Making a difference! Living Green & Earning Green
Make a difference- Living Green & Earning Green
For me, it all started way back with the national program of “you’ve got to pitch in, to clean up america”. In those days, litter and trash were everywhere on our streets and highways. People either just didn’t care or had just fallen into the norm of throwing trash out the window and without a thought of who if anyone would clean it up. The USA was one messy dirty place. The national ad program taught us all that we could make a difference if we did our own little part to clean up America.
Today, doing our part to make a differnce involves so much more. From personal selections of which products we use for every aspect of our lives, we can make a difference and we gotta go green!
Let’s start with eating green. By changing your diet to be based more on plant-based foods than meats and dairy can lead to extra years of healthy living. The same diet reduces environmental damage and farm animal suffering. Eating Green brings to bear the science of a greener diet and its impact on the environment. Popeye was right. Spinach and other high vibe fruits and veggies do a body good. Even the Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests having vegetables and fruits take up the largest portion of your diet and for this reason, many dieticians recommend doing the majority of your shopping around the perimeter of the store (where produce is typically found). Easier said than done. Shopping and eating this way is much simpler for green shopping when produce makes up the bulk of both their typical stopping grounds—food coops and farmer’s markets. Not when tempting junk food and candy aisles outweigh the produce, as found in mega super stores. One-Fifth of U.S. Energy Consumption Goes Into Food Production
The study points out that considering that the average U.S. citizen consumes 3,747 calories per day—1,200 more than is recommended—and that 19% of energy usage in the nation goes into producing and transporting food, Americans in general should cut back on how many calories they consume, both for their own health and that of the planet.The report points out what many TreeHugger readers probably already know: Animal products and highly-processed foods require more energy to produce than fruits, vegetables and whole grains. According to the author of the report, David Pimenthal, “By just reducing junk food intake and converting to diets lower in meat, the average American could have a massive impact on fuel consumption as well as improving his or her health.”
Shopping green- By changing even one small area of your buying habits – body care, office supplies, cleaning supplies, clothing, food to more green responsible consumption, you can make a difference. Shopping green reduces pollution and toxins in the environmen and promotes conservation of vital resources. Buying recycled really does make a Difference! In the U.S., the average household generates more than one ton of waste per year, which on the average includes:
· 4 trees worth of paper
· 270 bottles and jars
· 450 metal cans
· 50 kilograms of plastic
The average person throws out at least one beverage container a day – that’s 365 a year!Buying recycled diverts waste from the landfill into useful purposes and saves resources and energy. If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with 100% recycled tissue, we could save:
· 297,000 trees
· 1.2 million cubic feet of landfill space (1,400 full garbage trucks’ worth)
· 122 million gallons of water (a year’s supply for 3,500 families of four) SHOP GREEN!
Building Green- Consider two similar office buildings. One was built traditionally—a developer hired an architect to draw up plans, a construction company built the offices to specifications, and an engineering company installed lighting, temperature control and water systems. The building serves its purpose just fine, but some workers complain about the air conditioner being too cold, that the air inside feels stuffy, and the office lighting feels “too artificial.” The second building was constructed by an integrated design-build-engineering team and was meticulously planned. It uses 30 percent less energy and water than the first building. The building is full of fresh air and natural light, and workers miss fewer days due to illness. In fact, workers are proud to tell friends about their innovative “green” office building.
Which building cost more to build? Most people assume that a superior product costs a lot more and ask, “So how much extra will green cost me?” The more sophisticated question is, “How soon will that extra cost get paid back?” But leading developers are now constructing high-performance green buildings at construction costs similar to traditional buildings or even lower. (Making the truly sophisticated question more like: “How can we design a building that delivers better performance, lower operating costs and lower initial costs?”) Think it’s more expensive? Think again .Despite the common perception that green building costs more, building green can help reduce operating costs with little or no additional construction cost. Numerous examples prove that green building can be cost-effective. In 2003, California’s Sustainable Building Task Force published “The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings,” a survey of 33 green buildings for which detailed financial data was available on both traditional and green scenarios. “The truth about the costs of green building”
by Gil Friend.
Cleaning green- Cleaning products are everywhere in our homes and offices: on dishes, countertops, furniture, clothes, floors, windows, and floating through the air. In our war on dirt and germs we may often actually be making things worse.Most of the conventional cleaning products we all grew up with are petroleum-based and have dubious health and environmental implications. Instead of opting for cleaning products that annihilate everything in their path, there are plenty of natural products and methods that keep a house clean and fresh-smelling without the toxic side effects. As the health and environmental impacts of conventional cleaning products become more thoroughly understood, more and more brands of healthy, green, and effective cleaning products have started hitting the market and competing for that coveted place of honor under your sink. Many of these products are non-toxic, biodegradable, and made from renewable resources (not petroleum). But if designer labels aren’t for you, home-mixed cleaners can get the job done and then some. Vinegar and baking soda can be used to clean almost anything. Mix in a little warm water with either of these and you’ve got yourself an all-purpose cleaner.It is not uncommon for the air inside a home or office to be more toxic than the air outside. This is because of the presence of toxic materials and substances and the fact that homes and buildings are better insulated than ever before (which is a good thing from an energy standpoint). Keeping windows open as often as possible allows fresh air in and keeps toxins flowing out. This is especially important when cleaning your home
Driving green- Buying a green car is just the first step in reducing the environmental impacts of automobile use. Your choice of vehicle is most important, but how you drive and how well you maintain your car, van, or light truck will also make a difference.
The National Automobile Dealers Association has put together a new initiative to raise public awareness of some simple ways to save money on gas and, at the same time, cut greenhouse gas emissions. It’s called the Green Checkup, and nearly 1,000 new-car and -truck dealers in all 50 states and Canada are offering this service at their dealerships for free.
Earning green- Finding a business that allows us all to earn green and at the same time has us making a difference with all the concepts of eating green, buying green, building green and cleaning green would be for the most part hard to imagine. The one that we found covered most every aspect of living green that we could find. The founder of the company is dedicated to making a difference and I can tell you, his company has made a difference in our family’s lives. If you would like to make a difference and earn green while doing so, visit http://bit.ly/elm8F
Rick Clark
