Going Green in Baby Steps

This is a partnered guest post.

Haste makes waste, and with the current state of our environment, we can’t afford to be much more wasteful. Climate change has blanketed its harmful ramifications from the polar ice caps to mountainous inlands. While behavioral change is an urgent matter for our society, going green isn’t as easy as flicking a switch.

Green practices take a real, concerted effort in order to make them valuable. If you’re interested in making an earth friendly shift, start small and work your way up. There’s no need for a massive, all-or-nothing overhaul. Here are four simple steps to get you going:

1. Wash in full loads. This one’s about as easy as it gets; make your laundry cycles count. Washers and dryers use up a boatload of electricity and water every time they’re run. In fact, it’s said that the typical American family of four does about 540 loads per year, which adds up to about 1,500 gallons of water. By avoiding half loads and long rinse cycles, you’ll be able to relax your strain on the environment pretty handily. And plus, you won’t be doing laundry as often!
2. Stop the junk mail. Even in the midst of the digital age, junk mail still seems to pile up in our mailboxes faster than ever. It’s annoying, it’s cumbersome and it’s an environmental plague considering all those envelopes and papers that get tossed directly into the garbage. Check out the FTCs website and see how you can stop junk mail from showing up at your door.
3. Try a green energy plan. Many U.S. consumers now have the ability to include green provisions into their natural gas and electricity services. If you live in a deregulated area, it’s particularly easy to make the switch. Just call up an electric supplier and you can get moved over to green energy plan without any lapse in service.
4. Switch your light bulbs. As you probably know already, incandescent bulbs use a lot of electricity. Plus, they don’t even last that long. The answer is to switch over to CFLs or LEDs. Both of these types of light bulbs are efficient and relatively inexpensive. The tiny extra you’ll pay for them will be easily accounted for and then some once you see the savings that show up on your energy bill.

See? It’s as easy as these four steps. None of them are going to throw you off your routine, but in combination, all of them could help you ease off your environmental impact. And don’t be afraid to expand your horizons! There are all sorts of ways to go green without sacrificing your comfort.

Kristina Ross

Blogger at http://www.saveonenergy.com

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

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