How to "go green" for beginners?

Question

What are some good beginning steps for someone to "go green"? We already recycle (it’s almost mandatory in my town), and I don't plan to buy a hybrid or taking public transportation (I live a mile from work), and I'm not in the market to renovate my house. I'm looking for some, less than traumatic, ways of becoming more environmentally friendly. I figure, if I start with some smaller steps, then it will be easier to stick with than try to change my whole lifestyle at once. Any good ideas?

Answer 1

Grow a garden. Even if you have only space in the flower beds around your home, you can meet much of your food needs by interspersing food plants and spices in with your flowers and landscape plants.  The discouraging thing for many is that they do not grow their veggies at the correct time of year. Find out from seed packages, websites and so on, when the best times are to plant certain types of veggie seeds or transplants. (Example: don't transplant small tomato plants into direct sunlight in mid-June in the American South!  You'll waste water, because they will die anyways!)

Here is something I do to keep down weeds and keep my veggie garden and flower beds moist: I shred my junk mail.  I started because I didn't like sensitive documents like old checks and bills put into the trash, plus I live in an area where we all in this subdivision have to pay high rates for garbage pickup. So I started using my old checks and my junk mail to shred and mulch my gardens. I don't pay for garbage pickup, because this area is within two miles of the county landfill and recycling center. I recycle almost all of my trash. I tear out cellophane windows before shredding envelopes.

Cut off all appliances and lights not in use. Dress casually and cool.  I use jeans and t-shirts now, instead of clothes that require lots of special attention.  I have shoes repaired when possible, instead of simply tossed out to be a disposal problem and end up in a landfill. Take old clothes to a Goodwill box or give them to others who I know can use them.

I ride a bike to the mailbox one mile away, thus getting exercise and saving a bit on gas. I trim my grass close to flower beds with hand clippers (and put the grass over the shredded-paper mulch to make it look more natural), saving gas that'd be used by a weed-eater. (I used to raise chickens, who were crazy for these clippings---chickens are easy to raise and are great garbage disposals!)

Answer 2

start planting trees

Answer 3

Well, there are two types of ways to go green easily. The first is to start to change your habits. For example, make sure to turn off the lights when you leave the room or take a slightly shorter shower. These sort of things really add up and they don't inconvenience you. Then, you can also start purchasing differently. Instead of buying regular computer paper, why not buy 100% its not much more expensive but makes a gigantic difference. Also, buy CFLs instead of incandescent lightbulbs, more environmentally friendly cleaning products, and while your shopping, bring your own bag! Once you start to do these things, they will just become habits and you will be helping the environment while barely going out of your way!

Answer 4

go to these sites and get these books

treehugger.com

green.alltop.com

ecomall.com

ecochoices.com

naturalcollection.com

theorganicpages.com

newdream.org

coopamerica.com

ens-newswire.com

foe.org

environmentaldefense.org

epa.gov

awionline.org

catgen.com/ifat/en

fairtrade.net

just keep cutting and pasting my friend you will find what you need especially on treehugger.com and ecomall.com its a amazing resource but dont discount green.alltop.com either because it is a site that has major green sites all in one place that is a link to them and is updated daily i love it

books

365 ways to change the world : how to make a difference--one day at a time / Michael Norton

500 ways to change the world / Global Ideas Bank ; edited and compiled by Nick Temple

Farewell, my Subaru : an epic adventure in local living / Doug Fine

Go green, live rich : 50 simple ways to save the Earth and get rich trying / David Bach, with Hillary Rosner.

The green book : the everyday guide to saving the planet one simple step at a time / Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen with a foreword by Cameron Diaz and William McDonough

Green living : the E magazine handbook for living lightly on the earth / by the editors of E/the environmental magazine

It's easy being green : a handbook for earth-friendly living / Crissy Trask ; illustrations by Mike Clelland.

The lazy environmentalist : your guide to easy, stylish, green living / Josh Dorfman

Making kind choices : everyday ways to enhance your life through earth- and animal-friendly living / Ingrid Newkirk ; foreword by Paul McCartney.

MySpace OurPlanet : change is possible / by the MySpace community ; with Jeca Taudte ; foreword by Tom Anderson

Worldchanging : a user's guide for the 21st century / edited by Alex Steffen ; foreword by Al Gore ; design by Sagmeister

Ethical markets : growing the green economy / Hazel Henderson with Simran Sethi ; foreword by Hunter Lovins

Sustainable planet : solutions for the twenty-first century / edited by Juliet B. Schor and Betsy Taylor

trust me there all excellent books i love them and they have alot of info

Answer 5

i recycle everything i can. iuse florescent lighting, iput a coal stoker stove in my house , i dont know how clean the coal is i burn but i do know i dropped my heating bill 75 percent. i also put some solar lights in my house for lights to watch tv by,and i put one in each of the other rooms for night lights  they are the flood light type sold at wal mart. i change the batteries about once a year. cheaper than a 60 watt light bulb.

Answer 6

to keep your spirit of going green alive, you have to enjoy what you do. I treat it like a game. everytime i do something good for the earth, i gain imaginary points and i feel happy. haha. if you need more information to go green, visit my blog at www.ohmygodsogreen.blogspot.com

Answer 7

1.Car pool

2. buy green bags insead of using plasitc bags at the grocery store

3. Take short shower

4.Wash your laundry in cold water(cheaper too)

5.Turn of the water while brushing your teeth

6.Unplug unused appliances( even if turned off, things still use a bit of energy)

7.Don't waste paper on doodles and write on BOTH sides of the page

8.Don't use pesticides on the lawn

9. Save rain water in rain barrels instead of using a hose

10.Pick up trash around your community

11.While deciding what to eat, close the fridge or freezer door.

12.Ster the thermostat one degree warmer in the summer and one degree cooler in the summer

13.Plant a tree

14. Have Fun!!!

Answer 8

There are plenty of ways to "go green" without spending any money.  It's all about minimizing waste.  Some easy things you can do are: bring a coffee mug to work, refuse plastic bags at the grocery store and buy some cheap reusable bags, shut the water off when your brushing your teeth, replace some of your incandescent lights with compact fluorescent, buy groceries with less packaging over ones with more packaging.  

I've compiled a list of some of the things my family and I are personally doing on my site.  I've listed it in the resources in case you'd like to get some ideas for quick hits.

Answer 9

Umm..

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/3915?gcli...

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vine...

http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

These are some helpful things on how to be green. Google some more up if you want to. ;]

Answer 10

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Answer 11

This is what I came up with for our local mom's group...

http://www.prettyandpersonal.com/Recycli...

feel free to take a look at my website afterwards :)

www.prettyandpersonal.com

Answer 12

compost piles are excellent

reusing everything.. you can find a use for most things

no disposable water bottles

support politicians who favor the environmental cause

purchasing locally grown foods

minimizing driving time, shower time, and electrical use time

phosphorous free cleaning products (laundry detergent, shampoo, etc.)

washing the car at a car wash, not at home

refusing styrofoam

minimizing prepackaged foods

recycling most everything.. save ALL cardboard and take it to a cardboard recycling center, they sometimes take office paper, too!

if any appliances break, consider energy star rated ones.. front loading washers and dryers are phenominal energy/water savers

microwave more

consider putting a brick in the back part of the toilet so that you are flushing less water

compact florescent lightbulbs can replace regular lightbulbs whenever they die

i digress.. it's fairly simple after you think about it.

good luck!

you can always trace your carbon-footprint.. there are quite a few websites just for that purpose