Today is Earth Day. So in conjunction with Earth Day, here’s my small contribution to write about tips on living green and doing our part to save the environment. I hope we all live green not only on Earth Day but everyday after this. If you are already living green, do share more tips with the rest of us on how to do so effectively. If you are not, then it’s never too late to start in whatever little ways you can.
Below are several ideas on how you can lead your life the greener way and help to preserve the environment to be more sustainable for our future generation. Some of these green ways can be quite fun too, and if you can cultivate some of these in your lifestyle at home to include your children, all the better. Happy green living!
How to cut down on the use of paper
- At work, go paperless. Don’t print or photocopy things unneccessarily.
- If you really need to print, try to minimise the use of paper needed. For example, if you are printing a Powerpoint file that has 8 slides, instead of printing each slide on 1 page, opt to print 2 slides on 1 page, and print them double sided to make full use of the paper. That way, instead of using 8 sheets of paper, you will cut down to using just 2.
- Don’t just throw or shred away unwanted papers that have been used on just one side. You can use the blank side as paper for you to jot your notes. The idea is to make full use of it before you dispose of them. Reusing paper this way also helps to cut down on the use of a notepad or notebook which you need to purchase to write your meeting or work notes.
- Substitute using tissues with a reusable option like a hanky. I know in this time and age, no one really uses hankies, perhaps some guys still do. But it will save the use of a lot of tissues or paper towels this way.
How to cut down on the use of plastics
- Use your own reusable food containers whenever you are packing food from stalls or restaurants. This way, you can minimise the use of plastic containers provided by the food vendors each and every time you need to pack food.
- Use your own stainless steel utensils instead of asking for disposable plastic fork and spoon when packing for food.
- Bring your own shopping bags when you go shopping so that you do not need to use the plastic bags for your goods. If you do not have any reusable shopping bags, you can always purchase them very cheaply at most retail shops from supermarkets to bookstores to special stores like Tiny Tapir. If you do not want to spend money to purchase these reusable bags, you can always make use of those plastic bags that you currently have for your next shopping trips. Just keep reusing them and not collect any new ones from the stores.
- Reuse plastic bottle containers for your personal care products like hand wash, shampoo and bath creams. You can buy refill packs of your toiletries and fill them into the existing bottles instead of buying these products packaged in bottles. The refill packs work out cheaper too!
How to safeguard the environment from harmful chemicals and emissions
- As much as possible, use biodegradable products. There are many biodegradable laundry detergents, dish washing liquid, soaps, hair sprays, etc in the market. Use them to safeguard the environment.
- These days, many personal care products are also claiming to be more environmentally friendly in their production process. You can opt to support those products too.
How to travel green
- Whenever possible and when it makes good sense, car pool with family members or friends. The less harmful emission we get from cars, the safer the environment.
- Alternatively, you can take public transportation like the trains and buses.
- If your destination is not far from where you are starting off, why not take a walk? It’s not just green living, it’s healthy for you too! Just be safe when on the streets and avoid lonely paths or using dark alleys as shortcuts.
- Where possible, travel light when flying. The heavier your baggages, the more fuel the aircraft needs to burn off to carry heavier loads. If everyone travels light and avoid paying extras for your luggage weight, the more fuel we are able to save.
How to cut down on energy consumption
- Use energy saving bulbs to not only cut down on your electricity bills, but also on the generation of energy.
- Switch off the lights, fan, air conditioning, electrical appliances, etc when not in use. This saves you money on your electricity bills too!
How to cut down on kitchen and other wastes
- Reuse your kitchen waste by making garbage enzymes out of them instead of throwing them out. You can learn how to make garbage enzymes here. Learn about the many great benefits and uses of garbage enzymes and you may be a believer and supporter in garbage enzymes!
- Don’t over-shop when you go grocery shopping. Make a list of what you need and stick to your shopping list. Try not to be tempted to buy what you do not need. Think about how wasteful it will be to be throwing excessive food gone bad from your fridge!
- Instead of throwing out old items like magazines, newspapers, clothes, etc, you can recyle them or where appropriate, donate your things. Alternatively, you can reuse them to craft them into new items. You never know, some of your buttons from an old and torn shirt could be used to decorate a DIY photo frame, dried flowers can be made into pot pourri, magazine pages can be used to wrap books and presents, etc.
There are many more creative ways to live green. All we need to do is to apply some thinking and make the effort to live green within our means. I’m sure you have some great ideas of your own, do share them with us. Sometimes, it can be quite fun to live green.
Happy Earth Day to everyone!
