Drive smart, save green. It’s a great phrase, and if more people took up the challenge, the whole country – no, the whole world – would benefit immensely. How can you make a difference to the environment with your driving? This article provides you with 7 great tips that you can put into action right away. You’ll save money and help the environment too. OK, time to drive smart, save green…

1. It has to be said: the very best thing you can do to help the environment with your car is stop driving it! However, you may not have that option, so drive slower instead. Most cars perform best at speeds of between 50 mph to 60 mph. Not too slow and not too fast is how to drive smart, save green.

2. A staggering 20% of your car’s fuel consumption is used up just overcoming tire roll resistance! How can you drive smart, save green in these circumstances? Buy quality tires that get great reviews. They may cost a little more, but they will perform better. And remember too that under inflated tires will cost you more in gas bills!

3. Lighten the load in your car. I’ll bet there are things in your car’s trunk that don’t need to be there. Go through each item you regularly carry. If you don’t really need it, dump it. You can drive smart, save green with a lighter load. That will let your car be more fuel efficient.

4. Switch off your engine while you wait if you are likely to be waiting more than one minute. Restarting your engine burns roughly about the same amount as one minute of idle time, so if you think you will be idling for more than a minute, cut the engine. You’ll save gas and money – drive smart, save green.

5. Drive smoothly. This one shouldn’t need to be mentioned. It should be the unspoken part of drive smart, drive green. Erratic driving with sudden accelerating and hard braking uses up extra gas. It puts extra wear and tear on your car, which means extra costs to you and the environment.

Learning to drive smart, save green is largely common sense. If you really need your car, then learn to drive it responsibly and sensibly. However, if you can walk easily to where you need to go, then do so! Only drive smart, save green when you can’t walk.

Are you one of those homeowners who are dreaming of having solar powered homes? Perhaps you’re already familiar with DIY solar power kits. The idea may sound inviting however a lot of people are scared to create their own solar power system. Solar power is usually available in three kinds. You too can use any of these powers gradually.

People usually associate solar power with solar panels. But you see, solar panels are not the only source of power. You can choose among the several components known today. Take a look at these solar components that you can use at home.

1. Solar cookers – this is already a common way of using solar power. Some people may find the cooker slow in terms of performance but if you’re not rushing, you can surely cook on time. You can use the solar cooker to roast, bake, and boil. This is best suited for a small family with a maximum of 5 members. You will no longer need fuel since you will be using only sunshine. There are also no emissions or smoke.
2. Solar thermal systems – this is an ambitious system but it’s simply an update of the oldest known consumer technology. In this system, you will need solar panels. From the panels, the sun’s heat is transferred to a water tank. The water in the tank is heated. Your home can also be heated by putting some pipes. This was already available back in the 80s but it was rather expensive. Today, the thermal systems are more affordable and efficient.
3. Solar generators – many homeowners are now utilizing solar generators for alternative power. The generator makes use of photovoltaic cells where the power inverter is hooked. You can use the solar generators for your lighting system at home. The electrical power is stored in the batteries and you can use it later. By using solar generators, it would be possible to run some electrical appliances. If you have $200, you can already create the generator.

A wealth of information can be found on the net if you simply do your homework and look for useful info. By purchasing the DIY kits, you can create your own solar power system. There are also instructional materials available online that provide step by step instructions on how to create solar panels or cells. It would help a lot if you conduct a search online and read the step by step instructions there; that way, you can determine if you can carry out the project or not.

Solar power systems are not that difficult to create especially if you already have a considerable knowledge about it. All you will need to do now is to establish a workable budget so that you can start with the right project that you can afford. You can start with very simple solar power systems for your home like the solar generators. The generators are much more affordable and easy to make. After some time, you can now make more complicated plans like the thermal systems. Solar power for homes is an excellent alternative to those who want to save on electricity and help save the earth.

Don’t think twice and if you have the money to purchase the materials to make solar power systems, go for it. In the coming months, you will surely benefit from it.

How To Go Green And Save Too In 7 Simple Tips

At a time when the world faces increasing global warming, as more and more harmful greenhouse gases pour out into the atmosphere, more and more people are wondering how to go green and make it cost effective too. The good news is that it’s very easy to do. In fact, done properly it’s hard not to save money while helping the planet recover. So, here’s how to go green (and save money) in 7 simple tips.

1. Lower your winter heating by at least one degree. If you can stand two or three degrees lower, then all the better. You will use less energy and still feel comfortable. Then in summer, let the air conditioning cool the house a little less. That’s a great start in how to go green.

2. Set your washing machine to wash clothes in cold water. Modern cleaning powders don’t need hot water, and heating the water is what consumes most of the energy that the washing machine uses.

3. Don’t use the dryer to dry your clothes! That’s not how to go green. It uses far too much energy and it’s expensive too. Hang your clothes out to dry. The air is great at drying clothes – your grandmother could have told you that.

4. Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs use 10% of the energy that a standard bulb needs and they last 10 times longer. So, change your light bulbs. And if you want to know how to go green in a bigger way with lights, check out the new LED bulbs. They can be twice as efficient as the CFL bulbs.

5. Use less water. Check all faucets for leaks and fix any you find. Take shorter showers, don’t bath, and consider getting a new toilet cistern that will use less than two gallons of water per flush. Standard cistern use some three and a half gallons. Using less water uses less energy and saves you money!

6. Walk rather than drive for very short trips. Use a bicycle for moderate trips, and only use the car if you really have to. Gasoline is expensive and it pollutes the atmosphere. Save on burning it and you will save on your money too, as well as help the environment.

7. When you have to drive, keep your speed down to around 55 miles per hour if possible. Your car’s engine will be running at its most efficient at that speed burning the minimum amount of gas. Practice driving smoothly as well. Don’t accelerate fast from a standing start, and don’t brake hard. This is how to go green with your car, though using public transport, walking and cycling is even better.

We all want to live green and save money at the same time, and we can too. Kermit the Frog was wrong when he said, “It ain’t easy being green.” It’s really easy, and highly effective too, if you know how. This article will provide you with 5 essential steps you can start taking today to live green and save money.

1. Turn your heater thermostats down one or two degrees in winter, and turn your air conditioning thermostats up one or two degrees in summer. If we all did this, the combined difference would be phenomenal. We’d still feel warm in winter and cool in summer, so learn how to live green and save money with your heating and cooling appliances.

2. The other appliance that needs your attention is your washing machine. Start washing your clothes in cold water. Modern powders work just as efficiently in cold water as hot. Most of the energy that goes into a clothes wash is in heating up the water, so you will save on electricity, live green and save money too.

3. When your clothes are nice and clean, don’t throw them into the dryer. Unless it’s pouring rain, hang them out to air dry. It’s what your grandmother did, and she managed just fine. She may have liked having a dryer, but they weren’t around back then, so she just had to live green and save money. You can too!

4. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are a dream come true for anyone who wants to live green and save money. They burn just 25% of the electricity that a standard light bulb burns, and they can last up to 10 times longer. Change your old bulbs today!

5. Try to consume a little less of everything, from electricity, to gas in the car, to the food you eat. Take time to write out a shopping list, and stick to it. If you feel the impulse to buy something you don’t really need, get into the habit of waiting 24 hours, then review it. The chances are you either won’t want it any more, or you will have forgotten about it.

It’s easy to live green and save money. You just have to give it some thought. Get into a routine that works and before you know it, you will find yourself in the situation where you live green and save money every day.

Every business, small or large, should be thinking of how to go green at work in order to save money and the environment at the same time. Workers can be wasteful at work. Sometimes it’s because they are not paying for their carelessness, or maybe because their boss doesn’t care either. Knowing how to go green at work, at least a little bit, is invaluable. We should all be doing it and we can easily do it too. Here are 5 simple tip to help…

1. The office printer is one appliance in the work place where you can start learning how to go green at work. Paper comes from trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, preventing it from accumulating in the atmosphere and adding to the global greenhouse effect. You can cut paper usage in half at a single stroke by simply printing on both sides of every sheet of paper. That’s one example of how to go green at work and save money too!

2. Business travel costs a huge fortune every year. This is not how to go green at work. No one travels by bicycle, or walks to meetings. No, they travel in huge gas-guzzling jets, or along highways in comfortable cars. Business travel puts a considerable strain on the planet. The answer? Use video conferencing as much as possible. With a good high speed Internet connection and a decent web cam, you can speak to anyone anywhere in the world. There’s a good choice of conferencing software available, and all at a mere fraction of jet travel.

3. Work from home. That answers the question of how to go green at work by cutting down on office expenses. You heat your home anyway, and as long as you have the necessary communications needed to do your job, then why not work from home! Of course, if you’re a truck driver, or a circus clown, it may be more difficult.

4. Invoice by email. This is one of the simplest ways of how to go green at work. As in tip number one, you save on paper, and a lot of paper too. Let your customers have the option to pay online of possible. The more you can do electronically that has traditionally been done with paper, the more the planet will benefit, and you’ll save money too.

5. Use laptops rather than stand alone computers and monitors. A laptop will consume around 50 watts of energy while in use compared to a computer and monitor, which consumes around 270 watts of energy. Also, have all laptops set so that they go to sleep if not used for more than 15 minutes. Screensavers do not save money. Quite the opposite; they use more! How to go green at work and save a lot of money? Switch off all computers and laptops when not in use. If all businesses did this they would save enough to power the city of Chicago for one year!

With the way technology is out-doing themselves year after year with newer, better, bigger and improved products for computer users, you can just imagine the amount of waste that is generated when consumers upgrade along with the process. One household may have one or two computers to upgrade on a yearly basis but if you add to that computers and monitors from even a small business, the numbers add up very quickly.

What is the problem with throwing computers, their monitors, TVs and the like away with the rest of our trash? The main concern is that with CRTs and TVs they each contain approximately four pounds of lead per unit. Lead cannot be biologically broken down and if it were placed in a landfill there is the possibility of the landfill becoming contaminated with the toxins from lead. Lead poisoning has been associated with several health problems in children, including, learning disabilities and behavior issues and in some extreme cases, where high doses of the lead has been found, there have been reports of seizures, coma and even death. There is always the risk of lead toxins seeping into a water source if left in a landfill and any results of lead poisoning are made even more tragic because they are so easily preventable.

In addition to the lead in some household items like computer screens and TVs, the plastic parts of these items sometimes contain a component that is called, brominated flame-retardant that helps the item to be resistant to flames in case of a fire. Unfortunately, while the exact results of exposure to this additive are undocumented there is sure to be some kind of negative result that it’s just better to steer clear of.

In an effort to keep these potentially hazardous materials out of landfills there are many other options for ridding your home of older, outdated technology. The first option should be to check with your community to see if there is a program set up to receive older CRTs and TVs for recycling. For instance, in Massachusetts, where I live, many cities and towns were given grant money for the specific purpose of setting up such a program.

If your town does not have such a program the next place to look would be at a local TV repair shop or even an electronics retailer because they may be able to reuse what you want to throw out. Some areas even have electronic recycling companies that will come to your residence or business and pick up such items and from there they are responsible for the recycling of the items. Even if a piece of electronic equipment can no longer be used for refurbishing an older model they can always be dissected and the individual components can be sold for their scrap value.

No matter what the item is that you want to recycle, there is a way to do it, all you need to do is make a phone call or two and you will have done your part to follow the recycling laws.

Examples Of How Going Green Saves You Money

There are many examples of how going green saves you money. Kermit the Frog was wrong – it IS easy being green, and it saves you money at the same time. As the planet faces a period of warming where our actions are believed to be the prime cause, it makes sense to seek out examples of how going green saves you money and act on them.

That cell phone charger that stays plugged in, the DVD player that waits for the occasional playing, and the TV that sits on standby all night, these are prime examples of how going green saves you money – if you unplug them, that is. For even if the items are not working, they are consuming energy!

Another of the prime examples of how going green saves you money is switching from bottled water to filtered tap water. The average family spends some $1,400 a year on bottled water. And the worst part is that 95% of the plastic bottles are not recycled! For less than $100 you could get a high quality staged water filter to make your tap water perfect.

Examples of how going green saves you money are everywhere. Do you drive as fast as the law allows? You shouldn’t. Car engines perform most efficiently at around 55 miles an hour. If you combine that with gentle driving on properly inflated tires, you will save money and help the planet too.

You could always use a bicycle to travel around town. Or you could simply walk for those short trips. You won’t be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, warming the planet, you will save money, and you will get some good exercise at the same time. Walking and cycling when you can are excellent examples of how going green saves you money.

Some 65 million newspapers are printed every day in the US. Some 70% of them will not be recycled. What a waste of trees! You can do your bit to help, and read whatever news you want to read at the same time simply by going online. Very few newspapers don’t have an online presence these days, so save some money and read from the web pages.

Do you want more example of how going green saves you money? They are all around you. Just look and you certainly will find them.

Efficient solar energy resources for homeowners have become more important on a worldwide basis in the last few years as our fossil fuels deplete and normal methods of creating energy are destroying our environment.

When you are looking for ways to reduce your electricity bill, you have several options. One of the more common and popular ones is exchanging your old appliances for new, energy-efficient ones. New appliances, like refrigerators, dishwashers, water heaters, and the “can’t live without” clothes washers and dryers, all have Energy Star ratings from the U.S. Department of Energy that tell you how much you will save by using that appliance.

Less dramatic changes to your household, but significant savings over time, would be to switch out all your light bulbs with the new energy efficient light bulbs. The Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) can be found in any store that carries light bulbs. They use about 25% less energy than a traditional light bulb. If you have teenagers who leave lights on constantly, even when they are out of the house for hours, your savings would add up.

If you are more serious about living a greener lifestyle, but can’t afford to replace all your appliances, there are ways to cut your expenses by changing a few household habits. In fact, you can do a lot of it without spending any money at all. Some suggestions follow.

The most obvious tip for saving energy is to turn off all lights in rooms that aren’t occupied, even if you are returning to the room shortly. You probably can recall the times you left a room intending to return in a minute or two and didn’t get back for an hour or longer.

Another is to use cold water when washing your laundry. Most laundry detergents are formulated now to work totally in cold water. That includes whites and towels. Not heating water several times a day when you do your laundry will make a large difference in your electricity bill. Water heating is one of the largest expenses in most households.

If you use a dishwasher, do not heat-dry the dishes. That heating guzzles up a lot of your dollars on a daily basis. Wrap insulation around your water heaters and the pipes that move the hot water to your house. Running hot water through cold pipes surrounded by cold air lightens your wallet every time someone turns on the hot water faucet.

A few other silent money bandits are windows, doors, entry holes under sinks for the water pipes and drains, wall plugs. Seal all air leaks and replace worn or torn weather stripping around doors and windows. When a leak develops around doors or windows, the drain on your inside heat or cooling is constant, 24/7, and it will jack your utility cost up considerably. Double pane windows, tinting with film and using shades to block the hot sun will keep your cooling costs down in the summer.

None of this is brain surgery. A little thought and some simple fixes can lower your expenses considerably. At times you can get incentives from your local power company for converting to energy efficient appliances. Check it out!

Field trips are meant to be educational while fun. But field trips aren’t just for schools; you can take your kids on field trips too. You can even grab some other family members and friends and head out on an eco-friendly field trip to places your school wouldn’t dream of visiting.

If your kids think that trash just disappears, then it might be time to take a family field trip to the landfill. There’s nothing like the sight of that big huge hole half-filled with junk to make an impression on the younger generation. While everyone is plugging their noses, take a few moments to point out all the items in the landfill that don’t have to be there – cardboard, newspapers, old food, perfectly good-looking furniture, old computers, etc. Explain how everything gets crushed down and that even things that would normally decompose, like food, have a hard time doing decomposing after getting squished together with everything else.

Likewise, you can take your kids on a tour of the local recycling center. They can see firsthand how items are separated and sent off on different conveyor belts – it’s pretty cool to watch. Explain to them what will happen to the recycled products and how plastics will be turned into park benches and new decks and that paper will be shredded and mashed and processed into new paper.

If you can’t attend either field trip, rent the videos. There are numerous videos today that explain recycling from beginning to end, and other videos that show where your trash goes after it leaves your house. Some of these videos can be viewed online.

If your kids like the gross-me-out factor of the landfill field trip, then they’ll love a tour of the sewage treatment plant. Can you believe they actually give tours? Water treatment facilities also give tours, check yours out and give your kids a chance to see what happens to their “sewage” or where the water goes besides down the drain.

Another great field trip is to an organic farm. If you don’t grow any vegetables yourself and you don’t keep animals, going to a farm is a real eye-opener for children. Let them see where the eggs really come from, and that it’s not the grocery store. Show them how the carrots grow underground, are pulled up, cleaned and cut up, and taste oh-so-good. With any luck the farm will have a u-pick fruit area where they can pick blueberries, strawberries, or blackberries. They’ll appreciate sampling the delicious fruit as they pick it!

Some communities allow field trips to their facilities that handle cast-off goods, giving them new life. They even let the kids try their hands at repurposing items so they don’t end up in the landfill. Trash to treasure is the theme here.

Check out what your community has to offer in guided eco-friendly field trips for kids or create your own field trip by directly contacting an organization or farm owner. You’ll be amazed at what is readily available out there to teach kids about where our precious resources go.

It wasn’t so long ago that you didn’t have a choice. If you wanted a clean house, you had to use a commercial cleaner that emitted horrible-smelling fumes and contained questionable chemicals. These bottles of wonder clean may have kept you from using a lot of good old-fashioned elbow grease and did a good job of cleaning, but at what price? These products that we’ve inhaled, absorbed through our skin, ingested through food prepared on these surfaces, and sent to our waterways all have poison control information on their labels.

Now we have greener choices in our cleaning products and our cleaning tools. Just check out your local supermarket and you’ll see plenty of new products on the market that are better for you and better for the environment.

When trying to decide what new cleaning product to purchase you need to look first at the ingredients. Green products are proud to list all their ingredients and some go so far as to explain what the ingredients are and what they do. Plant-based is usually better for you than petroleum-based. If you’re not sure what an ingredient is, look it up online and get the facts.

Look for independent seals of approval, not at the products’ self-proclamations of “all natural” or “fully biodegradable”. Independent 3rd party seals such as the one by the EPA show that they’ve passed certain criteria regarding the environment and your health.

As far as your cleaning tools go, you can go greener here too. Instead of using throw away paper towels to clean, get a package of cloth diapers. They do a good job of absorbing and will last a long, long time. Give old t-shirts a second life by using them for garage and outside jobs. Another option is to use microfiber multi-purpose kitchen cloths. Not only do they absorb a ton of liquids when cleaning up spills, but they can be used to dust furniture when dry. If you must use paper towels, choose a brand that uses recycled paper and is chlorine-free.

Green cleaners may or may not be more expensive than traditional commercial cleaners, but I believe they’re a better choice all around. Don’t decide on a cleaner based on price; take a look at the ingredients and then try it out. It may take a little testing to find the product that works best for you, but you’ll find one and your environment will thank you.