Chad and I are far from perfect when it comes to being environmentally friendly, however we strive to make good decisions whenever possible and think about the impact we are having on our planet. Many people say things like, “oh you are going green” or “oh are you green now?” We think the perception of a lot of people is that living a “greener” life is some type of radical behavior and big change in your life, however that is simply not the case. There are many things we can all do on a regular basis that don’t cost money (in fact, many of them save you money) to do our part in preserving our planet.

Here is our list to get you started!

1. Turn off lights when you are not in a room. We’re not suggesting you go around using candles, but if you are not actively in a room, then turn the light off
2. Don’t take so many napkins!!! You know who you are (we are all guilty of it at one time or another)…you go to your favorite ice cream stand or fast food place (ugh) and take a handful of napkins as if you are expecting your food to explode all over you or something?! Just be more mindful of what you are taking and if you don’t use all of the napkins you took, stash them in your glove box or somewhere where they might come in handy…don’t just throw them away!
3. Adjust your thermostat when leaving your house…why blast the A/C or the heat when you are not even home to reap the benefits. Even better, you could get a programmable thermostat which you could set to raise/lower at the times you predetermine. Heating and cooling requires a lot of energy and is costly so you are helping the planet and saving money too!
4. Try planning errands you have for the day/week so that you are not making multiple trips in your car releasing more harmful emissions into the atmosphere!
5. Don’t take unnecessary plastic bags (or paper for that matter) at your local stores like CVS or Walgreens. If you have multiple items, try keeping a cloth bag in your car and bringing it into the store with you. If you only have one item, it is ok to say “no thank you” if it is something you can carry by hand easily enough!
6. Use reusable water bottles whenever possible and when you do drink bottled water, please recycle the bottles!
7. Your couch doesn’t need to watch TV, so if you are not actively watching a TV, turn it off. There is no need to have 3 TVs on at one time…you know who you are
8. Try to transition at your own pace to greener home products and personal care products. You don’t need to do this all at once as it might feel a bit overwhelming, but if you change say one product a week or a month (whatever you are comfortable with), you probably will hardly notice the difference. At the end of a year, you will look back and realize how much changed, but because you did it gradually, it was an easy and almost seamless transition! This will also be much healthier for you and your loved ones
9. Buy as much local and organic foods as possible!!
10. Recycle…Recycle…Recycle…this one is so easy, but many of us don’t do it and it’s maddening. Many people have the mentality that “it won’t make a difference.” Just think, if you recycle one bottle, or one jar, or one piece of paper a day, then that’s 365 more items recycled a year from just one person! Last count, I think there are well over 300 million people in the US alone and close to 7 billion on the planet…sorry I only minored in math so you are going to have to figure out that number on your own!

Well, I hope these tips get you started in the right direction and make you realize that “going green” isn’t about living some “hippy” lifestyle. It’s about recognizing that we all have the responsibility to take care of this planet that we live on. Try by implementing at least a couple of these things into your life and share them with your friends…because maybe together, we can make a difference

Feel free to leave your thoughts and tips in the comments section as we’d love to hear them!!