Simple Ways to Go Green!

Go Green!
Simple ways to Go Green.

Replace incandescent light-bulbs with florescent. Even if they aren't disposed of properly, fluorescent bulbs emit less mercury into the environment than incandescent bulbs over their lifetimes due to reduced energy consumption, of which most in the U.S. is still produced from Mercury emitting, coal fired powder plants. Florescent bulbs also last many times longer than Incandescent and WILL save you a lot of money over the life of the bulk when compared to incandescents. If you've tried florescent bulbs, and did not like the color output, consider the environmental consequences of your actions, then... go out and try a few more bulbs. Many produce very different spectrum's of light and not necessarily consistent with what they state on the package. So test a bunch. If you are not happy with them, most reputable retailers will let you take them back.
Better yet, upgrade to LED's: LED's continue to come down in price. If at a given amount of Lumens (light output) an incandescent bulb uses 100 watts, and a fluorescent bulb uses 28 watts... an LED will only use around 8 or 9 watts, and contrary to the others, they can last many decades. LED's are idea in areas where you will be frequently turning lights on and off as they require no warm up time as Florescent's do.
Ride a bike whenever possible instead of driving a car. Good for you, good for the environment, and far more enjoyable and rewarding, both physically and mentally.
Install low flow shower fixtures. You'll save tons of water and you wont even notice a difference.
Use sustainable cleaning products. Toxins from main stream cleaning products have considerable negative consequences on both the health of the user and the environment. However, BEWARE... read labels carefully as there is a ton of "green washing" out there used by companies in an attempt to disguise their products as green to gain market share, when they are the farthest thing from it. Take "Mrs. Meyer's" and/or "Method" soaps for example. As of May 2012, neither are even close to being green/safe, but both are promoted as such, and have thus gained an undeserving share of the green market. In our experience, most times, if you simply see an "Inc." after the product name, it should be taken as a warning sign. There are exceptions though. Take for example "New Chapter". This is an Incorporated company, however they are not publicly traded and all shares are owned by the employees/founders of the company. Publicly traded corporations are the ones of biggest concern, particularly when they have been engaged in the sale of toxic products all along, then one day decide to enter the green market. Choose cleaning products carefully. Hint: Biokleen and Earth Friendly Products are a safe bet.
Make a conscious effort to switch to healthy, low impact, green activities. Kayaking, mountain biking, back-packing, hiking, walking, gardening, etc. to replace less sustainable activities such as Water-Sking, ATVing, Snowmobiling, etc. Keep in mind however, that driving a car 40 miles to "the trail" to go mountain biking or skiing, has more impart than taking the ATV out for a 20 miles spin closer to home (assuming the ATV is a 4 cycle low-emission vehicle. If your passion lies in motor sports, simply plan your activities to be more sustainable. I.e., ride closer to home. Trade your old O.H.V. in for a new, low emissions one. Pull your ride with a low-emission/fuel efficient vehicle. Water-skiing? Trade your boat in for one of the new 4 cycle, low emissions boats. These upgrades are a nice excuse to get a new boat and make a huge difference in pollution and fuel consumption realized during water play.
Don't use disposable kitchenware. If you must use disposable ones, be sure choose ones that are either compostable or recyclable, such as Preserve Products.
Compost, compost, compost: You can purchase or build your own compost bin if you like. Tumblers work decently, and keep food scraps away from pests, however wooden boxed worm composting is the most effective way to compost.
Eat Organic. From a garden, a grocery store or better yet, a local farmers market.
Eat Local. Ask your favorite restaurants where their food is sourced. Choose the ones that vow to support local, sustainable farmers.
Consolidate automobile trips. Plan trips to the grocery store, etc so that they are more efficient. Better yet, ride a bike!
Take the train or bus. These forms of transportation are much more efficient that traveling alone in a vehicle.
Carpool. Try carpool hot-lines or travel with friends.
Let part of your lawn go natural. There are many books on this and it can look amazing. If your community has CC&R's that don't allow it, try talking to the planning commission about this. The more people that speak out, the more demand it will create and the more likely it will be to change.
Use edible, native trees for landscaping. An easy way to cut down on yard maintenance, trips to the grocery store, the grocery bill, and to eat organic.
Put a timer in your shower. It's easy to stay in a nice hot shower of too long. A low flow shower head can ease some of the guilt.
Install Solar Power in your home. Check out the Government tax credits! Solar is now efficient enough that most every home in the U.S. with adequate sun exposure could reduce their energy consumption by 70% or more. Net Zero homes are even on the market now. You've got it. These are homes that have a "Net Zero" energy usage through the year, meaning that they do not require natural gas, coal, or any other outside source of energy to function through the entire year. The future is here, the future is now!
Install Wind Power at your home, or buy into the wind energy program in your area (contact your local power company for availability). Check out the Government tax credits! Note: our home is offset by 100% wind energy credits, and it only costs up approximately 5%-10% more than running on dirty fuels such as coal.
Make your next vehicle a fuel efficient one. Have you ever though how strange it is to use a 4000 lb + vehicle to carry an avg. 160 lb person? America's transportation system is a major contributor to global warming emissions, contributing nearly 30% of the total U.S. green house gas emissions, and 5% of the worlds (as of June 2012).
Plan vacations closer to home. We know, the grass is always greener. Often times you can have just as nice of a vacation, a fraction of the distance from your home. If you must travel far, plan fewer but longer vacations to increase the travel efficiency.
Use a fan instead of, or in combination with your air condition: Fans use FAR less energy than air conditioning compressors, and can make the air feel up to 15* F cooler, just by blowing lightly against your skin. Turn on a fan and turn your air conditioning up at least 10*. You'll be more comfortable knowing your saving money and the environment.
Install a Heat Pump: Install a heat pump to work in conjunction with your current heating/cooling system. These can save as much as 60% on your home conditioning bills. Contact your energy company and/or state for info on possible tax credits/rebates.
Install an ERV or HRV: Installing an ERV instead of opening windows for fresh air can save you TONS of wasted energy. These types of air change units bring in fresh air at a wide range of temperatures, while moderating with the incoming air. I.e., if it is 70* in your house, and 0* outside, some units can actually bring in outside air at 65* or higher. A special air change media allows them to do this. As you can probably see, this is far more efficient than "cracking" a window or turning on a furnace "fresh-air" fan.
Get a Home Energy Audit: Have an energy audit performed on your home. Many of them are free. Look online in your city/town, or check the yellow pages. Also, try contacting your local heating and cooling contractors for special promotions they may be running.
More to come!

When thinking about going green, it's not about sacrificing your quality of life but about rethinking the way you do things. Ask yourself if there are other options that would be more sustainable than what you are currently doing. Often times all these take is some thought. It's not necessary to give up the things you love, but it doesn't hurt to consider if you could get the same enjoyment out of a much more sustainable or eco-friendly activity.

For example, if you love to ATV, try mountain biking! Snowmobiling... Try Skiing! Keep in mind though, if you drive an ATV or Snowmobile out your back-door for recreation, while someone else takes their mountain bike or Skis to a trail 60 miles away, they may actually be impacting the environment more significantly by following their supposedly greener pursuit. Although, the health benefits of the latter still prevail.

If your undying passion is motor sports, look for ways to create less impact. For example; ride closer to home, trade in your OHV for a more fuel efficient one, with better gas mileage and lower emissions, transport your ride with a more fuel efficient vehicle. You can even feel good about increasing the efficiency of your homes energy consumption to offset the impact of your passion.

Keeping all of this in mind, if all of us converted to a more "green"/sustainable lifestyle, what we are in essence doing is paving the way for the worlds population to continue to expand unchecked. No matter what we do, how green/sustainable we each live, how little we impact the environment on an individual basis, there will come a time when we have to deal with population expansion. We will either have to face the facts that WE as a civilized people will have to regulate our own population through education, taxation and other peaceful processes, or mother nature will do it for us by way of disease, starvation & chaos.