Small things you do in your life can have a big impact on the environment. There’s a reason why you hear reduce, reuse, and recycle repeated over and over when talking about the environment. It’s because these things work, and if we all do our part we can make a big difference.

Reducing:

Do you have a large family, or do you have plenty of storage space? Buy the case online. Don’t see how this helps? If you make one large purchase, it only ships once. That conserves fuel and cuts down on energy use.

Reusing:

When you go on trips (it is summer vacation, after all), do you buy sample bottles of things like shampoo and then throw them away? Save those bottles – or buy your own small ones – and buy shampoos in a larger size. You can refill the bottles any time you need them, and they won’t take up much space in your bathroom cabinet. Matrix Biolage Hydrating Shampoo comes in a 33.8 oz bottle, for example. You’ll save money that way, too: Typically, larger sizes cost less per ounce.

Recycling:

Do you have a junk drawer, filled with old cell phones and discarded electronics? I know I do. I didn’t know what to do with them, so I just stuffed them away and forgot about them. Throwing them out can mean leaching potentially toxic materials into landfills, so that was out, of course. I came across the drawer not too long ago, and stared at it in dismay. If I didn’t do something about these things soon, I was going to need another drawer to hold them all. I did some research and found Gazelle.com and SecureTradeIn.com, where you can sell your old cellphones and electronics.

You can also donate your old cell phones to charity:

• cellphonesforsoldiers.com
You can give your old cell phone to U.S. military personnel serving overseas and they can use them to call their families back home. That’s got to make you feel good. I donated my old cell phone to them.
• Collectivegood
They donate part of the money they receive from recycling your phone to the charity of your choice. One of their charities is the United Way, whose main focus is on resolving community issues. They tend to concentrate on education, income and health.

There are other ways to recycle, as well. Do you have any ideas for me? What are some ways you reduce, reuse, or recycle in your life? Let me know on Twitter, Facebook, or leave me a comment here on the blog.

We all want our world to be a better place to live, and many of us are trying very hard to be environmentally conscious. I’ve come to the conclusion that while I can’t do anything about the behavior of others, I can certainly change my own. If you’re looking to ‘green’ your lifestyle as well, I’ve collected some simple tips for you. I’ve separated them into categories, so that you can see how you can save energy and go green in many different areas of your life. You’re going to be surprised how easy it is to live green.

Shopping/Food

Buy Local Produce – If the produce doesn’t have to be shipped, just think how much energy has been saved. Farmer’s Markets are all over the place in the spring and summer, so see if there’s one in your area. I look forward to this time every year because I love fresh vegetables.

Shop Online – If you shop online instead of driving your car from store to store, you’ve just conserved energy. See how easy that was? You save money, too: Online prices are competitive with brick and mortar stores. Sometimes they’re even better, in fact.

Buy in Bulk – There are many places online where you can buy cases or half cases of products. For example, let’s say you give your child Flintstones chewable vitamins once a day: A half case is approximately a year’s worth of vitamins and you will save about 25% on the cost of the product. Buying vitamins one time yearly means it only has to be shipped once, saving energy.

Reduce Paper

Get Bank/Credit Card Statements Online – Most banks and credit card companies give you the option of getting your statements online only. You will reduce the amount of paper generated and mailed, saving not only trees but energy as well.

Pay Your Bills Online – Did you know if every household in the US did this, we’d save 18 million trees a year? That’s a staggering amount.

Get Rid of Junk Mail – Ecocycle has a great tutorial on stopping junk mail from coming to your home. You don’t really want all that junk in your mailbox, anyway, do you? Save a tree and stop the junk mail from clogging your mailbox.

Home Tips

Switch to Fluorescent Bulbs – Did you know if everyone in the US switched to fluorescent lighting, it would be the equivalent of having one million cars taken out of the picture?

Turn Off Your Computer at Night – You’ll save energy if you turn your computers off at night instead of just putting them to sleep.

Recycle – Yes, I know you’ve heard this about a million times, but there’s a reason for this. Did you know that glass takes a million years to degrade? Also, only about 27% of plastics are recycled – that’s a shameful number, in my opinion. Do your part, and keep plastic out of our landfills.

Don’t Run the Water – You’ll save about 4 gallons of water every time you turn the water off while brushing your teeth. If you run a sink of water to rinse dishes in before putting them in the dishwasher, you’ll save about double that.

Use Cold Water – When washing clothing, use cold or warm water instead of hot. There’s not a huge benefit in using hot water to wash clothing, but there’s an energy savings if you don’t.

These are only a few things that you can do to reduce your carbon footprint and lead a ‘green’ life. There’s nothing hard on this list and they don’t take a lot of effort; in fact, some of them actually make your life easier and save you money. Try going green for a month and see how simple it is. Do your part, and help save the Earth.