There are so many ways to be more green, including many things that you may already be doing, such as recycling. There is always more that can be done though, and none of these things have to be difficult or expensive. Here are 7 incredibly easy ways to be more green that will help to save our beautiful planet (and some may save you a few pennies too).
Everyone’s house will be wasting energy to varying degrees, and upgrading your existing insulation if you can is one of the best ways to be more green. While this will involve an initial outlay, it will save you money in the long term. Furthermore, depending on whereabouts you live, you may be able to access a scheme that will help you with the cost of insulating your home.
If you generally eat meat every day, one easy change you can make is to have a meat-free day every week. Making this change for a family of four can have as much impact as driving a hybrid car. This is because raising livestock releases lots of greenhouses gases. If we all ate a little less meat, we’d have a healthier planet.
As well as eating less meat, choose sustainable or organic meat to avoid all of the hormones and antibiotics often given to livestock. This is good for your body, public health and the health of the planet.
This is one of the ways to be more green that’s good for the planet and your family’s health. If you get a lot of bugs in the kitchen, try preventative measures such as cleaning up crumbs, sealing holes, and using natural repellents.
Ultimately, fragranced products such as soaps, cosmetics and cleaning products all get washed down the drain where they join the ecosystem. No man-made chemical will be good for nature, and some are believed to disrupt natural hormones in mammals.
Before you put anything in the bin, ask yourself if it could be of use to anyone else. Not only could you do a good turn by donating things to a charitable organisation or directly to people less fortunate than yourself, but you will also help to reduce carbon emissions that are produced when new items are manufactured. Think school jumble sales, charity shops, and Freecycle.
The last of the ways to be more green is more about the health of you and your family. Your shoes are covered in all sorts of nasty substances: car exhaust fumes, chemicals, pesticides, feces… The list goes on. These can be tracked all over your home if you wear your shoes indoors. Plus, if you leave your shoes at the door, you won’t have to clean as frequently, which makes your life easier and saves on electricity and chemicals used for cleaning.
There are so many easy ways to be more green, and if everybody on the planet adopted just one new good habit we would see some positive change. What do you do to try and be green? Do you already do as much as you can, or would you like to start doing more?