A Beginner’s Guide to Painlessly Going Green

You’ve heard the warnings about global warming, you feel compassion for stranded polar bears and you worry about overwhelming the landfills. As a homeowner, you may not be ready for composting, but htere are ways to become an eco-friendlier household.

Ecologists provide simple but useful tips that even the laziest activists can use to do their part in helping the environment.

Cut down the water use. Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. Drink tap water in resuable containers instead of plastic bottles. Lower the water level when doing small laundry loads and don’t run the dishwasher until it’s full.

Use less power. Shut off the lights before you leave in the morning, and unplug electrical equipment that you aren’t using during the day and while you slepp – especially your work and home computers.

Adjust the thermostat. Set it for a few degres higher in summer, and a few degrees lower in winter. You likely won’t feel much of a difference, and you will like the decrease in utility bills.

Change your shower-head. A low flow version will save water while providing just as much pressure.

Save on paper. Keep a digital calendar and notes instead of paper ones. Whenever possible, re-use the back side of old printed sheets for new but less important jobs. Sign up for paperless billing and pay your bills online.

Use less plastic. Use reusable grocery bags even when they’re not required. Re-use empty plastic food conatainers with tight fitting lids, such as cottage cheese conatainers, fro leftovers and storage purposes – be sure any unwanted palstic goes into the recycle bin.