I have become very interested in green living?

Question

Does anyone have suggestions or a link that can guide me on what I can do? I already recycle my bottles and cans. I no longer buy styrofoam cups. I've heard that it's better to use cloth towels rather than paper towels. I am looking for simple things that I can do.

Answer 1

Oh!! LOADS!!!

HOME APPLIANCES

1. Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Use the

energy-saving setting to dry the dishes. Don't use heat when

drying.

Carbon dioxide reduction: 200 pounds a year.

2. Wash clothes in warm or cold water, not hot.

Carbon dioxide reduction (for two loads a week): up to 500

pounds a year.

3. Turn down your water heater thermostat; 120 degrees is

usually hot enough.

Carbon dioxide reduction (for each 10- degree adjustment):

500 pounds a year.

HOME HEATING AND COOLING

4. Don't overheat or overcool rooms. Adjust your thermostat

(lower in winter, higher in summer).

Carbon dioxide reduction (for each 2-degree adjustment):

about 500 pounds a year.

5. Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Cleaning a dirty

air conditioner filter can save 5% of the energy used.

Carbon dioxide reduction: About 175 pounds a year.

(But basically, I would suggest not using A/C as it creates CFCs)

SMALL INVESTMENTS THAT PAY OFF

6. Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your

most-used lights.

Carbon dioxide reduction (by replacing one frequently used

bulb): about 500 pounds a year.

7. Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket (but only if the

water heater is over 5 years old and has no internal insulation).

Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 1000 pounds a year.

8. Install low-flow shower heads to use less hot water.

Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 300 pounds a year.

9. Caulk and weatherstrip around doors and windows to plug air

leaks.

Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 1000 pounds a year.

10. Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out

where your home is poorly insulated or energy-inefficient.

Carbon dioxide reduction: Potentially, thousands of pounds a

year.

GETTING AROUND

11. Whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool or use mass transit.

Carbon dioxide reduction (for every gallon of gasoline you

save): 20 pounds.

12. When you buy a car, choose one that gets good gas

mileage.

Carbon dioxide reduction (if your new car gets 10 mpg more

than your old one): about 2500 pounds a year.

OR BETTER YET..use eco-friendly vehicles

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

13. Reduce waste: Buy minimally packaged goods; choose

reusable products over disposable ones; recycle.

Carbon dioxide reduction (if you cut down your garbage by

25%): 1000 pounds a year.

14. If your car has an air conditioner, make sure its coolant is

recycled whenever you have it serviced.

Equivalent carbon dioxide reduction: Thousands of pounds.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

15. Insulate your walls and ceilings; this can save about 25% of

home heating bills.

Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 2000 pounds a year.

16. If you need to replace your windows, install the best

energy-saving models.

Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 10,000 pounds a year.

17. Plant trees next to your home and paint your home a light

color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color in a cold

climate.

Carbon dioxide reduction: About 5000 pounds a year.

18. As you replace home appliances, select the most

energy-efficient models.

Carbon dioxide reduction (if you replace your old refrigerator

with an efficient model): 3000 pounds a year.

SCHOOLS, BUSINESS, AND COMMUNITIES

19. Reduce waste and promote energy-efficient measures at

your school or workplace. Work in your community to set up

recycling programs.

Carbon dioxide reduction (for every pound of office paper

recycled): 4 pounds.

20. Be informed about environmental issues. Keep track of them

and report to concerned Organizations or Authorities!!

Answer 2

Those are questions which all of us around the world will soon be asking. Recycling and other "green" technologies are all related in one way or another to saving energy and raw materials. For example, recycling aluminum cans saves the energy used in producing aluminum from the aluminum ore bauxite (which uses a huge amount of electricity).

New energy saving technologies are being developed every day in response to the coming energy crisis. Compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs come to mind.

Some suggestions:

Turning off lights is one small step.

Turning your heat down and air conditioning up.

Using water more efficiently is another.

Using transportation more efficiently.

There are many very good resources on the internet that will help you answer your questions. One very good one is the National Renewable Energy Labs site - www.nrel.gov. Another water related site is the American Water Works Association - www.awwa.org

Another resource that you might consider is a downloadable PDF ebook entitiled Tired of Making Your Utility Company Rich? How to Prepare for the Coming Energy Crisis. It includes links to many of the best energy related sites on the internet.

Again, thanks for your question.

Sincerely,

H. Court Young

Geologist, author & publisher

Promoting awareness through the written word

http://www.hcourtyoung.com

*Subscribe to my ILLUME newsletter – get a

Free 3-part mini-course entitled How to

Prepare for the Coming Energy Crisis

mailto:[e-mail]*

Answer 3

instead of driving cars ride bikes so oil cant kill grass that animals eat and poison water

Answer 4

I'm a big fan of freecycle. You can join a group near you www.freecycle.org to find one. Every time you need something, don't buy new, ask if anyone has an old one they can give you. All the stuff you don't want any more, offer to others. This saves it going into landfill and reduces constant consumerism.

Answer 5

try using things which are made from degradable objects(keep in mind that they do not hurt our mother nature)remember not to waste resources.home made food need less resources than the processed food.try to install a biogas plant in your home.little things can make big differences.try to make others aware

Answer 6

I write a blog that can be very helpful for you. It's about innovative entrepreneurs that make money selling recycled items, provide green services or help us reduce our dependency on non renewable resources. These include some very cool Green online ventures, great new technologies, startups and investments opportunities as well as online resources, links of interest and green products review. Just check the source link below

Answer 7

It is very satisfying to grow veg in plant pots, chard, "pick and use" lettuce, tomatoes, herbs etc.  They look great, you know they are free from pesticides and you pick off what you are going to use.  No travel miles to deliver, no packaging to discard.

Answer 8

The GREENEST thing you can do is not have more than 1 kid.. every life is a consumer.. more kids means more demand.. you are still alive so it is population growth.. more growth = more needs..

buy used when possible, dont buy junk you dont need (knick knacks and such)

shop at second hand stores

Answer 9

turn off lights when you leave a room

Answer 10

candace b

Looks like you have you eyes open. Can’t say that about to many people in society today. Most of us walk around with blinders until a catastrophe hits, then we wake up pretty quick. Unfortunately we go blind again a few months later…

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live 100% off of the grid and are completely self-sufficient with a 0% Carbon footprint. I believe this is the first step anyone can make “help the environment”. Once you convert your own life style to a greener more eco friendly route, you can start helping others.

We definitely didn't start global warming, but we definitely do contribute to it now.

Natural gas (or Methane along with other thanes) for example, is completely a natural contributer to global warming and is derived pretty much the same way as oil. ie. Matter (animal, plant etc) decomposes over time resulting in a anaerobic (hope I spelled that right) decay of non-fossil organic material / gas (natural gas or methane).

One problem with global warming is that the concept is so vague in the minds of the people. The critical interpretation is basically how it’s explained in school and the news. However most of the public see global warming connected with the ozone and pollutants which cause harmful greenhouse gasses, etc. therefore investigating and fighting for things like alternative energy (ie. Solar, wind, hydrogen, ethanol, biodiesel, etc)

Greenhouse gases are real and do contribute to global warming. Think of the different gas layers like ozone (o3) that circumference the globe as the clear plastic on a greenhouse. Longer rays of light from the Sun go in and reflect off different thermal masses bouncing back and creating shorter lengths of energy that cannot exist the plastic barrier. These beams then just continue to bounce around inside the green house until they’re finally absorbed completely (some do escape but very few), thereby warming the greenhouse greatly even in cold temperatures.

Basically there are 2 ways that this reaction (or lack of) affects the planet. Global warming and global cooling.

1. as we add to the gases in the stratosphere, where the ozone layer is (Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc), we add to the plastic of the greenhouse, trapping more short wave length energy and heating the earth more.

2. as we deplete the ozone (with chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs), we allow more long wave length energy, which bounces back out to space without heating any thermal masses on earth, thereby cooling the planet.

It’s pretty easy to see the results..

Melting ice sheets & glaciers

Floods & droughts

Great hurricanes & cyclones

Seasonal extremes

Seasonal phenomena’s

Species extinction

New & resurgent diseases

There are many ways to stop both global warming and cooling from accruing or at least slow them down until we can discover a way to reverse it, but Stop burning fossil fuels is the biggest.

I currently own 2 converted h2 vehicles which run on 100% hydrogen and 1 EV (electric vehicle), not to mention our home is completely off the grid, using alternative energy (solar, wind, etc)

If you interested I offer several DIY alternative guides to walk you step by step threw Greener living, how to run your car on alternative fuels and being self-sufficient, at agua-luna com or

http://www.agua-luna.com/

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at http://www.agua-luna.com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Retired Boeing Engineer now living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World... Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY... All With Just One Click of A Mouse...For more info Visit:  

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