Going Green 'Why and How
Copyright (c) 2008 Virginia Ginsburg
It seems that everywhere you go someone is talking to "Green", but what exactly does being green? And why should we do? More importantly, how do we need to go make an impact?
What does it all mean?
In its simplest definition, it means to be green, taking into account the health of the Earth at your choice how you live your life. This means considering the ecosystems that support all the inhabitants of the planet. In the big picture, that means being green make choices based on the impact they have on the water, land and air resources.
Humans wreak havoc on all the Big Three of these essential resources – all the products we buy is to take the resources of the Earth. Take a look at an organic apple simple. Feel virtuous enough, right? It is absolutely, but keep in mind the requirements to bring this to your apple table:
1. Energy: the farmer is based on vehicles and machines that run on electricity to grow and harvest the apple and the apple must travel in a vehicle to reach your home
2. Water: the farmer must use water to irrigate its fields
3. Air: the farmer's vehicle and all transport vehicles involved emit carbon dioxide
So you see, even for a simple fruit, good, we rely on the resources of the Earth. Much more resources are needed and drained when producing a non-organic apple, and more while creating thousands of products we depend on every day.
The green scale
Going green can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be – depending on the depth your commitment to the principles behind the movement. No matter where you fall on the scale of "Green" commitment, you can still have an impact on a daily basis.
The Greenie Hard-Core
This type of person who makes a decision based on having no negative impact on Earth. In addition, they often seek to make decisions that have a positive impact on the Earth. Greenie This tends to make decisions that may impact negatively on their lives in exchange for the positive impact he believes he is on the world.
The Greenie moderate
This person tries to take Green decisions, but sometimes you must sacrifice its goal of being green comfort, convenience, cost or efficiency. At ease in the middle ground, what kind of greenie weighs the cost-benefit of his own desires with ecological concepts.
The Light Greenie
Such person intends, and is indeed having a positive impact on the Earth, but the fact is that there are many other priorities in her life and she does not always make decisions based solely on how they are green, and tend to forget that it even greener choices.
10 Steps FOR ALL simple Greenies
What type of Greenie are you? Whatever your level of involvement in the movement, it is important to remember that even the most Small steps have an impact on the green movement, and everyone can always add one or two things to its list of green choices and move up the spectrum depending on the circumstances of life at any time.
Here are some simple steps that all Greenie can take to move the spectrum and, ultimately, make more impact on the green movement:
1. Buy directly from farmers, cooperatives and distributors of free trade
2. Eat minimally processed
3. Stick with organic and / or sustainably grown food, and textiles whenever possible
4. Reuse materials as you can before buying the new
5. Recycle paper, glass and plastics
6. Do not dispose of toxic waste (eg batteries, cell phones, electronics computer, light bulbs, paint, etc.) in the trash
7. Take transit, carpool, walk, or ride your bike instead of driving alone in a car
8. Reduce heat in winter and summer temperatures increase, install fans to better circulating air rather than using energy to heat / cool
9. Lower the temperature of your water heater
10. Buy only Energy Star appliances
No matter how much you are-core, yet we all have an impact on the earth while living in it. This is calls our "ecological footprint". If you're curious about the impact you made on Earth, take the Ecological Footprint Quiz and compare yourself to others to United States and worldwide. http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp
About the Author
Virginia Ginsburg specializes in research related to ecologically-sound life and business practices. She writes about green living and socially-conscious investing. Her company, Green Baby Gifts http://www.greenbabygiftsonline.com , specializes in gifts that are both beautiful and ecologically-sound.
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