What Does Going Green Mean?
Going green is not just some fancy catchphrase or trend. Many have been going green since before it became trendy to do so. So what does going green mean? That might depend on who you ask. To one person it might mean one thing and to another person it might mean another thing. To some it may just mean recycling and reducing a personal carbon footprint. While to others, it may mean sustainable living. Going green means different things to different people, but there are some common beliefs. Today, we’re going to take a look at a few of those beliefs and I’ll share why going green is important to us.
What Does Going Green Mean?
“Green” is a reference to nature and the environment. Trees, grass, and plants are predominantly green in color, so working to preserve those ecosystems and environments is, quite literally, protecting what is green.
So “going green” means minimizing the destruction of trees, not supporting large agribusiness with the consumer’s dollar, lowering personal emissions and not contributing to increased emissions by others (such as buying food that has been transported a long way).
Going green also usually involves conserving energy and taking care not to waste natural resources.
When someone takes an active role in environmental preservation, that person is said to be “going green.”
How Can You Start Going Green?
One easy way to start going green, that many do already, is by recycling items such as paper, glass, cardboard, metal, and plastics. All of these materials use energy and natural resources to manufacture (particularly paper and cardboard, which uses trees), so recycling them makes sense from a green standpoint.
When possible, purchase items made from recycled materials.
You can also take care to cut back on the energy use in your own home. Turn your thermostat down at night and when you’re not home, or even better, install a thermostat timer that will do the work for you by lowering or raising the thermostat at prescribed intervals.
Energy use in the home can be further reduced by taking some simple steps. For example, upgrade to Energy Star appliances where possible; turn off lights when you leave a room; don’t run the dishwasher unless it’s full.
Try to eat local, organic produce – local, because less fuel is required to get the food from farm to table, and organic because of the possible negative environmental impact of conventional farming practices.
Resource-wasting can be reduced by conserving water and fuel. Shorten showers and minimize excessive use of water use, such as washing the car too often.
Why We’re Going Green
Going green is not something that we entered into lightly because we knew it would take some sacrifices on our parts. But, it was also something that we’re willing to try.
One of the main reasons that we’re going green is because of our health and the health of our children. This also ties in to our quest towards a more natural lifestyle, but going green is one way to accomplish this goal.
Another reason we’re going green?
To save money.
Even if it doesn’t always seem cost effective, eventually we’ll save money by going green.
So that’s why we’re going green- what about you? Have you ever thought about going green? Or do you practice some of the green beliefs?
Kori
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Great article on going green! A good read to explain the benefits on going green.