Easy ways to "U" go green
If you’ve not heard the news concerning the warming of the Earth and man’s contribution to it, then you’ve probably been living under a rock somewhere. And while people all have an opinion on it, one thing remains true: it certainly wouldn’t hurt – in fact, it may even help – to do your bit to slow the degradation of the environment. With this in mind, there have sprung up a plethora of energy saving products designed specifically to reduce the carbon emissions people churn out, and generate green energy. These products are easily available and cost only fractionally more than standard products (if they cost more at all).
By installing even just a few of these products, you can be assured that your carbon footprint will dramatically reduce and you won’t only feel better in yourself, you’ll notice the difference in cleaner air and less pollution. It’s not just about reusable bags (although that’s it, too). It’s about buying smartly so you get more for your money, and contribute less to the Earth living longer.
Rainforest Destruction
As our fragile planet travels on through space we are beginning to understand that everything that is alive is in interconnected harmony, and that damage to one part of our biosphere, for example Rainforest destruction, can have damaging ripple effects in other parts of our fragile ecosystem, including further deforestation and global warming.
Accelerating deforestation is particularly alarming. This is because the destruction of the last few remaining great forests is the result of our own deliberate effort, as opposed to climate change or some other convenient alibi. Setting aside the more obvious consequences of ozone depletion and global warming, rainforest destruction is especially worrying because it irrevocably extinguishes unique sub-biospheres that are unlikely to be rebuilt within the time frame left, according to some more sober global warming predictions.
Every deliberate act of rainforest destruction is a bizarre rehearsal for the global warming that will follow if the custodians of the earth cannot mend their ways. Deforestation destroys not just a piece of forest canopy, but also a portion of our fragile world. This is because the smaller trees and plants that the canopy previously sheltered cannot survive the direct rays of the sun, and so wither and die. By an ironic quirk of nature, young forest giants, too, do not survive without the initial protection of that lesser canopy. As a result an entire ecosystem vanishes forever, as do the human families, the mammals, the birds and the insects that once lived in harmony within it, leaving our planet a shamefully poorer place.
Easy Ways to Make your Home More Eco-Friendly
We all want to do our part to protect the environment, but without a large paycheck, that can be seem difficult, if not impossible. But doing your part doesn’t have to be hard. Small steps add up to a big difference, you just have to know which ones to take.
Use less water.
Saving water is all about small steps, here are a few that will help save big.
- Shut off the water while you brush your teeth
- Take showers that are a minute or two shorter
- Only flush the toilet when you need to
- Only run full loads of laundry and dishes
- Buy from sustainable producers. These are farmers, ranchers, and other producers that use techniques that pollute less and use less water. You can do some research online or ask at your local organic market to find these products.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
You could be polluting your home without even knowing it. Some of the chemicals we use to clean affect the air inside our homes in negative ways. If you knew that when you were cleaning you were actually putting your family’s health at risk, wouldn’t you want to make a change? Many people believe that in order to be clean, the house has to smell like a bleach (or other cleaning product) factory. This is not the case at all. You can choose environmentally friendly cleaning products to keep your home clean and your family safe without the “knock you down at the door” smell of some of the commercial cleaning products on the market.
Get Eco-friendly: Get Recycling
We eat, drink, wear clothes, read newspapers and use so many things that eventually end up as some form of waste everyday. We just dump everything in the rubbish bin or drop it at the garbage collection points or keep it at a pre-defined place for the garbage collectors to pick up. We don’t really stop to think. There is so much ‘stuff’ in our waste bins that, if properly recycled, could save so much of nature’s bounty. Used newspaper can be converted into cardboard, organic items can be converted into fertilisers and so on. Imagine if everyone saved their waste, segregated it into different bins so that the recycling is easier – there would be so much saving and little waste.
