Go Green in Your Home

From LoveToKnow GreenLiving

Most people don't realize how easy it is to go green in your home. By learning your three R's you'll hardly notice you're saving the planet.

Go Green in Your Home; It's Easy!

You can go green with surprisingly very little effort. Save the world and recite the mantra, Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce.

Recycle

You can't go green without recycling. In some areas, recycling is as easy as separating recyclables from perishables. In such areas, household waste is taken to processing centers and separated further. For the rest of us, we have to think about it a little more.

**Separating Household Waste for Recycling**
Bottles	Paper	Trash
Plastic	Cardboard	Food waste
Glass	Newspapers	Furniture
Glass jars	Magazines	Textiles
Foil	Cartons & Containers	Yard clippings

Note that some cities have special receptacles for yard clippings or biodegradable waste. You can also get greener by composting your own waste in the back yard.

Reuse

Recycling is the last stop for household goods. Most of the things that end up in our recycle bins could have been used a few more times before they got gross and had to be thrown away. Don't be so quick to just toss things out. Try to find ways that you can reuse things at least two or three times. Get Creative!

Cut up old T-shirts to make dish and dust rags.
- Thread Bangers has tons of ideas have fun reusing textiles.
Washed glass jars make perfect organizers for office supplies or spare change.
- Used mason jars make great beer glasses.
Plastic bags can stand a few washings before being thrown out.
- A sandwich bag per kid per day is just too much. Reuse those bags!
Encourage your kids to cut up magazines and make collages.

The home green movement is huge, and several websites have ideas on how to reuse household items for utility and creativity. These are good places to start if you're just starting out:

Reduce

The two most important things to reduce are one's use of water and electricity. There are plenty of gadgets to help you, but there are a couple of tricks you can learn and incorporate into your daily habits and routines that don't cost you a dime.

Electricity

Make sure all lights in empty rooms are switched off.
Unplug appliances when not in use.
- Mobile phone adapters continue to draw electricity even when your phone isn't charging.
- Anything with a standby light is using electricity.
Set your air conditioner to 72º in the summer.
Wear a sweater inside during the winter before turning on the heat.

Water

Place a brick in your toilet's tank if you don't have a water-saving toilet.
Take shorter showers.
- Put a small bucket in the shower, and use the water that lands in it to water your plants.
Turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth.
Make sure you don't have any leaky pipes.
Only wash full loads of laundry
Eat less meat.
- A vegetarian diet requires up to 3,500 gallons less per person per day than one that includes meat.

Go Green in Your Home But Not Crazy

The home green movement relies on the belief that if everyone does their part, we can save the world together. Some go to extreme measures and change their whole way of life.

Ultimately, it's up to you how extreme-green you'd like to go at home, but there is always going to be someone who's going greener in their home than you are in yours. It isn't a contest. It's an acceptance of your household's responsibility to contribute to the greater good in order to ensure a cleaner planet for all of our children.

When you go green in your home, any little bit; you're helping this generation and the next one.

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