Simple Tips to be Green

January 8, 2008

Here are some really simple tips to be environmentally friendly that you may not have thought of, but can do easily:

1. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs. For example, in shopping malls, instead of taking the elevator, there probably are stairs for you to walk. Or in apartment buildings. Not only will this decrease the electric energy use, it will also increase your health.
2. Turn off your power strip at night.
3. Don’t charge your electronics unless you have to. Or if it’s done charging, take off the plug and don’t leave it “charging” when it’s already fully charged.
4. Don’t use Styrofoam cups, and avoid using paper cups (or any type of disposable cups) and use a glass/re-washable cup when you can. Styrofoam is not biodegradable, so even if you recycle it, it doesn’t have much use. Paper cups are better, but you can go through a lot of paper cups (because either you lose track of it, or you just throw it away per drink), whereas a glass or re-washable cup will allow for many uses.
5. The same goes for silverware (metal forks/spoons/etc): use it if you can, instead of plastic forks/knives/spoons. Or paper/Styrofoam plates
6. Drink from your house’s filtered water (if you have that) or refrigerator water (if you have that) instead of a watter bottle. To take water to school, buy yourself a cheap metal or plastic container (metal is better), and just refill it with your house’s water. Water bottles are bad for the environment because it takes oil and a lot of resources to create and bottle the water; for example, it takes twice the amount of water to create an Aquafina water bottle than the amount of water actually in the bottle to drink. Plus, most bottled waters are tap water anyway. In addition, the guidelines for checking the water for chemicals/harmful substances is less strict than most municipal guidelines to check their tap water.

These are minor lifestyle changes that only take 1-2 weeks at max to change. And it will make a big impact. So why not do it?

Posted in Environment at 9:54pm   

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