Green Tips - Sustainable living is green and good

Welcome to the very first Green Is Good Hub! The aim of this Hub is to share ideas for more sustainable and environmentally friendly ways of living.

I'm sure if you've found your way here you're probably already a 'Greeny' in one sense or another, but hopefully this site can help you as much as it could help somebody who would had never previously considered themselves 'green'.

This is the first of many Hubs offering green tips for sustainable living, and it's only fitting that our first Hub should deal with the first baby steps to a green lifestyle.

Climate change is the most serious issue the human race has ever faced. The worlds most renowned scientists agree that human induced climate change is real and is happening right now.

We each owe it to the planet to take steps to protect it, and it's these steps to sustainable living, no matter how small, that can make a real difference. Interested to find out what steps you could be taking? Then read on...

There's a lot that the average folk like you or I can do to to green up our lifestyles. Some of these are very small changes you can make to your daily life that over time will mount up to significantly reducing your impact on the planet.

Some changes may appear more dramatic, but they are changes we can either choose to make now or choose to have enforced upon future generations, who will ultimately suffer as a result of our short-sightedness.To me, that's a no brainer!

For this first entry we'll stick with some relatively easy, small changes that you can make to your lifestyle. In future we will explore these ideas more thoroughly and look at what more significant changes we can make.

Here's a few simple ideas to get you started;

• Energy Efficiency. There is a lot you can do to make your home more energy efficient. Insulation, double glazing, turning electrical appliances (all A Rated for efficiency, of course!) off at the wall instead of leaving them on stand-by, only boiling as much water as you need when making tea or coffee, keeping doors closed and using heavy curtains at the windows for more efficient heating will all help you save energy and money. Double-win!
  
• Replace your incandescent light bulbs with CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) or LED's, aka Energy Efficient Light bulbs. These types of energy saving light bulbs are much more efficient, wasting very little energy as heat when compared with traditional incandescent bulbs. They also last much much longer
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Don't throw anything away unless you really can't help it. Recycling and reuse can really help make a dent in your ecological footprint. A phenomenal amount of recyclable waste goes into landfill every day, why not do your bit to try and reduce it? Do your recycling, compost your kitchen waste, reuse your plastic tubs and containers, or better still, don't buy products packaged in plastic at all :) We've survived without plastic for thousands of years, I'm pretty sure we could all get by without it in our shopping baskets.

• Avoid food waste. About one third of the food we buy gets thrown away and most of this food could still have been eaten. For some useful tips on the storage of food, delish recipes and advice on portioning, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
• One man's trash is another man's treasure. Contact your local furniture reuse network to find out whether somebody else can benefit from that which you no longer need. You can advertise your items on sites such as www.vskips.co.uk or www.freecycle.org
• Rid yourself of unwanted junk mail. It's so frustrating receiving endless unwanted mail that goes straight in the recycling bin. There are a few ways you can cut it down:

1. Register with the MPS (Mailing Preference Service) in order to stop receiving addressed advertising mail like credit card or loan applications
   
2. Be aware when giving your name and address; ensure you indicate you don't want your details to be used for future promotions or passed to other marketing agencies.
3. To stop unaddressed and unsolicited marketing mail contact the Royal Mail (email: mediacentre.customer.service@royalmail.co.uk ) and also the Direct Marketing Association (UK) Ltd

In the next entry we'll look a little more at reuse/recycling and explore what else we can do to further our journey down the green path.

Why not check out some of my other hubs?

Natural Aluminium Free Deodorants are better for your body and the planet.

Energy Saving Light Bulbs - lower your carbon footprint and save money.

Embrace Green Energy by choosing wind power for your home.

To decrease your emissions through making changes in your diet, check out my hub on Vegetarian and Vegan diets.

Or to cut your emissions further don't travel miles from home or waste money on expensive tourist traps. Find out what local treasures your home town has to offer. I for example am lucky enough to have the stunning views from atop The Wrekin, Shropshire right on my doorstep. Every town has something to offer without the need to travel for miles, have some fun discovering the gems on your doorstep.

I'd love to hear some of your ideas for how this page can be improved, please leave your ideas and suggestions in the comment box below :)