No matter your stance on Global Warming or Climate Change, it is a good idea to become more environmentally friendly during our everyday lives. “Going Green” will not only save you money but makes you feel good too (at least it makes me feel good when I do it). Besides, we only have planet Earth to live on… unless you know something that I don’t?
At times it seems as if we are living on this planet like we have somewhere else to go.
As the global population increases, responsibility will fall on the individual to make small changes in their daily lives, which can have a positive impact on the local environment and could make it easier for future generations to prosper.
As of 2007, there were 1.6 billion homes in the world and over 100 million in the United States alone. Since we spend most of our time in our homes, that should be the first place we look to make these small changes which benefit your local environment and planet.
If you had to guess in which way Americans make the biggest negative impact on the planet, would it be the amount of trash that we create (roughly 4.5 lbs of trash daily, per person)? Nope, guess again. If you guessed fresh water and energy use, you’re correct!! Americans are shown to use twice the amount of energy and fresh water and if you pay attention to the news, you will know that we are in desperate need of fresh water in some areas of the country (I’m talking directly to you, California).
I don’t want to overwhelm you and give you too many things to consider changing in your daily lives. Since you will be less likely to make the changes and it’s the small steps that are taken which will make a HUGE impact. Let’s focus on changing three things per month…that’s manageable, right?
First, one word… Recycle! With trashcans overflowing around the country, more cities and towns are getting into Recycling, and for good reason. We could reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills by 75% if everyone simply separated glass, aluminum, paper and plastic from their trash. If you are a visual person, the amount of trash accumulated by Americans each year would cover Pennsylvania. YIKES!
Number 2! Simply turning your thermostat a degree warmer in the hot Summer months and a degree cooler in the cold Winter months will not only save you close to $100 a year but if all American homes did this, it would save enough energy to power the homes and cars of every person living in Iowa. If you don’t have a programmable thermostat (statistically only 30% of American homes have them), it is a great investment which will save you money over the course of the year and it will help save energy. If you have a programmable thermostat, learn the correct way to use it by visiting the manufacturer’s website for instructions.
Lastly, take a shorter shower, even if it is only 1 minute. I personally like to time myself in the shower and see if I can beat my lowest score (everything is more fun when you make it a competition). 10 gallons of fresh water is wasted every 2 minutes during a typical shower. If we all could use 1 gallon of water less each shower, over the course of a year, that would save twice the amount of fresh water removed from the Great Lakes every day.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out what Farmhouse Fruit is about. Hopefully you learned something new today and will take something from this post which you can use in your daily life. I will be posting three new ways, each month, that will save you money and help the planet.
We are all counting on you ;)
Smile!
– Chad
(information taken from “The Green Book” by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen; if you’re interested in purchasing their book, here it is on Amazon)
