Ways to Switch to the ‘Green Lifestyle’

By Molly Rothberg

Today, the message is out all over: Nourish our Environment. The promotion of being eco-friendly is hard to avoid nowadays, considering that many people are becoming more conscious about their environment. Though for some, living eco- friendly requires changing your lifestyle, which can be difficult since we tend to embrace the conveniences that we’re used to.

First and foremost, being eco-friendly requires recycling by separating cans, glass, paper and plastics from your trash. Recycling is so easy a task and it makes such a difference in the amount of trash that gets to a landfill. Recycling is an essential task for any eco-friendly individual.

Another step towards being green would be to limit the use of electricity. It’s so easy to forget to turn off a light which wastes energy while increasing your electric bill. Who wants that? Think of it as this: Saving energy will save you money. Need I say more?

When it comes to drinking water, too many of us prefer bottled over tap. It costs the United States a lot of money to produce bottled water. Additionally, in terms of the processing, plastic, and waste, it’s better for the environment to drink tap water. A way to improve your tap water to become pleasant drinking water would be to invest in a good water filter. These can be found anywhere. A filter can be attached to your faucet or buy a container filter that can be refrigerated.

Think hybrid! More car companies are designing hybrid car models because many people are making the switch. Hybrid cars use two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle, achieving more fuel economy and lower emissions. In stop and go traffic, hybrid vehicles are ideal while they run off battery storage, and uses gasoline once they’ve reached a certain speed.

Avoid those paper towels. Do you know how many trees get cut down to make paper? The answer is too many. In fact, when paper towels are available, people always tend to grab more than what they need, wasting them. If possible, avoid using them in your household by using hand towels instead and turn to air dryers when at a public place.

There are various ways to go green to help improve our environment. The overall issue here is that many people have clung to the conveniences that we are spoiled with. Such as, setting our heat to as high as we wish, to grabbing a bottled water over filling water in a glass. Just like anything else, in time, the ‘green lifestyle’ can be achieved by constant reminding and practice until it becomes naturally adapted.