Whether you’re into the green movement or not, you’ve undoubtedly heard the word green far more than you ever thought you would. You don’t have to be a card carrying member of the Green Society to want to make a change or two for the better. You don’t have to believe there is anything wrong in the world to want to be less invasive on the world around you. Sometimes, without having to chase down a cause, you can do something new, something simple, simply because it makes sense.

I think the focus on cleaning things up is a good, a positive. You could drive yourself crazy trying to have no carbon footprint but there are some things we can do that are simple, many are even free.

Back in the olden days (says he tongue firmly planted in cheek), there weren’t paper napkins and paper towels everywhere we went. The had these things called tea-towels, cloth towels that clean wonderfully, they just need to be cleaned. You can toss them in with your regular towels, or color appropriate laundry load and ta-da they’re clean without additional detergent, water, electricity, etc. I’ve found cloth is nicer to wipe my face with anyhow.

This idea is one of my favorites, and I have to honest, I’m really enjoying my switch here. This simple step helps your local economy, your local self employed, yea yea, the environment AND your body. It’s as simple as shopping for all natural and or organic meats, vegetables and fruits. You’re going to like this because you’ll recall FOOD HAS FLAVOR! I didn’t realize how bland genetically altered or synthetically boosted foods are. So, this one is more selfish but does a lot of good.

The food paragraph is all about you and the benefits are almost selfish they’re so tasty. Here the switch is basic but a little tough. It’s tougher because the product we’re working to avoid in this tip is so very convenient. Dump the plastic water bottles! I understand, this is a tough one. So, let me see if I can’t quickly talk you into something else to carry your water. One, nothing taste better than drinking out of glass: LoveBottleDOTnet. If you like metal, they’re getting very popular. A recent study showed bottled water to be less healthy than tap water! Bottled water is overseen by the FDA, tap water the EPA, the EPA is far more stringent in their requirement. There is a massive floating island of plastic in our ocean, it’s HUGE massive, bigger than a state. Less plastic trash, better for our world.

Reduce the amount of packaging and or wrapping you’re using. Opt to buy boxed laundry detergent instead of plastic bottled detergent. Decline to have things bagged by the grocer when you can easily carry out the good/goods. Simple, quick and easy something you can do and feel good about it.

I’m fairly certain, second to the mortgage and or rent payment for most of us, our utilities are the next largest house bill. For this reason, my personal interest, I looked into changing all my lights to the CFL style bulbs and I hooked my televisions and computers up to power strips. Long story short, by doing just these two things and actually shutting off my appliances at the power strip, I cut my electric bill in HALF! Do it, you’ll love the savings.

Here’s one I love, it’s easy, easy! If you’re a social network user, specifically Facebook and Bebo, they have an application you can use. It’s free. It’s called, Lil Green Patch. All you do is click it, daily, and click your friends’ names in your group and send them a virtual flower. For every 10 you send, the advertisers of the site, save 1-sq foot of rain forest. They cap how many people you can send to each day, but hey, I’m at 20 people a day. So, every day, I send 20 people a virtual flower and I’m saving 2-sq feet a day of rain forest. It’s quick, it’s free and it’s something simple you can do to help. Your friends don’t have to send one back nor do they even have to click to accept your flower for their virtual garden, you simply have to send ‘em.

According to the ACEEE, the greenest car in the US, for the 6th straight year is the Honda Civic.

At Toms Shoes DOT com, they donate a pair of shoes for every pair purchased, pretty cool.

Green Is Sexy DOT org is a newer website with growing sophistication and information, it’s worth a look.

More to come as we find them, as we learn and as we find realistic and easy options to help things clean up!

There has been a great deal of attention in recent times on the depleting reserves of energy all around the world. The crisis has affected everyone everywhere and with the current global demand for energy from developing countries has seen gas jump up to record highs of $6 per gallon and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. We are rapidly exhausting our earths non-renewable resources like coal, uranium and natural gas and there’s been a great deal of harm done to the environment as a result. Have you been wondering about what you can do as a single individual to reduce global warming and the drain on the world’s resources?

Often as individuals we feel powerless to do anything, thinking that nothing we do could ever possibly make a difference. If you believe that then remember that we as a collective, together have all contributed in some way to our global crisis which means that we can also by our collective efforts make significant changes for the positive. There is plenty you can do to make a positive impact on reducing climate aberrations, food shortages, forest destruction, pollution etc. in the long term, by making just a few lifestyle changes.

Let’s take a look at what you can do today.

1). Check the news online: Think about the millions of trees that die everyday for you to get your morning newspaper. You can reduce this wanton destruction of trees by canceling all your newspaper subscriptions and going for an online subscription. You get your daily dose of news and a few trees are spared.

2). Transportation: Carpooling is a great way to cut down on the carbon dioxide being belched out by our gas-guzzling vehicles. By using your most fuel-efficient vehicle to carpool several times a week, or by occasionally just using buses to get around, cycling or walking, you will be making healthier, more eco-friendly choices.

3). Reduce AC Usage: Only use air conditioning in your car if you absolutely must. At speeds of under 40 mph you burn less fuel if you have the windows down. At speeds exceeding 45 mph the AC burns less fuel as windows down tend to create extra drag burning more fuel. Please dont refrain from using the AC if the weather requires it, you are the best judge of your situation, drive to the conditions.

4). Be a Relaxed Driver: When you are stressed out, angry or otherwise distracted, you tend to burn up to 50% more fuel than when you are relaxed because you can become the victim of “heavyfoot syndrome”. This takes a negative effect not only on your finances but on your health as well. Listening to easy listening relaxed music while you drive and remembering to breath, I know in our highly stressed lives, can be a lot to ask, but it will keep your stress level down to a minimum before it takes a negative toll on your driving.

5). Recycle, Recycle: Recycling has become the slogan of our times and with good reason. Most plastics are non-biodegradable, which basically means that you are throwing out junk everyday that the environment simply cannot cope with. Try to avoid using plastics on a daily basis and use paper bags when you go shopping. If you can’t avoid using plastics then recycle and reuse as much as you can.

6). Plant trees: Did you know that a single tree can breathe in around one ton of carbon dioxide throughout its lifetime? Try planting at least one tree in your lifetime. It’s amazing how few of us do something that significant even though it’s so easy.

7). Boycott Environmentally Harmful Products: Buy more “green” products and use more “green” technology. Stop supporting companies that are producing products that are harmful to our environment.

8). Kids Need Educating: Set a good example for your children, of what it means to be a good steward to our environment and make sure they know how to conserve power and the dwindling natural resources on our planet.

There seems to be a lot of people who are finally starting to see all of the various reasons for generating wind power for our electrical needs. With all of the environmental damage that comes from the power plants that are creating energy, it is important that people start to stand up and take action.

We all know by now how important it is to preserve our environment as well as to protect our limited natural resources. This awareness has led to a greater interest in using wind power to generate the energy we need. Installing a wind generator lets you use less energy from your local utility which is produced using means which are not environmentally friendly.

A wind generator usually will produce enough power to meet the needs of your household. You should still keep your connection to the local electrical power grid though. This way, when your wind generator isn’t producing enough electricity you won’t suffer from power outages.

When you have windy conditions, you’ll usually generate more power than you can use though – and you can sell this unneeded energy to your utility company! While you’re not going to get rich doing this, it helps your wind generators to pay for themselves even quicker. You’ll also be supplying clean, renewable energy to other consumers; which should make you feel pretty good too.

Wind power is a great way to do your part to preserve the environment. While there is an expense involved in installing wind generators, they will more than pay for themselves over time with the savings they’ll give you on your energy bills.

Some states and even some cities have programs in place which encourage people to install wind generators and other alternative energy technologies by reimbursing them for part of the cost. Of course, even without these programs you’ll make your investment back and then some from the savings you’ll see on the cost of electricity.

They’re easy to install and there’s no need to hire a contractor for the job – this is something you can do yourself! Hiring a contractor is expensive and it’s really not necessary. This is easier than a lot of the DIY projects you’ve probably already done, in fact.

All you need are some tools which you certainly have already and a good set of instructions. You can find plenty of good guides to installing a wind generator online which go through the procedure step by step. These instructions make it easy to install your wind generator and have it up and running generating electricity for you in no time flat!