It begins with "low-hanging fruit."
Basic Ways to Live Green
Adrian Brown, a conservation planner with The Nature Conservancy, describes low-hanging fruit, in the sense of an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, to mean making the most basic changes, the ones that are most easily within reach.
Here is a list of many of the simplest improvements to make, which favor healthy living for humans and the Earth:
- Use compact fluorescent lights. Each CFL uses, typically, one-quarter the wattage as its incandescent counterpart. Less energy used; less heat created in your home - and during the summer that means less need for running up air conditioning bills.
- Next to the most used garbage can in the home, set a box, bag or bin for recyclables. It's just as easy to hang one's hand over the recycle bin and let go of the paper, plastic, aluminum or cardboard as it is over the trash can. Check with your city for recyclables pick-up schedules, and how to participate in green urban living.
- Turn off the water during teeth brushing, dish washing, and face washing or shaving.
- Don't use porch lights except when necessary. Leaving them on for an evening when no houseguests are coming - or leaving them on all night for security - uses more bulbs and electricity than is necessary.
- Unplug electronics and appliances when not being used; they still suck electricity. Easy examples are a coffee pot, a toaster, a seldom used lamp. For more frequently used, larger items - e.g. TVs, home computers, stereos - use a powerstrip that has an on/off switch. Flip the switch off, and the electronics stop drawing power.
None of these first-step efforts require cash investment, or technical or home repair expertise.
Benefits of Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs)
The CFLs that used to seem so much more expensive than incandescent bulbs, no longer are weighed down by such heavy price tags. But for whatever price differential may remain in any given comparison, don't forget it's not all about price. Factor in the benefits of CFLs:
- They use less energy.
- They last much longer.
- They put out a fraction of the heat incandescents do.
- They create an inherently good feeling in the buyer, who gets to know s/he has done something positive for the environment.
Why The Basic Efforts Matter
Living green is a lifestyle that will eventually be a must-do. The rate of consumption exceeds sustainability. Though the issue may not yet be dire in everyone's minds, it is but a matter of time before each person will have to live in a way that takes the Earth's limited resources into account.
The sooner an individual makes the transition to thoughtful consumption, the easier that change will be for that person. The end-game - when there are no longer enough resources available for excessive consumption - will be a forced lifestyle change.
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