Natural Living Tips

You can always do more.  You can give more love, play a little more, work a little more, spend more time with the family. There is always room for improvement and the Japanese way of improving just a little every day, will always produce better results than trying to apply massive changes - the principal of continuity.

And the same philosophy applies just as well to living green, no matter how green you may consider yourself.  At the end of the day it is the little things in life that make it worthwhile and give value.

With a little effort and perhaps small sacrifices you can be a little bit greener, benefiting yourself and making the planet greener and healthier.

Principal of continuity attitude:  Give a little and leave a little for the others.

Use less: water, electricity, gas.

• Cut down your shower time
• Washing and cleaning. (You also save on detergents and utility bills).
• Cut down on waste and use alternative materials (less plastics).
• Save energy by unplugging appliances when not in use.
• Look for energy efficient (Star Energy) electrical products - there is a wide range of appliances available.

Green alternatives:

• Natural products, if you can grow some of your own food you will be way ahead of most of the western world. You can also look for fresh and organic produce.
• Garden, go native.  Choose local and native varieties (from grass to plants) as they have adapted perfectly to local environment and this means less additional water and nutrients.
• Transport: One small step is by pooling and when you are able to go for a new car look for the most energy efficient car you can find.

With a little imagination there are many things you can do, and the wonderful thing about all this is that by following the principal of continuity, everybody wins both by saving money and from the green angle.

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Green living is becoming more and more fashionable - and will probably soon become the only way to live.

In the meantime you can begin to make your home greener and one of the ways to do so is by being more energy efficient.

3 Simple Starting Tips

1. Turn off the lights when you leave the room. And equally good, only turn on those lights you really need.
2. Change your light bulbs to fluorescent ones. The consume considerably less energy.
3. Unplug your computer, your dvd’s, cd players. Did you know they still consume electricity even when turned off?

Green living is becoming more and more fashionable - and will probably soon become the only way to live.

Some things that are not environmentally friendly are still cheaper (especially if they come from China - but that is another story), however the trend is for a change in this as well.

The change that is coming about is in part because of research and technical developments and also due to production techniques and volume.

So we will have many, and hopefully all our comforts and lifestyle needs covered under a green friendly umbrella. And the demand, which is the side of the equation the ordinary man or woman in the street controls, will be the driving force.

There are many more things you can do for a greener home, but this is a good starting point.

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Natural living has a nice ring to it. There are many organizations, businesses, web sites, articles and people that are into natural living or natural health in one way or another.

There are also many ways of practicing it.

1. Nutrition: Consuming it; Producing it
2. Health: Alternative medicine; Herbs; Antioxidants; in natural form or supplements
3. Environment: Eco- consciousness; Active participation; Recycling; Reducing waste
4. Energy sources: Solar; Wind
5. Lifestyle: Family; Consumer
6. Sharing, writing, working, filming, talking.

There are many ways of looking at natural living depending on the degree of involvement, participation and even creativity.

The interesting thing is that it is a fact of life today because people are aware of it; there is a positive attitude towards nature and our relationship with it; it is an emotionally charged subject; there is fear of “nature’s revenge” if we continue the way we do.

At the same time we have to accept that synthetic development (to coin a phrase) has brought material quality of life and is an economic consideration in our society.

Having said all that, what do we mean by “natural” and by “living”?

• Natural: “free from artificiality;” “in accordance with nature;” “relating to or concerning nature;” “functioning or occurring in a normal way;” “existing in or produced by nature;” “not artificial or imitation”; “being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes;”
• Living: “pursue a positive and satisfying existence;” “the experience of being alive;” “the course of human events and activities;” “condition of living or staying alive;” “inhabit or live in;” “be an inhabitant of;” “lead a certain kind of life;” “live in a certain style;” “in its natural state and place (not mined or quarried);” “still in existence;”

Natural living would have to take into account these definitions, but above all it must come under the umbrella of “Harmony” and “Balance”.

So after all that, how does natural living sound with this definition?

“Pursuing a positive and satisfying existence, in a style that respects and seeks to achieve harmony and balance with nature, ourselves, and the future”.

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“Going green”, “Eco friendly”, “environmentally conscious” and “living natural” are terms that are now part of our daily lives. You hear about it on the news, your read it on magazines and newspapers and continuously on the internet. Even news services have a nature category.

Going green and living natural. It seems as if everybody is doing it.

But what does it mean?

It can go from a full scale change in life, going 100% natural and even be militant about it, to small continuous changes without affecting your quality of life except for the better. My suggestion is starting little by little. Rather like eating the proverbial elephant (at least I hope you don’t actual try the elephant).

Take food for example. You can increase your fresh fruit and vegetables intake. What sort of packing does it come in? Every day you have more green food choices - look for them and learn about them. Your proteins - the meat or fish you eat; they are being farmed. How are they fattened?

Or energy requirements. At home, with a little effort, you can reduce your electric bills just by turning down the air conditioner or heaters. A simple formula is: use what you need. Leave a little.

Can you afford to do it?

Yes you can. Just start with a conscious decision. At the end of the day that is all it takes. There is an enormous amount of information and consumer alternatives around, and there will be more each day.

Be creative. A British couple have recently taken their honeymoon in the US and paid their flight with recyclable aluminum cans.

Can you afford not to?

A few thoughts for you. How about your health? We really don’t know the toxicity levels we have or a clear idea of the long term effects. We do know that heart problems, cancer, diabetes and others are much greater than at any other time. Think about it.

What about climate change? The weather has always been unpredictable, specially long term but we must all be aware that something is going on. We hear the news, we see the images and many times we are right in the middle of it - and these are not just isolated news items. We are just not sure of the long term changes or the subtle effects that are happening. The butterfly effect must be overworked.

What about the next generations. Will they be able to see animals in the wild or outside a zoo. Or even worse in a book or on film?

What about energy sources. How renewable are they? What about solar power and wind power? Developments in these area are indeed amazing.

If you reduce your waste (and probably waist, as well), your bills will go down and so will your carbon footprint.

You can find many sources of information all over the place. Just give yourself a bit of research time and you will be able to live a little greener.

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