Basic Tips for Green Living
Green Living facts and tips!
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs)
CFLs are miniature spiral versions of the old, straight tube fluorescent bulbs that have been around for many years.
Green Living Fact: You can reduce your energy bill up to 75% by changing all your old incandescent bulbs to CFLs! This is one of the easiest ways to reduce your bills and conserve energy. "If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars." Wow!
It is important that you know that there are precautions you must take when handling and disposing of CFLs. These bulbs contain a small amount of mercury, and it is critical that you know what to do if one breaks. The fact sheet below gives information and instructions on how to safely handle these bulbs.
Must Read! Fact sheet from Energy Star on CFL safety!
Change the Margins
This ingenious idea is a simple change that everyone can make!
Green Living Fact: Change the default margins in your word processing program to fit more text on the paper, and you will consume less paper every time you print. How easy is that? "According to a study done by the Penn State Green Destiny Council, reducing margins to .75” on all sides results in a total reduction of paper by 4.75%. This means that using these Efficient Margins on a ton of paper saves 19 reams of paper, which saves 1.14 trees." Just imagine how that would add up!
Save trees! Visit the Change the Margins web site and join the crusade
Bring your own reusable bags and coffee cups wherever you go!
The next time you visit your supermarket, and they ask the age-old question, "paper or plastic?" you can proudly respond with, "I brought my own!"
Green Living Fact: 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and they all end up in landfills or floating in the ocean where they are a danger to marine life. Paper bags are no better, because 14 million trees must be cut down to feed the U.S. paper bag habit. Some stores, like Whole Foods, have begun to charge for each plastic bag used for your purchases. Reduce paper and plastic waste by bringing your own reusable shopping bags, and while you're at it, bring along your own reusable coffee mugs to your favorite java joint. You might even get a discount!
No more paper or plastic!
Unplug Energy "Vampires!"
You may not know that some of your electronic toys are raising your electric bill every month.
Green Living Fact: An astonishing 10% of the electricity used in your home is consumed by gadgets plugged in but not in use, like your toaster oven, cell phone charger, and electric toothbrush. Unplugging electronics on standby mode can save you quite a bit of money over the course of a year. Do the planet and your wallet a favor, and eliminate your "energy vampires!"
Pull the plug on the energy vampires in your home
