It seems all you hear today is about living a greener lifestyle. You need to reduce your carbon footprint and your environmental impact. We all know that this is important, but it can feel like being lectured at times.
Happily, there are some simple steps you can take towards living a greener life. In most cities, there is curbside recycling; so all you need to do is to separate your recyclables and place them out on the curb along with your trash for pickup – the pickup service takes care of the rest, all you have to do is separate your recyclables and take them to the curb.
One great (and easy) way to live greener is to join your local Freecycle email list. Instead of throwing away unwanted items, you can post them on the list – it’s more than likely that someone will have a need for them. Of course, when you need something, you can look there first before going out and buying new things. Freecycle keeps a lot of trash out of landfills and is a great money saver.
Food scraps make great fertilizer when composted and a mess in the garbage can, so why throw it away when it can be used? You can add leaves and grass as well as coffee grounds and egg shells to your pile of compost. Fruit and vegetables that have spoiled or waste from peeling or chopping certain foods such as potatoes can also go into the pile. Don’t use meat or bones as it will take too long to break down and also attract flies and other nasty insects. Water it down when it needs it to keep it active and when it comes planting time you can add it to your garden soil and grow some nice healthy vegetables.
You can also get rid of your existing yard lights and replace them with solar powered lights. These do just as good of a job of illuminating your outdoor spaces, but use no electrical power. You can find solar powered yard lights in a variety of pleasing designs and you can install theme yourself without the assistance of an electrician. Solar powered holiday lights are also available, letting you save money on your electric bill while dressing up your home for the holidays.
Another great way to save money while doing something to live greener is to use rechargeable batteries – these have greatly improved in recent years and are long lasting, easy too use and of course save money as well. When the batteries are finally used up and cannot take another charge, they may be recycled at almost any hardware store.
Once you start doing this, you will feel much better about yourself and also see how easy it is to live green. You will probably be surprised at the money you gain too. You can rest easier knowing you are doing your part to keep the earth greener and healthier for future generations as well as right now.