Every person on our planet has a responsibility for helping to conserve the environment. It’s important that we all work together to help combat climate change by lowering our carbon footprint. Thankfully, making the switch to environmentally-friendly or “green living” is becoming simpler. Consider these ten tips for greening up your life this upcoming week.

(1) Become a diligent recycler. Recycle all newspapers, junk mail, envelopes, used office paper, aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles and cardboard boxes. Go beyond basic recycling and make sure that you recycle batteries, cell phones and unusable computers.

(2) Pursue organic gardening and purchase plants, flowers, and shrubs that are native to your geographical area. Organic gardening is becoming increasingly popular, as people become more aware about the destructive effects of pesticides and insecticides. Think about growing your own organic vegetables and herbs.

(3) Conserve water. When you are brushing your teeth, turn off the water. Purchase a water-saving toilet. Buy your family a water-efficient shower head.

(4) Conserve considerable amounts of energy in your kitchen and laundry room by purchasing an energy-saving, sometimes labeled as “Energy Star” dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, oven, washer and dryer.

(5) Be careful about turning off the lights when the room is not being used. Teach your spouse or partner and children to get into the healthy habit of turning off the lights when they leave a room, too.

(6) Change the temperature settings of your refrigerator and freezer. Many families consume untold amounts of energy and money by leaving their refrigerator and freezer at temperatures that are colder than necessary.

(7) Purchase organic fruits and vegetables whenever you can to help reduce the amount of pesticides and herbicides that your family unintentionally consumes. Aim to shop at local farmers’ markets, as they often sell wonderfully fresh, high-quality organic produce. Shopping locally is very important in helping to reduce your carbon footprint. An additional benefit is that you are supporting local small businesses.

(8) Think about slowly converting to a more plant-based, vegetarian diet. Many vegetarians cite environmental reasons as primary motivating factors for their animal-friendly lifestyle. Eat vegetarian at least one day per week. Tremendous amounts of water, grain and land are used to graze cattle. An alarming percentage of rainforests are destroyed by companies to graze livestock.

(9) Purchase eco-friendly, reusable cotton grocery bags. Many grocery stores are selling fashionable reusable bags for only a few dollars each. The problem with plastic bags, and all plastic products, is that they do not biodegrade in landfills. The problem with paper grocery bags is that is requires more trees to be cut down.

(10) Convert your home from traditional light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs, commonly known by the acronym CFLs. Although the cost more than regular light bulbs, your family will end up saving money on your electricity bills. A plus is that CFLs usually last ten times longer than traditional bulbs.

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There has been a lot of talk in recent months about “going green” and the positive impact it can have on the environment we all share. For a a lot of people, that sounds like a bunch of hype that has no real noticeable impact on their daily lives. What if I told you that going green can actually cut down on your energy bills? If something helps us keep a little bit more money in our pockets we have a tendency to sit up and take notice!

When we talk about going green, we’re really just talking about using some common sense and doing things that not only help the overall environment, but that can also have a dramatic effect on the amount of energy we consume. As a result, we end up playing less in the way of utility bills. Let me give you a real example to illustrate the point. I’m sure that as you read this, you’ll be able to think of things that you can do today that can have an impact on the amount of money you pay for energy. Here’s my real-life example.

Not that long I was sitting by one of my windows sipping a cup of coffee when I noticed what felt like a slight breeze hitting my face. I glanced over at the window and suspected that it might be open. It wasn’t — but there was still a draft of cold air coming in. I went to the nearby home improvement store and asked for some advice.

They recommended an inexpensive thin strip of foam padding that is discreetly placed around the edges of the widows. This means that when you slide it shut, it’s not a wood-on-wood connection but rather a wood-on-foam connection that effectively insulates your home from the outside. I put this thin strip of foam along all my windows and the results were immediate. I felt significantly warmer. But the real surprise was when I got my next electric bill… it was 10% less than it usually would have been!

Not only did I help the environment by not using as much energy, but I also created a warmer living space for myself. Best of all, I saved some money on my electric bill!

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People from all walks of life are flocking to organic food as a safer, more environmentally friendly alternative to processed foods. The dilemma that many people face when deciding that they’d like to increase the amount of organic food in their diet is coping with higher prices. The good news is that there are a variety of organic food choices that don’t break the bank! Here are some simple ideas:

Organic Green Tea: Few people realize that certain brands of organic green tea are extremely affordable, especially when purchased in bulk. Try your local warehouse club, or search online for deals. Green tea is excellent for your health and contains a lot of cancer fighting antioxidants.

Organic Pasta: You’re going to have to do a little bit of detective work, but you can pick up delicious organic pasta for only a few cents more than what most stores charge for their in-house brands. To the extent you know you’ll be eating a lot of pasta, take advantage of the opportunity to buy in bulk.

Organic Beans: We all know we need to be sure we consume enough protein and organic beans deliver! You might be surprised to discover that canned organic beans are priced similarly to other types of beans. Lentils are always in plentiful supply and taste great.

Organic Soy Milk: People are often surprised to lean that many brands of organic soy milk will last longer than traditional milk and often cost less! There are a bunch of different flavors to choose from and you’ll benefit from the fact that soy milk pricing is done in a way that’s completely different than traditional milk.

There you have four excellent ideas that don’t break the bank. You have green tea, pasta, beans, and soy milk. There are a lot of other affordable organic food choices, but you might want to start with the four listed above. Start to pay close attention to pricing and pretty soon you’ll become an expert and scooping up a bundle of your favorite organic foods at a fraction of the price you’d otherwise pay. Enjoy your organic meal!

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My daughter recently came home from school the other day with a handout provided by her teacher that talked about the importance of adopting a green lifestyle to help both the environment and our local economy.

This presented me with a unique opportunity to speak to my daughter about different things that she could do, even though she is a child, to start leading a responsible green lifestyle. My daughter seemed interested in the subject, and so I decided that I would speak to my wife that we would come up with different activities that her daughter could do to get more involved with environmental activities.

The first thought that came to my mind was that my daughter could play a more active role within our household as it related to organizing the recyclable materials that were collected every single week. I realized that this was not a radical amount of responsibility, which suited my purposes.

I’ve always felt that parents can sometimes become a little bit too overly zealous about a particular issue or topic and that they run the risk of potentially alienating their child from that topic by coming on a little bit too strong. So I thought that it would make sense to see if my daughter we conscientiously gathered the recyclables and make sure that they were properly sorted every week.

Thankfully, my wife agreed with this idea. We both had an opportunity to speak to our daughter and she seemed very receptive. She even suggested that instead of getting rid of the banana peel from the banana that she typically took to school every day, she would instead add it to a compost pile that she wanted to begin keeping just outside our home. She encourage my wife and I to contribute appropriate table scraps for the compost pile.

To the extent you want your child to get involved with environmentalism and for them to become somewhat more conscious about green lifestyle choices, I encourage you to start with having them handle the recycling duties around your home or apartment.

It’s a conservative approach that will allow you to talk to them about important environmental issues without running as high of a risk of alienating them from the topic as a result of being to overbearing.

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You are eager to join in the green movement and are looking to make your home office more environmentally-friendly. Follow these suggestions to be well on your way to a green home office.

(1) Donate your functional used desktop and laptop computers and printers to charitable organizations, such as the Salvation Army, the Goodwill, the United Way or a local homeless shelter. Alternatively, phone your local school board and see if they would like your old computer or printer.

(2) When you are in the market for a new computer, either for personal or business use, strongly consider purchasing a laptop computer instead of a desktop computer. Laptops are more energy-efficient than desktops. Make sure that any new computer, printer, photocopier or scanner you purchase is energy-efficient.

(3) Reduce the amount of papers that you print from your computer. When you do need to utilize your printer, ensure that you are printing on both sides of the paper to help conserve trees.

(4) Convert your home office and personal finances to be as paperless as possible. Call or visit your bank to request an online bank account and request that your bank statements be submitted to you online rather than as traditional paper bills. Call your local telephone, internet and television companies and also request that you pay your bills online and that your service statements be sent to you electronically.

(5) Change all of the light bulbs in your home office from the traditional bulbs to energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). They save much more energy, which will lower your family’s electricity bills, and they last ten times longer than regular bulbs.

(6) Remove yourself from junk mails lists. Register your name and information with the relevant local, state or national marketing association to stop receiving junk mail.

(7) Purchase your stocks, mutual funds and other investments with reputable green companies. Environmentally-friendly companies are becoming increasingly popular in the marketplace. You also have the peace of mind knowing that you are investing your money wisely in companies that care about saving the Earth.

(8) Clean your home office (ideally your entire home) with environmentally-friendly household cleaners. Traditional cleaning products are laden with toxic chemicals which are unhealthy for your family and your pets. Many reputable eco-friendly companies are producing lines of green cleaning products, which are becoming more popular. Try to find cleaning supplies that do not list chlorine and bleach as ingredients and that are labeled as biodegradable. Look into making your own simple household cleaners with natural components, including water, vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice.

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