Going Green

By John Scevola

Saving money for use in the future is not hard to imagine. Putting away surplus foods for use in the lean winter months is also an activity most people can understand. Living a greener lifestyle should be viewed in the same way as saving money or storing food. Green lifestyle choices made now insure the availability of resources in the future. In principle, this is a simple concept. In practice, it is sometimes difficult to know what to do.

Consider automobiles: Advertising suggests electric cars, which operate on stored electricity instead of gasoline, are green and eco-friendly vehicles. They do not burn fossil fuels, nor do they release harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. The energy stored in electric car batteries, however, was originally produced by an electrical utility plant, and power plants are known to be significant sources of pollution. When a driver charges the battery of an electric car, is the increase in an electric plant’s pollution sufficiently offset by the removal of the gasoline engine’s operation?

Other issues present similar quandaries. Organic fruits and vegetables, which are grown without the use of chemicals, seem to be a greener alternative to standard agribusiness produce. The transportation costs of produce, however, must also be factored into the equation. Is organic produce grown in California and transported to Ohio better for the environment than produce grown locally in Ohio with the use of chemicals, or do the pollutants emitted from the tractor trailer transportation process negate the eco-friendliness of organic cultivation?

Those are complicated issues, but going green doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are ten simple tips broken down into broad goals that, if followed, will result in a greener lifestyle.

Use Less
The concept of using less doesn’t have to mean doing without. It can simply mean being more efficient and less wasteful.
1. Xeriscaping a residential property uses less water than traditional landscaping options, and nurseries can provide many attractive options to thirsty landscaping standards. Native plants are adapted for the local climate and prosper with only natural rainfall. Why spend money to irrigate a spring-blooming forsythia bush all summer long when a sage bush provides attractive foliage all year with much lower water requirements?

2. Inflating tires to the recommended pressure increases fuel efficiency and uses less fuel. Lower fuel consumption results in less polluting exhaust. Making sure a car operates at maximum fuel efficiency is a way of becoming greener without replacing an expensive automobile and is something everyone can do.

3. Turning off ceiling fans in an empty room uses less electricity. Ceiling fans make a room feel cooler, but they do not actually cool the room. It is a waste of electricity to operate them when the room is empty.

4. Turning off running water during the process of brushing teeth uses less water and can result in utility savings. Most dentists recommend brushing teeth for at least two minutes. A bathroom vanity water tap partially open for two minutes typically releases two gallons of water; two gallons of water is obviously more than the amount required to brush teeth.

Produce Less
Productivity is a highly desired trait, but many daily practices also produce waste. The average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash every day. Each year, 1,600 pounds of trash per person is sent to a landfill. Manufacturers understand that waste costs money, and many industries have taken steps to increase profits by using less packaging material. According to a 2010 report issued by the American Beverage Association, the beverage industry used 46 percent less packaging material while increasing sales by 24 percent in 2006.

1. Recycling aluminum, glass, paper and plastic items produces less waste and is undoubtedly the single most effective step people can take toward a greener lifestyle. Four percent of all consumer generated waste in 2008 was comprised of glass containers. That is equal to approximately 65 pounds of glass waste per person. Less than 28 percent of this glass was returned to a recycle bin. Less than 14 percent of all plastic packaging sold during that same time period was recycled. Aluminum beverage cans and paper are two of the easiest materials to recycle and make a great start on going green.

2. Composting is a great way to dispose of yard clippings or autumn leaves, and produces less waste than sending the same materials to a landfill. It’s also a better option than burning the fallen leaves. While many people may not have the space for composting, most communities do have a public composting operation that accepts lawn clippings, bagged leaves, cut brush and post-season Christmas trees.

3. Participating in community collections of electronics, waste household chemicals and unused medicines produces less waste and is also much better for the environment. Washing unused medicines down the drain, for example, ultimately results in chemical contamination of water supplies. Many communities hold annual drives to collect and properly dispose of such materials.

4. Drinking from a reusable container is an easy green activity that produces less waste. More than 1.3 million tons of disposable plastic water bottles alone were produced for U.S. consumption in 2006. Over 75% of these plastic bottles ultimately made their way to a landfill. While grabbing a prepackaged bottle of water is easy, reusable options are available in attractive colors, convenient sizes and often feature double wall insulation to keep beverages cold for hours.

Be Sustainable
Sustainability is really the concept at the heart of the modern green movement. Everything individuals or companies do should be an activity that can be repeated through time without depleting a natural resource required by future generations.

1. Choosing sustainable materials instead of traditional materials promotes sustainability. Many modern homes now feature bamboo flooring and cork underlayment. Bamboo is renewable because it grows quite rapidly. Modern bamboo flooring is just as beautiful and rugged as traditional hardwoods, which grow much more slowly than bamboo. Cork is harvested from a type of tree in the Mediterranean, and the harvesting does no damage to the tree. Buying products with a high percentage of recycled material is another easy way to choose sustainable materials.

2. Inquiring about the source of the material being purchased also promotes sustainability. Most consumers have little choice in the origin of building materials required for a construction project or paper napkins to be used at a church picnic. The brands carried by the store are the only options available. Asking the vendor about the source of the product lets the store know that sustainability is an issue. Vendors may be more inclined to purchase future stock with recycled content, or harvested from certified sustainable forestry operations, if they are aware that the issue is important to their customers.

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