If the idea of preserving the planet’s resources and abundance for the generations of humanity that follow you is something you hold as an ideal, then going green in any way you can is how you convert your belief into action. Each and every minor action or choice you make on a daily basis adds up over time. Read on into the following paragraphs for small steps you can start taking today that go green.
Never let your car idle. If you are driving somewhere, but stuck for a few minutes in one spot, consider shutting down your car. Idling cars still burn gas just to keep the engine going. This might not make sense at standard stoplights, but if there is a wreck that has stopped traffic, a train passing in front of you or you are just sitting waiting for someone, do not idle. A decade or two ago, cars would use so much fuel at ignition that idling for a few minutes made sense. However, with the fuel efficiency of today’s cars, it is actually less gas to shut down and then start back up.
When you go to bed, make sure that your computer or laptop is already asleep. These draw power all the time that they are on, so unless you have your computer running a task or program that needs accomplishing, give it a rest while you rest. Otherwise, you are just using electricity probably generated by a fossil fuel, just to run a device you are not going to possibly use while you are unconscious.
Contact your local power utility company. See what they can do to help you go green. They might be able to make sure that your home is powered only by green energy sources. They may also have programs you can take advantage of to make your home more green, such as helping you switch to more energy efficient lighting.
Adjust your thermostat a few degrees away from room temperature. While this is widely considered to be 72 degrees Fahrenheit, you might find yourself just fine at 75 in the summer and 68 in the winter. Those extra few degrees can save your environmental system a lot of strain for no benefit.
Wash your laundry using the cold water options on your washing machine. There are three benefits here. First, your clothes will not shrink in the dryer. Second, you are not wasting energy heating water when cold water can clean just as well. Third, cold water drys faster so you will use less energy in your dryer. Of course, you can just air dry to really go green.
Try and make your life paperless. Go online to the website for the Direct Marketing Association and you can stop junk mail from coming to your snail mail box. Then, enable paperless options with every company that bills you monthly and pay all of them online. The amount of paper this can save over one year is astounding.
You can save massive amounts of the Earth’s energy and resources in small simple steps. This article has given you ideas you can use to start doing this wherever you are in your day or week. Keep all these ideas in mind to start conserving what this planet has to offer to those yet to live on it.