5 Simple Ways to Live Green

Green living is a lifestyle that embraces practices which have little or no negative impact on our environment both now and in the future, reduce waste and consumption, and help create sustainable environment we live in. It’s a complicated and overwhelming topic as it deals with so many things but that doesn’t mean we don’t or can’t contribute in our own ways. I most definitely don’t live a green lifestyle all the time but over time, I have become conscious about the choices I make in my everyday life and do my best with what I can do to support green living. I am not an expert in this area so please feel free to chime in with your thoughts while I share  5 Simple Ways to Live Green by making little changes in your everyday life.

Invest in a stainless steel water bottle : This is probably the simplest way to reduce your carbon foot print and money. You can purchase a filter for your home instead of using bottled water. While traveling, at work, or working out, make a habit of carrying your water bottle. Similarly, if you drink tea/coffee every single day, rather than a single use paper or styrofoam cup, get yourself a couple of cute mugs. It may seem like ‘just a cup’ but it has to start somewhere and developing this habit into an everyday practice will eventually make a difference. I have noticed cafes are starting to give discounts for bringing personal tumblers, so there’s that incentive too besides helping mother nature. DIY Cleaner : If you already don’t use baking soda + vinegar + lemon juice as your all-purpose cleaner you need to try it out before giving me a weird look. It works!! I use it for all my all-purpose cleaning – kitchen, surface tops, bathroom and it does a great job. Here is a good resource with recipes you can try at home, use less chemicals, and save money. Above image taken from here.

Reusable Grocery Bags: Carrying your own grocery bags to the store is so 2013 yet I still forget my reusable tote at home at times. Reusable grocery bags are a good alternatives to plastic bags, esp if you throw them away. I am not a huge fan of plastic bags in general and I try to use as little as possible in my everyday life. I always thought they were the worst for the environment, until I came across these articles here and here.Go Paperless: I hate receiving paper bills, notifications, statements, coupons. Paper is recyclable  but not all complex will provide that service right by the mail box plus I already get those online, so why the redundancy? I try to opt for just electronic on everything as much as I can including receipts at the store these days. Also, does any of you know how to stop grocery store ad/coupons from your neighborhood? Those drive me nuts. At work, we are slowly moving towards sharing reports online rather than printing stacks of paper. It’s a culture change and with continuous practice and reminder, I am sure one of these days, it will become the norm.

Hope these 5 simple ways to live green will encourage and remind you to make small changes in your everyday life. I’d love to hear what are some of the things you currently do?

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