Posted by EightNine at july 7, 2010

Green living refers to spending life in a conscious way by caring for the environment. It is about leading life in an eco-friendly way for saving our planet from global warming. Below are some green living tips, which nature lovers or greenoholic people may make incorporate in their personal lives and thus, help the planet from environmental hazards. Suffice it to say, green living is about showing how much you care for the environment. By being a greenoholic, you express your concern towards the Mother Nature.

Useful Tips:

Switch to online shopping: Whenever you want to buy goods and commodities, always try shop for them on e-commerce websites online, to escape standing in queues. Online shopping saves you time and energy. You even get to save on the transportation cost, as shopping online is done from home. Moreover, it is good for the environment. E-commerce websites make use of 1/16th part of the total energy. Air shipping that takes place overnight uses less fuel about 40% compared to the car trip that you take for reaching a mall. Every minute that you spend driving to any mall takes additional energy by almost 20 times. On the contrary, it takes merely a minute to shop online right away. Bear in mind that online shopping reduces the carbon footprint caused by you. As a greenoholic, you shop from the convenience of your home, you save money that otherwise goes to the gas station for refueling the car. This is one of the many green living tips to follow.

Drive smart and safe: Nearly one-third of carbon dioxide produced daily comes from airplanes, trucks and cars. As a responsible car driver, you may contribute a lot for reducing carbon dioxide emission while driving. This you can do by following certain tips mentioned below:

1. Check the tires of your car for proper inflation, because proper inflation of your car tires may enhance gas mileage almost by over 3%. As each gallon of the gasoline possibly saves money thereby keeping carbon dioxide of about 20 pounds away from the environment, accordingly, each increase in the fuel efficiency matters much. Ensure that your car tires are inflated sufficiently. Check them once in a month. This way, you may not only save around 250 pounds of the carbon dioxide, but also around $840 each year.

1. Ensure regular maintenance of your car, as it enhances fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. As a result, your car runs well. If only 1% percent of car drivers maintain their vehicles properly, then carbon dioxide of billion lbs stays away from the environment.

1. If you are a greenoholic and prefer a cleaner environment, then you may make a carpool along with your classmates or co-workers. When you share a ride along with someone for merely twice a week, there will be reduction in the emissions of carbon dioxide by about 1590 lbs in a year. This way, you may not only save on gas, but also reduce pollution simultaneously.

1. Try walking, running or riding the bicycle for going to places located at shorter distances. By avoiding only 10 miles of car drive each week, you may reduce the emission of carbon dioxide by around 500 pounds annually. This is one valuable tip among the various green living tips.

1. If you require a car, however, do not wish to purchase one, then you may share it. Car-sharing firms offer people access to cars through a membership that covers gas, insurance and maintenance.

1. Greenoholics may telecommute or work from home and thus, reduce the miles, which they cover usually driving to workplaces. This is even beneficial in the sense that you no more need to be part of the traffic. Rather, you get to spend quality time with your family by working from home.

1. For purchasing a few food items from the grocery, you may either walk to the store or take your bike there. Try carrying a big backpack or cloth sack for putting the grocery items and for coming back home conveniently. This will also be a workout, which is ultimately good for the body.

1. Another of the green living tips is avoiding the use of plastic or paper bags. Plastic bags of around 400 billion are in use each year. Of them, less than 3% are recycled, which never biodegrade. They actually photodegrade meaning that they break into small toxic bits, which contaminate soil, thereby polluting waterways and even entering our food chain. As for paper bags, each year, around 14 million trees are uprooted for the production of paper bags. It is better to purchase a reusable bag of superior quality costing not more than $1. Through this, a greenoholic may avoid using disposable thin bags.

1. Have a replacement for light bulbs in your house. Individuals may replace the luminescent bulbs in their house with fluorescent bulbs. The reason here is that fluorescent bulbs make use of 60% to 75% fewer energy compared to any regular bulb. In recent times, compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs provide you with color rendition and brightness, comparable to luminescent lights. An ordinary CFL bulb switch saves carbon dioxide of about 300 pounds annually. A number of families collectively may eliminate carbon dioxide over 90 billion lbs through making use of the CFL switches.

1. Put an end to the use of toxic chemicals. In a bid to make their homes cleaner and clothes whiter, many people have invited to their houses a vast majority of toxic chemicals. This also raises concerns regarding their self well-being and health as well as of their surrounding. Customary cleaning products contain chemicals that contaminate air. As a follow-up, people absorb the chemicals through their skin. Besides, the chemicals enter into waste stream followed by contaminating the ground water. If you use household cleaners in your house, then you need to bear in mind certain things, which are mentioned below:

• • Avoid using stain removers or detergents with alkylphenol exthoxylates, phosphates and linear alkylate sulforate, as all of them are toxicants.
  • Never use bleach along with sodium perborates or chlorine, because chlorine mixes with waste stream and contaminates groundwater. Rather, you may make use of non-chlorine substitutes made from oxygen or hydrogen peroxide.
  • Avoid using those products that have traditional fabric softeners or chemical fragrances, as they are skin irritants and make your clothes look dull.
  • Always make use of safer products in place of harsh chemical cleaners. For instance, you can use lemon juice, white vinegar and baking soda. Make it a habit of using only natural, safe, biodegradable and non-toxic cleaners.

If you are indeed a greenoholic, then you need to use water as less as you can. If not, then you need to follow certain tips:

• 1. While brushing your teeth, do not allow the tap water to run waste. You may save eight gallons of water this way.
  2. Toilets or cans consume more water in any house. Here, you may try installing a low flow toilet dam or a displacement device such as one filled bottle for reducing the quantity of water required for every flush. This way, you may reduce the use of water by about 20%.
  3. Wash loads of dishes or laundry at one go.
  4. Do not water the lawn too much. Lawns require watering for five to seven days only during the summer. Enough rainfall reduces your need to water them for at least two weeks. You may water your lawns in the early hours of morning when both the wind speed and the temperature are low.
  5. Avoid hosing the sidewalk or driveway that adjoins your house. Rather, make use of broom and thus, save as many gallons of water.
  6. Green living tips suggest that you never make use of running water for thawing meat or frozen foods. Instead, defrost them in the freezer.
  7. Remember that washing machines use much water. Hence, when you shop for one, get a high-efficiency cloth washer or washing machine, which uses 40% to 50% less water and 50% to 60% less energy compared to other machines. Such a washing machine helps you save on energy and water. Individuals purchasing such machines may even be eligible for the energy rebates.
  8. As a greenoholic, whenever you take to washing your car, always park it first in an area where there is grass around. Next, use a bucket along with the soapy water for washing. While soaping, do not forget turning off the water. Likewise, use a hose having pressure nozzle for decreasing the rinsing time.

Work smart on your computer instead of working harder. Many people might not know that on an average, a desktop computer wastes almost half of the power, which it consumes. Most unused energy goes waste as heat. It fails to reach your computer’s processor, disks, memory and other parts. Consequently, there is an increased demand for air conditioners by data centers, offices and many households. This leads to an increase in the energy cost. Green living tips reveal that businesses and individuals may minimize power consumption along with release of greenhouse gases just through power management on their computers. They may purchase energy-efficient desktop computers for saving energy.

Have houseplants at your home to go green. They filter air in the house and even relieve it from pollutants. Make use of the following tips concerning houseplants.

1. Position each houseplant at a distance of 10 square yards from the other for keeping air clean within that area.
2. On mixing night-synthesizing plants such as orchids along with the regular plants, the houseplants may most likely work all through the day for filtering air.
3. For filtering out a number of pollutants, try using a general combination of plants. Aloe plants and philodendrons particularly offer excellent protection from formaldehyde. Similarly, English ivy, peace lily and gerbera daisies even offer protection from trichloroethylene and benzene.

As a greenoholic, you need to adapt to living green concerning your body too. You need to be aware of the foods you consume and beauty products that you use on the body for living a healthier and greener life.

In terms of food, always shop for organic meats, dairy products and eggs. This way, you may possibly contribute to the reduction of pesticides along with that of genetically-modified foods, which you consume. For being sure of the superior quality organic food, always search for the Department of Agriculture label, which reveals about the product’s organic status. In addition, try shopping in health food or organic section of any grocery or instead of this, you may shop at any health food or specialty store too.

Next, where purchasing beauty products is concerned, always remember that numerous beauty products specifically lotions, soaps, conditioners as well as cosmetics are made of artificial chemicals and fragrances. Hence, whenever you seek beauty products for your personal care, search for those ones that come with excellent packaging in recyclable containers free from animal testing.

Thirdly, while buying clothes, green living tips suggest that you purchase garments that are made from natural fibers namely wool, hemp and cotton. Confirm that they are all made of natural dyes such as herbal or vegetable dyes. Through putting on all natural apparel, you will contribute a lot in saving the environment from those clothes that consume enough energy in the production process. Simultaneously, you will help yourself through avoidance of uncomfortable and irritating synthetic fibers as well as chemical dyes, which unhealthy for the clothes as well as your health.

Overall, if you care for the Mother Nature and want to make it greener and free from pollutants, then you certainly need to switch to green living. Through being eco-friendly, you may show how much you care for the environment and thus, save our planet from potential environmental hazards and especially for global warming. Try following all the tips in your daily life and make sure your neighbor next door is even aware of them. Spread your knowledge to others too, so that they too live life greener.