Going Green
I have been doing a lot of reading on the Internet about many different things lately. Along with my in depth studies of Buddhism, I have also been reading a lot lately about organic foods and products, ways to help the environment (ways to go green), and the crisis in Tibet. I have also sworn of buying anymore products that are made in China.
Each day I am researching and coming up with ways that my family can make less of an impact on the environment. The following is a list of simple things I have come up with so far:
-Turn down the heat! I normally like my house warm so I don't have to wear layers, but now I am turning down the heat.
-I only use the car starter that I have come to love, if I am going to be driving Emma in the car and it is below 35 degrees. I also don't leave the car running if we are sitting parked. "Idling your car for more than ten seconds uses more fuel than stopping and restarting the engine. Idling also sends unnecessary emissions into the air contributing to both pollution and health problems. Running a non-moving vehicle for 10 minutes a day uses an average of about 22 gallons of gas per year. Since each gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the potential to reduce your contribution is huge! (www.greenissexy.org)"
-Emma and I plan to take a few walks a week and pick up the garbage we see along the way. When Emma used to spend Fridays with her Grandma, they would go to the beach and pick up all the garbage, once a week. So we plan to do this around our neighborhood. Emma already can't stand litter bugs!
-Replace our light bulbs with Fluorescent light bulbs
-stop using plastic bags. We are going to buy reusable bags to bring with us shopping.
-Switch from plastic garbage bags to BioBags. "BioBags look like a plastic sack, feel like a plastic sack (actually a bit softer), and hold up like a plastic sack, but they aren't plastic - they are made of corn! The material is actually called Mater-Bi, the first completely biodegradable and compostable bio-polymer ever invented."
-turn off the lights when not in the room. So members of my household have a habit of leaving lights on all at once in every room. So I told them all, when you leave a room make sure you turn off the lights! Not only will this help use less energy, it will also help my utility bill!
Each day I am researching and coming up with ways that my family can make less of an impact on the environment. The following is a list of simple things I have come up with so far:
-Turn down the heat! I normally like my house warm so I don't have to wear layers, but now I am turning down the heat.
-I only use the car starter that I have come to love, if I am going to be driving Emma in the car and it is below 35 degrees. I also don't leave the car running if we are sitting parked. "Idling your car for more than ten seconds uses more fuel than stopping and restarting the engine. Idling also sends unnecessary emissions into the air contributing to both pollution and health problems. Running a non-moving vehicle for 10 minutes a day uses an average of about 22 gallons of gas per year. Since each gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the potential to reduce your contribution is huge! (www.greenissexy.org)"
-Emma and I plan to take a few walks a week and pick up the garbage we see along the way. When Emma used to spend Fridays with her Grandma, they would go to the beach and pick up all the garbage, once a week. So we plan to do this around our neighborhood. Emma already can't stand litter bugs!
-Replace our light bulbs with Fluorescent light bulbs
-stop using plastic bags. We are going to buy reusable bags to bring with us shopping.
-Switch from plastic garbage bags to BioBags. "BioBags look like a plastic sack, feel like a plastic sack (actually a bit softer), and hold up like a plastic sack, but they aren't plastic - they are made of corn! The material is actually called Mater-Bi, the first completely biodegradable and compostable bio-polymer ever invented."
-turn off the lights when not in the room. So members of my household have a habit of leaving lights on all at once in every room. So I told them all, when you leave a room make sure you turn off the lights! Not only will this help use less energy, it will also help my utility bill!
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