Two Simple Earth Friendly Ideas

I am excited today to have a guest blogger, who is also a follower of the blog, share with us a few tips on living a greener lifestyle.  Melinda is not only passionate about living green, she is also an Etsy artist and you can see her amazing work in her Etsy shop .  You can also read about Melinda and her adventures of living a green lifestyle, running her business, and stories about her family on her blog Inspiration Earth - A Journey of Simplicity
Thanks Melinda for passing along these tips and information for living green!

Personally, whether or not you belive in global warming is a moot point.With all of the money and energy that’s been invested trying to prove the unprovable we could have implemented dozens, hundreds, probably thousands of smaller changes that would have made a healing difference. I think it’s obvious to most of us (no scientific study needed), that many of the choices we make everyday are harmful ones. However, instead of feeling overwhelmed at the enormity of the situation, simply shift your perspective. Much of the time we get so caught up in what we can’t do, we lose sight of what we can. Read on to discover (or rediscover)  two simple earth friendly suggestions that’ll cost you little to nothing, and make a world of difference.

Recycle

Boring, right?  It’s certainly nothing new or exciting. But, if you consider that almost 34% of waste is paper (Paper!!) then you can see how taking those few extra steps to the recycle bin can make a huge difference. That’s a substantial amount of garbage that never, ever has to see the landfill. Besides which, that paper could be used to create new products, like greeting cards, cereal boxes, paper towels and newspapers, without the
needless decimation of countless trees.

• To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.

• Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!

These recycling facts are taken from a great website recycling-revolution.com. Click on to read many more amazing facts!  http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html

• Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to light a 100w light bulb for 4 hours. ONE jar!

• Don’t throw away that aluminum can! Recycle it and save enough energy to run a television set for 3 hours! Collect them from coworkers or family, cash them in, and even make a couple dollars while you go green!

• In my home we even recycle our toothbrushes through an amazing company called Preserve. Plastics made from recycled materials use 40% less energy.  http://www.preserveproducts.com/products/personalcare.html

Recycling options vary from town to town, so call your local town hall if you’re unsure of details. Remember, those small steps do create great change!

Recycled Wrapping Paper

Flashback to the 50’s. Picture a Christmas tree, gifts galore. What are those presents wrapped in? Why comics, of course! Since we don’t get the daily paper, a year or two ago I asked my father to start saving  his comics. The kids LOVE it! Usually they hunker down and read through each and every funny before they even dig into the gift! It’s a cheap and fun way to reuse and recycle!

One thing it’s important to remember. Switching to a green lifestyle doesn’t have to happen all at once. You don’t need solar panels on your home or to be whizzing around in a teeny electric car to state your commitment to living green.

Today, pick one change. Pick something which speaks to you, or seems the easiest to factor into you life. Choose one, and do it. Practice it daily until a new habit is formed. Then pick another. In time, pick another. Before you know it you’ll look around and be amazed at all the green changes you’ve made, and how simple it really was. It’s such a gratifying feeling to know that you’ve helped the Earth to breathe a little easier.

Thanks for reading ~ have a greenly inspired day!