Green Your Life

Here are more tips to Green Your Life:

Become a Green Consumer

Shop wisely: Buy green products whenever possible, avoid excess packaging, and look for biodegradable products.

Take your own cotton or canvas bags to the grocery store and market.

Replace your usual paper products with recycle ones, or use reusable products like cotton cloths instead of paper towels.

Buy locally. It’s good for your economy and saves energy in transportation.

Replace your personal care products with green alternatives.

Maintain a Healthy Home

Choose furniture made of natural fibers, whole wood, metal and glass.

Avoid using aerosols, such as hair spray and spray paint.

Use low-VOC paints and low-VOC adhesives.

Don’t use chemical pesticides on your lawn or garden. Plan your landscape so it needs less chemical help- ask the staff at your local nursery for advice. If you have garden pests, call in an army of parasites and predators.

Open up the windows and circulate fresh air through your house as often as possible.

Have your air-conditioning and heating systems professionally inspected annually. Make sure your furnace, stove, and other combustion devices are vented directly to the outdoors.

Select nontoxic bedding- most mattresses and bedding are made with a stew of chemicals, including chemical flame retardants and formaldehyde.

Conserve water. Fix leaky faucets and install low-flow toilets.

Become Energy Efficient

Turn down the heat at night to conserve fuel, or install a programmable thermostat.

Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Select a fuel-efficient, low-emissions car.

Walk or rid a bicycle instead of driving.

Community Action

Many household chemicals fall into the category of “suspected carcinogen.” If you know a product contains toxic chemicals, vote with your pocketbook and don’t buy it. Action is needed to keep these toxic chemicals out of consumer goods. Contact your representatives in Congress and tell them your concerns.

Help organize a neighborhood Dumpster Day or large-item disposal day.

Promote recycling. Start a paint exchange with your neighbors, or organize a Zero Waste even. Check out the Zero Waste Campaign at www.grrn.org./zerowaste.

Contact a local environmental group and offer to work on local air and water pollution issues.

Start a community curbside composting program that sells compost to gardeners and nurseries.

Help make your community bicycle-friendly.

In the Workplace.

Bring your green habits to the office. First steps include using less paper, recycling, and conserving energy and water. Talk to your facilities manager about nontoxic, environmentally friendly cleaning solutions. Two website offering good ideas are www.eya.ca/gwp and www.gov.ns.ca/enla/envin/p2/pdf/g_office.pdf.

Tips are from the book Green Clean by Linda Mason Hunter and Mikki Halpin which I highly recommend.