There are many ideas about what constitutes sustainable or “green” living. Many of these ideas have been around for a long time and are now being brought back into vogue. Other require a basic re-thinking of the relationship between suppliers and users of products. Fortunately, for most consumers, going green is probably easier than you imagine and can actually reduce your monthly expenses while improving your lifestyle. The key is to think before you buy and consider the real cost (not the monetary one) of a given item and how that item will be disposed of when it’s no longer useful.
A sustainable lifestyle is a lifestyle grounded in reality. For instance, if you’re buying furniture and it has natural hardwoods, and it’s not certified as being harvested sustainably, it was probably harvested illegally and the taking of the tree destroyed the surrounding eco-system. Basically it was stolen by pirates who are making money today, by harvesting the future of the Earth. You have the power to stop these pirates – don’t buy the furniture and tell the store owner/manager why you aren’t spending money there. Fortunately, if you’re reading this, then you have a computer and a connection to the internet, and you can find out about reality very easily. You can live in modern home, filled with electronics and great furniture, drive a wonderful car and live a sustainable lifestyle. The change you need to make is simple, learn to respect reality.
Is “sustainable living” compatible with modern life? Yes, more so than ever. The “green revolution” is over. Everything you need to go green is already in place. You just have to know about them and take the correct actions. The power of consumers choosing green over “not green” will eventually make the Earth a better place for all of us to live. So choose reality-based products and recognize the impact of your actions and make the decisions to not pollute (while recognizing that this is impossible, but you can reduce your pollution footprint), recycle when possible and buy products that were produced from sustainable practices and your power to change the planet will be complete. Nothing and no one get it perfect every time, but by making the changes you can make, you will go a long way to help and the choices will be come easier over time.
As noted previously, part of sustainable living is recognizing how you’re using the Earth’s natural resources and vowing to reduce your pollution and use. Locally this means not dumping toxins (like oil, paint thinner, herbicides, pesticides) into streams or into storm drains. Don’t fire up your fireplace with wet, smoky wood, and use a pellet stove if possible. Buy electricity from “green” sources if you can afford it. Conserve water. Buy a low flow shower head. Turn your water heater thermostat down to 120 or lower. Heat your house to 68 – 70 degrees (F) and cool it to 78 – 75 degrees. The list of easy ways to reduce your personal use of natural resources is endless and you will live just as comfortably as you do now. Not everyone can afford to do everything (or is willing to), but by being a responsible citizen of your community, and the world, you will be helping and that’s what we all need to do.
The next step is to keep gathering information. Join some forums and read some blogs. Check out news sites and think of something you can do every month or so and soon you’ll be living the green lifestyle.
Find all the news and blogs that can help you to Go Green. The Go Green website is updated daily, has green tips, tells you about rebates that can save you money, tax credits, and can be your number one resource when you want to Go Green. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.
