Many folks are looking for tips and ideas on how to go green and make a small, but personal, difference to alleviating the problems that face the planet.
Here’s a thought-provoking video to get the old grey cells working:
Go Veg Go Green
Whether you’re looking to go green at home, in the office, at school or college, there is something that everybody can do to help.
As an aside, you’ll also save some money if you’re on a budget AND you’ll feel good as well!
Here are half a dozen things you can put into place immediately and start making a difference:
1. Try to buy less ‘stuff’
You don’t need the latest electronic game, iPad or phone and don’t get suckered into believing that you must have them – advertisers are good at brainwashing! Ignore friends and family who have a ‘consumer mindset’. It’s okay to be different but it does take will-power.
The more you buy, the more is produced and the greater the CO2 emissions become. It’s an easy problem to solve, but it needs more people to actually STOP CONSUMING!
Did you know that as a society we only use 1% of the stuff we buy after about 6 months. Quite an eye-opening figure, isn’t it?
Give up retail therapy – it’s destroying the world.
Also, think about the transport costs and fossil fuels that need to be burned in order to get the ‘stuff’ to your home. Wildlife is destroyed and precious resources are mined to give us our laptops and trendy clothes.
Not good!
2. Walk or Pedal
Could you walk to work or to the shops? If you could, but don’t, think about why that is. Then think about the dangers and stresses of driving, to say nothing of the soaring costs involved in keeping your car on the road.
Millions of cars spew out CO2, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and benzene. If you live in a city or near a main road, it can cause respiratory problems.
Driving uses lots of energy that we simply don’t have. Walking uses YOUR energy and keeps you fit as well. It’s a no-brainer, really.
If you work or live in a tall building, try to walk up and down the stairs rather than grabbing the lift/elevator. This vertical journey also consumes too much energy.
You are designed to walk and run – so do it!
3. Keep Your Feet on the Ground
Flying is one of the most polluting means of transport. Stick to the ground if possible – it might be slower, but it’s more ecological.
Planes spew out loads of CO2 and planting a few trees is poor compensation for the planet.
Also, airplanes dump ‘blue ice’ into the sky, not on purpose, but it’s difficult to prevent. Here’s how Wikipedia defines, ‘blue ice’:
Blue ice in the context of aviation is the frozen material formed by leaks in commercial aircraft lavatory waste tanks, a bio waste mixture of human waste and liquid disinfectant that freezes at high altitude. The name comes from the blue color of the disinfectant. Airlines are not allowed to dump their waste tanks in mid-flight, and pilots have no mechanism by which to do so; however, leaks can occur.
If you don’t fly, you can save the equivalent of a year’s worth of CO2 from heating and other domestic appliances. Because planes fly high (obviously!), their greenhouse gas emissions are made even worse.
Travelling by land is also more scenic and can be an important part of the holiday. After all, you’ll probably be seeing sights that you’ve never seen before.
Sounds like a great holiday to me!
4. Switch Off
All electrical items use, erm… electric!
So, switch them off whenever you can. Even on standby, your TV is drawing power from the grid and is contributing loads of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Granted, this might take a little getting used to if you’ve always used standby functions. I used to be terrible for leaving lights on around my house, but now I make a determined effort to switch everything off if it’s not needed. In particular, my computer no longer sees standby and hibernation modes; I use the machine and then shut it down.
Earth4Energy
- secrets to slashing your next power bill
5. Use Things, Don’t Chuck ‘Em
If you have any items that still have life in them , use them, don’t throw them away.
The ‘All-Consuming’ movement advocates using up everything until it can’t be used any more AND never throwing things away if they still have some life left in them.
Buy new things only when you absolutely must and don’t be afraid to think about food in this way. For example, stale bread makes great bread and butter pudding, so don’t throw it in the bin.
Buying new things also contributes to the CO2 build-up via transportation and extraction of raw materials.
If food is beyond use, compost it. Landfill tends to produce lots of harmful gases, such as methane, because the decomposition process takes place anaerobically (without oxygen). Your compost bin works aerobically and also provides a home for useful invertebrates, bugs and bacteria.
6. Cool Down
Rather than sitting in tropical temperatures in your living room, try turning down the heat and adding a few jumpers.
This is healthier and will save on CO2 production.
Try to aim for about 18C to 21C as an average temperature. If you can live with a 1C temperature reduction (and everybody else in the country did the same) we could save £716,000,000 on energy bills and prevent 6.7 million tonnes of CO2 from escaping into the atmosphere.
Quite a thought, isn’t it?
Other human beings tend to be warm, so if it’s cold, get creative 
Alan
