Saturday, February 21, 2009

Be Clever, Be Cleverer

By Simon M Skinner

It seems all you hear today is about living a greener lifestyle. You need to reduce your carbon footprint and your environmental impact. We all know that this is important, but it can feel like being lectured at times.

When you eat the naturally grown food you are giving your body fresh food, you are also keeping pesticides and chemical fertilizers from contaminating the earth. Antibiotics and growth hormones will be eliminated from the environment by eating meat from animals grown without using them. You are also keeping a lot of dangerous things out of your body. Processed foods are stripped of nutrition and are likely to clog your arteries causing heart problem.

Joining your local Freecycle list is another great way to live greener. Don't throw things away - put them on the list and look there for things you need instead of buying new items. Odds are, someone will want what you've got to give away. By the same token, if there's something you need, it is more than likely to be found for the taking there as well. This keeps these items out of landfills and saves everyone money.

There are also plenty of green products which you can use around the house. These are inexpensive and can end up saving you a lot of money - for instance, compact fluorescent bulbs. These are a great improvement over regular incandescent light bulbs and cost about the same while using far less energy and lasting a lot longer.

You can use solar lights in your yard - these lights work just as well as electric lights, but cost nothing to operate and conserve the use of electricity. There are many appealing designs available and they can fit into anyone's budget. You don't need to have an electrician install them and the lights are quite bright enough to illuminate your yard. You can even get solar holiday lights, adding a cheerful seasonal touch without adding a thing to your electric bill.

Batteries are another way that you can save money and go green at the same time. Modern rechargeable batteries are long lasting, easy to charge and save you a lot of money. When they do finally run out of charges for good, they are recyclable at your local hardware store, just like broken fluorescent bulbs.

Once you start doing this, you will feel much better about yourself and also see how easy it is to live green. You will probably be surprised at the money you gain too. You can rest easier knowing you are doing your part to keep the earth greener and healthier for future generations as well as right now.

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