Natural Living Tips

We all want to do our part to protect the environment, but without a large paycheck, that can be seem difficult, if not impossible. But doing your part doesn’t have to be hard. Small steps add up to a big difference, you just have to know which ones to take.

Use less water.

Saving water is all about small steps, here are a few that will help save big.

• Shut off the water while you brush your teeth
• Take showers that are a minute or two shorter
• Only flush the toilet when you need to
• Only run full loads of laundry and dishes
• Buy from sustainable producers. These are farmers, ranchers, and other producers that use techniques that pollute less and use less water. You can do some research online or ask at your local organic market to find these products.

Use less energy.
If you don’t have the money to buy a hybrid car or convert your house to solar power, you can make a big difference with small changes.

• Buy energy efficient appliances.  They may be more expensive, but make up for the increased cost in lower energy bills.
• Unplug chargers when you’re not using them.  Cell phone and other chargers use up powers even if there’s nothing attached to them.
• Put devices with remotes, like T.V.s, VCRs, and stereos, on a power strip and turn it off when you’re not using them.  These devices use a lot of power to run the remote receiver even when the device is off.
• Walk or ride your bike for short trips.
• Buy local products. It takes energy to transport food and other products across the country. Buying local not only supports your local economy, it helps them use less energy.

When it comes to saving energy and water, it’s a great idea to get the kids involved. You can even make it a game. Have them track how much water and electricity everyone is using. You can compete to see who uses the least water.  You can often count on your kids to help keep you on track when given the task.

Reuse.
Most of us know the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, but when we work on conserving, we often leave reuse out of the picture. While you can often find tips on how to reuse common products from other people, what you need most is creativity. With a little thought there are many items around your home that can be reused – toilet paper holders can be used to sow seeds for the vegetable patch. And old yogurt containers can be cut into strip to make plant labels. Old food jars can be refilled with homemade foods or can make great impromptu vases.

Use environmentally friendly products. When you go to the grocery store, you probably see more and more “natural” or “eco friendly” products every time.  There are generally two big problems with these products: 1. Just because they’re more natural than regular products, doesn’t mean they’re entirely natural. 2, They’re often expensive.

If you want inexpensive, natural, safe products, why not just make them yourself. Vinegar is a great way to clean and disinfect glass and other surfaces. Need to remove stubborn stains? Just add some baking soda to your vinegar cleaner. Some quick searching online will lead you to hundreds of other natural safe home-made cleaning products.

We all knowing that going green means better for the environment, but it’s also better for you.  Conserving resources also helps save you money, which is something most of us are happy to live with.

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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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