Natural Living Tips

“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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To make your home into a green friendly house one of the major areas that you can begin with, is energy efficiency, with the added benefit of savings in the form of lower utility bills.

• Energy Efficiency - Use Energy Star appliances. Energy Star is a government-backed program helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency.

Products and appliances that have the energy star logo are allowed to be classified as energy efficient.

Home appliances in this program, range from refrigerators (perhaps the highest consume or electricity in the home), stoves, dishwaters, microwave ovens, washers and driers, as well as music delivery systems.

Some models may cost a little more, but the day to day savings will definitely be worthwhile.

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Everybody is talking about it; let’s hope everybody is doing it. Even pets should be doing it. (Is pet food green?)

The good news is that everybody can do it. Start on a small scale, with the small things like your energy bill. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Change the setting in your fridge. Take a shorter shower.

I remember many summers ago in the early 70’s, there was a drought in England and the Thames was nearly dry. One of the ads in the “save water” campaign, said something like: “Save water … bathe with a friend”. Well, that’s one option I suppose. But seriously, with a very small effort you can take the first steps in going green and cut costs at the same time.

“Did you know that paper recycling at home is greater than at the work place? - just a wondering thought.”

Use less, or even better, change the type of cleaning articles, soaps and detergents you use. Recycle your old t-shirt and use it to clean the windows and use vinegar or old wine on it. My grand ma did and it worked wonders.

My suggestion is to start little by little, and keep at it. But above all start. You might even enjoy it, as the nurse said to the vicar -go green, of course.

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