it will save more money then u spend u won’t have to buy gas and ur generations will go further! p.s they run on corn starch u buy that at the store!
The easiest ways are small things like replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones; switching to non-toxic "green" cleaning products, like Shaklee or Ecover or similar ones (and no I’m NOT a Shaklee distributor 🙂 but I do use their cleaning products and they’re great); recycle; walk or bike when possible. Then there are the common sense things… turn off lights when not in use, don’t leave the water running when you’re brushing your teeth, etc. The little things like this don’t cost much, and are easy to incorporate into your normal routine.
A few things you can do to start with are:
1.Replace the light bulbs in your house with Energy Star Certified Energy saving light bulbs.
2.Recycle paper,metal cans,plastic and other reusable materials.
3.Try buying more USDA certified Organic foods.
4.Try busing or walking to the place you have to get to,instead of driving.
5.(optional)Buy Energy Star appliances and electronics for your home.
6.See green.yahoo.com or 18seconds.org for more ideas!
Bike around town,or skates if possible.Then there is the bus….
Go vegan or at least reduce the amount of animal products you eat/consume.
Do the following:
1. Recycle!
2. Buy more organic products
3. Try to buy recycleable products
4. Tell others about being green
5. Use the free lightbulbs that Yahoo! is giving out.
6. Turn off any electrical appliance that you aren’t using. Also, unplug any chargers when they aren’t being used (cell phone, iPods, etc).
7. Check out this question: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070514131704AAmxGMa&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFMhj1UV9xuczqibpzecDFtvArlWZhuIlnXqQ–&paid=answered#NbUvWjq.VjKyn3FSvomA
Welll….there are many small steps you can take that are easy and will make a huge impact.
*One big one is to start taking your own bags to the grocery store; cloth or whatever you have works. JUST SAY NO TO PLASTIC AND PAPER BAGS!
*Drive as little as possible – walk, skateboard, ride your bike, take public transit etc whenever you can.
*Buy organic – even if it’s only dairy and/or meat you’ll make a huge impact. Better yet – grow your own organic garden if you can.
This doesn’t seem like much but believe me – you’d be amazed at how much this will reduce your "footprint". Also, http://www.treehugger.com is a great website to check ou!
Make sure you eat plenty of green vegetables and take supplements like chlorella and spirulina. In no time you’ll be living green and leaving green behind!
Buy food from local sources
Switch to compact florescent
Turn your water heater down and wash clothes in cold/warm
Improve your home’s insulation (buy a can of Great Stuff foam and have at it)
Use mass transit or drive more conservatively (watch your RPM’s)
Recycle
If you’re rolling in $, install some solar panels & go off the grid
cut down on products that you waste. use towels instead of paper towels. use food scraps for fertilizers in your garden. try alternative means of travel (hey it is warmer out now!) or car-pool. Install a solar panel on your house to save on electricity. Buy products that are "green" products. by doing this it shows the CEO’s of companies that you want them to develop these products. they want to make a profit off of these products, and if they know the consumers support them, they will continue research on them. The best way to live green is to show others how to live green. one person living green has a small effect, but if you can convince 10 people to live green, they can convince another 10 people each to live green…our world would be a better place.
Move out of your parents house and live in the woods. Crap in a stream and use leaves to wipe. Eat tree bark and insects. That should be a good start. Good luck. Oh, by the way-all those Hollywood types that are always preaching the "green" lifestyle don’t practice what they preach. They want you to live that way but they won’t. They’ll continue to live in their huge energy wasting mansions and traveling in their limousines and private planes. Don’t let ’em brainwash you.
The first step obviously would be to make the decision to live more green. The next step in my opinion would be to educate yourself on what changes you personally can make. There is plenty of info on the internet and also at your local library. You may also want to check out http://freecycle.org/ this site is a cool way to dispose of things you don’t want or need anymore and keeps them out of the landfills.
Good luck in your quest to do your part to live greener!
1. Get one of those big washable shopping bags that you take to the grocery store & use that instead of more & more plastic bags.
2. Think about combining your trips in the car to save gas.
3. Water lawn with "rainbird" or one of those hoses with holes in it, not a sprinkler that shoots water up into the air (they have up to 90% evaporation before the water hits the ground).
4. Take the bus or subway, ride bike or even walk sometimes.
5. Keep house 1 degree hotter or colder, depending on weather.
6. Turn computer all the way off when not in use (it uses 40% of the electricity when just "logged off" as it does while in use).
7. Make your next car a hybrid.
Decreasing our daily impact. Like recycling, buying organic foods. You can even buy recycled clothes. Take your phone charger off the outlet when not using it.
Recognizing what is synthetic and what is real, and start by buying organic products and recycling
The Seattle Times is running a short article every day this month with steps you can take. I’m sure you can look it up online.
I would recommend starting in small steps. There are certain areas that have large impacts on green living. For example, it makes absolutely NO sense to place solar panels on a poorly insulated house! So here’s my list with the most critical items at the top:
1. Increase efficiency of the building envelope – windows, doors, walls, roof, foundations – through increased insulation and air sealing. $100 worth of caulk can pay for itself in less than a year in some climates. Seal around all windows and doors, along sill plate, at rim joists, and at all attic and basement penetrations. Contact a local Energy Star Home Energy Rater (HERS) in your area to have an analysis of your home completed.
2. Increase the energy efficiency of appliances and equipment. Make sure all HVAC, water heaters, and appliances are Energy Star certfied. Remember that once you increase your envelope efficiency, you can downsize your heating and AC equipment if you are buying new equipment. Insulate hot water heaters and water lines, put timer devices on hot water heaters so that you are only heating water when you need it hot. Tankless water heaters use HUGE amounts of electricity, so if you are on a solar system, they may not be a good idea. Some tankless companies make water heaters that are solar hot water heater-compatible. If you like the idea of tankless, consider a tankless/solar hybrid system.
3. Increase water efficiency. Fix leaks, get low flow toilets and faucets, stop using municipal water for landscaping and lawns (use a rainbarrel to collect water for outdoor uses instead)
4. Stop commuting. Discuss the idea of telecommuting – even if only for a few days each week – to reduce the amount of auto use. I telecommute 100% and my spouse works 5 days a week, for 9 months a year at a location 5 miles from our home. If you can reduce your commute to under 20 miles each way, you may consider purchasing or converting your car to an electric vehicle that you can charge overnight or at work. If you have solar panels on your roof, you can drive for free using the sun’s energy. (or for pennies if you have a grid-tied solar system) Walk or ride a bike or high efficiency vehicle to work.
5. Stop mowing lawns. Increase the amount of landscaped area around your home and keep manicured lawn areas minimal. Use low mow grass mixes or xeriscaping depending on your climate. Use native plants to eliminate the need for watering, fertilizing, and mowing. As one book’s title calls it, grow food, not lawns. Plant a garden.
6. Install a solar hot water heating system. They pay for themselves very quickly.
7. Make the choice not only to live green, but live healthy. Improve your indoor environment by increasing natural light, fresh air, and indoor plants. Indoor plants purify the air and combat toxins. Increased natural light decreases the amount of artificial light and electricity used. If energy efficient windows are used, bringing in natural light also reduces indoor heat loads by eliminating the need for interior artificial lights to be on durnig the day.
I could go on all day, but I’ll stop at 7. Enjoy living green!