Ultimate 5 Step Guide to Eco-friendly Living

Living green and being eco-friendly is incredibly important when it comes to protecting our environment, for a number of different reasons. While many businesses do their part by using recycled materials or using companies like PROS services to responsibly clean up waste, people like you and me also need to make strides to improve how eco-friendly we live.

Unfortunately, most of us are pretty wasteful as individuals. The average American produces roughly 4.5 pounds of trash every single day. Thankfully, there are plenty of things that you and your family can do to live in a more eco-friendly manner. This article is going to take a closer look at a few of them.

Recycle and Reuse

One of the best and easiest ways to live eco-friendly is to recycle and reuse. Instead of simply throwing everything away when you’re done with it, think of how it can be reused. Maybe it can be fixed up? Or perhaps it can be donated? You might even be able to put on your DIY hat and give that old item a new use.

If not, and it is recyclable, make sure to recycle it instead of garbaging it. If you are confused about what can be recycled, there are plenty of handy guides out there that can be printed out so you can easily and quickly refer to it. The less you throw away in the trash and the more you responsibly dispose, the better.

Conserve Energy and Water

Another way to improve how environmentally friendly you live is to conserve energy. A big tip to remember here is to turn off your lights and electronics when you leave a room. Leaving lights on can not only raise your carbon footprint, but also make your electricity bill much more expensive.

 Consider switching to efficient light bulbs like LEDS, as well. Also, you want to be sure to limit how often you are using your air conditioner and furnace. Instead of cranking the heat when you’re cold, consider getting a blanket or a sweater.

In addition to conserving energy, conserving water is a good idea too. This can be done by turning off the taps, taking shorter showers and generally being careful when using water in any capacity. Also, purchasing low flow toilets or shower heads, and other water-reducing appliances can go a long way. They will often do the same job as standard appliances, only use up much less water with every use.

Use the Right Products

When we clean our homes, we generally use many products. These range from window cleaners, to floor cleaners, to dish soap and several others. Unfortunately, many of these products are riddled with all different kinds of harmful chemicals. These can be difficult to dispose of in a way that is friendly to the environment.

Not only will these products be better for the environment, they will generally be safer for your family as well. Overexposure to some of the chemicals in cleaning products can harm your health and be uncomfortable to deal with.

Grow Your Own Food

Whether you have space for a large outdoor garden, or simply a small spot on your window sill, you should consider growing your own veggies, fruits or other ingredients. All different types of items can be grown relatively easily, and in a number of different places. In addition to helping the environment, growing your own food can also help you reduce your spending.

Growing your own food from scratch will cost a fraction of the amount you usually spend on produce, and may even be of higher quality. If you are unable to grow your own for some reason, it is a good idea to buy local. This means you don’t contribute to the transportation of food, which can lead to a lot of carbon emission in most cases.

Encourage Others to Join

While one person living eco-friendly is awesome, a dozen is better. If possible, you should look to spread the message of living in an environmentally-friendly way to others. This could be your friends, coworkers or even your family. For example, tell your children about the importance of recycling and reducing waste, and they will be more likely to care.

If you can live green and show the benefits and importance of it to others, you can greatly increase the amount of impact you are having in your mission to help the environment. Of course, don’t harp on people to make changes or force anything, but simply educating others about how to live green and why they should look into it can be a good idea.

In conclusion, we hope these 5 steps and tips have been able to help you boost your eco-friendliness.