Saturday, November 26, 2011

Four Green Things We All Can Do

By Carrie Pepper


There are hundreds of ways we can participate in the green movement. This "going green" is one of the best things that could have happened to us in the past few years; here are four of the simplest ways you can do your part.

Plant one tree per month. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon monoxide within its lifetime here on earth. Secondly, shade trees will save the average homeowner up to 10-15 percent in their air conditioning costs per year. Be grateful for your trees. If you do no more than this, you will have made a tremendous contribution. Our neighbor actually cut down a (healthy) 40 foot Deodar Cedar to make room for their motor home. Not only did they take away the beauty and shade it provided, but they are adding a minimum of one ton of CO2 back into our atmosphere.

Buy locally grown and produced foods. If we can learn to seek out our local growers, we can not only save fuel but keep the money without our own communities. Statistics show that the average meal in the United States travels some 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. That is a long distance. Consider going to your local farmers market or start growing your own vegetables. Just doing this reduces the amount of energy required to grow and transport this food to you by one-fifth. This is a simple solution that can make a huge difference.

If you've ever turned on your heat or air conditioning for the first time of a season and started to sneeze, your filters are probably dirty and need changing. In addition to the health benefits of clean filters, changing these filters can save up to 350 pounds of carbon monoxide (or $150.00 dollars) per year. That's a significant savings dollar-wise as well as a benefit to your health.

Carpooling is one of the easiest and smartest things you can do to help the environment as well as keeping money in your wallet. We Americans average 16 miles each way to work each day. That is approximately 7 gallons of gas per week just to commute. Depending on the gas prices where you live - let's say gas is 4.00 per gallon at your local pump - that is $28.00 per week or nearly $1,400 per year. If you share that with just one person, you cut your cost in half. So, next time you long to dive over into the carpool lane and cruise past the majority of the gas guzzlers, remember, you just need one more person in the car with you.




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