How do I become more Environmentally Green?

There is a strong movement towards everyone becoming “environmentally correct”.  Known as the green movement, many also believe that it is some scientifically advanced daunting task to be helpful and more aware about the environment.  The fact is the smallest thing when completed by a lot of people; add up to having a huge positive impact on our surroundings.  In this article I want to give you some ideas on what you and your family can do today to become greener.  You’ll see that you will also save some money along the way.

In my area, in fact in my entire state, it is unheard of to not recycle.  We recycle everything from cans, to bottle, to plastics to tires.  It was a movement that started back in the 80s and continues to this day.  In fact it has become second nature and no different than putting out your regular trash for pick up.  Millions of tons of garbage are recycled yearly which reduces the need for landfill space as well as the production of new materials, which by the way saves companies a lot of money.  However, I was shocked to hear that some areas of the country do not recycle.  If you area does not recycle the start one yourself.  Who says you have to wait for the government to start something.  You can collect cans, bottles, glass, tires, newspapers, and so much more.  Chances are there is a company or companies within driving distance to your home that would gladly take those items off your hands.  You can actually turn it into a small weekend business even.

Another way to go green is through the user of electric in your home.  Believe it or not many appliances still draw power even if they are not on.  So you can start by either unplugging an appliance that is not in use or plugging it into an outlet strip that has an on/off switch.  Many homes now have outlets hooked up directly to light switches on the wall.  Cutting off power to these appliances will reduce what you use and in turn save you some money.

A quick and affordable way to go green is to replace all of those old light bulbs with the new energy efficient bulbs.  They last longer and use less energy than a traditional light bulb and since they are more popular than every the price has come down to the point where it makes no sense not to buy them.  You can save literally hundreds of dollars per year and go green at the same time.

If it is in your budget do not be afraid to upgrade those old appliances such as dishwashers, washers, dryers and refrigerators.  The ones being sold today that have the energy star rating will save not only on electrical costs but if they use water, do a great job of regulating the amount of water that is used.  People forget that we also need to conserve water as well.  This is one way of doing that.  You can also make sure you do not leave the water running while shaving or brushing your teeth.  You can showers instead of baths, use a tankless water heater as opposed to a traditional one and so on.  If you are feeling very energetic you can build yourself a rain barrel and practice in the art of rain harvesting.  I won’t go into too much detail, but rain harvesting is a way to collect rain water and reuse it a later time (like when you go through dry spells in the summer).

All of the ways I mentioned above are the very basics of what you can do to go green and many if not all of them will help you save money. 

About the Author:
Mr. Tucker is a regular contributor on Bukisa, an online community for writers that pays them for their articles.  You can also follow Bruce on Twitter.

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