Eco Friendly Living - Tips For A Family On Living An Eco Friendly Lifestyle

Climate change is something that affects us all. As a simple example, homes and transport are responsible for about 40% of carbon emissions in the United Kingdom and this is even higher in the USA. Taking the steps towards an eco-friendly lifestyle that reduces your "footprint" on the earth can be a difficult thing to understand in our highly interconnected world. What may at first appear to be energy efficient may have an ecological cost somewhere else. However, there are simple things that with a little awareness of our daily activities where we can make a difference. If you throw in some DIY Eco Projects and Recycling, you can be well on the way to making a positive impact. If you are interested in a more eco-friendly way of living, here are some tips to get you started.

• Fit energy-efficient light bulbs and save $US15 a year per bulb
• When buying new appliances choose the most energy efficient
• Switch to an electricity provider that produces all or some power from renewable sources
• Remember to turn off your appliances when not in use, average savings $US60 a year
• Insulate your home for a warmer, cheaper winter. Double glaze windows, and consider cavity-wall insulation. Use draft excluders, put silver foil behind radiators, cover up keyholes and close doors
• Turn your heating down (one degree saves ten per cent on your bill) and use the timer
• Save money and provide up to half your total water consumption by installing a simple rainwater tank. It not only saves water but also the energy to store & pump it to your home
• Remember to turn the tap off when brushing your teeth and have a shower instead of a bath (showering uses less heating energy)
• Save food miles and aeroplane emissions by buying locally produced food when available
• Plant your own fruit and veg, even if you have a balcony, cherry tomatoes are perfect
• Make the most of your kitchen waste by turning it into compost
• Try to by unpackaged and unprocessed foodstuffs, this cuts out the packaging you have find a way to recycle
• Where possible, use public transport, bike or walk
• Check out "eco-friendly" cars, you may be exempt from road tax, some congestion charges and parking fees
• If using your car, keep it properly tuned, correctly inflate tires and drive slower
• Combine car trips for multiple chores
• Recycle, recycle, recycle! Landfill sites are a big producer of methane – a greenhouse gas.
• Rediscover the pleasures of local holidays or look into responsible tourism
• Have an eco-work holiday, help with a community or eco project, plant trees, meet great people
• Buy an eco-friendly Christmas presents
• Buy Fair Trade gifts and in so doing help a community in the developing world to build a better, more sustainable future
• By secondhand and recycled goods and cut out the extra manufacturing energy cost.

When you look down the list, nothing here is really that difficult. If everyone were to cut back and go green, the difference in out ecological impact would be immense, even in our western busy lifestyles.

About the Author:
Providing information to online users interested in living, lifestyle and marketing. Helping people find DIY and Eco-Friendly solutions to everyday living. Visit SolarDIYTips for information solar DIY solutions.

Art And Design For Sustainable Living - Video

Rebecca Brayton: Sustainable living is a dream that many people strive for but you shouldn't have to sacrifice style and design to get there. Hi! I am Rebecca Brayton and welcome to watchmojo.com and today we'll be speaking with Sarah Richardson, the brains behind CO. So first tell us about the idea behind CO.

Sarah Richardson: CO has been something I've been thinking about for a number of years now. It comes from my own experience working in trade and sustainability and my travels around the world where I have discovered amazing communities, making incredible things at very little. Two years ago, I was working in South Africa quite a bit and I would say that was really the tipping point for me when I decided that these products really were something that would be interesting to people in the West. They are contemporary, they are cool, they are funky and they are sustainable. That's fit in well with my own personal philosophy that we should be using globalization to enhance sustainability as oppose to allowing it to erode.

Rebecca Brayton: What can we consider sustainable and what is sustainability mean?

Sarah Richardson: There are three aspects: There is Social Equity, Environmental Protection and Economic Well-Being. Here, when we talk to people about sustainability, generally, the environmental issues are at top of their minds. When you go to other countries and talk about sustainability, you'll get quite a different answer. I mean the environmental issues are important but they are not as important as the issues of equity and the guarantee that workers have safe working environment and they are paid at decent wage.

Rebecca Brayton: What qualify something as sustainable?

Sarah Richardson: What we've done is we've developed a list of eight indicators of sustainability that we use here at CO. They range from energy efficiency to organic to recycled. When we consider a piece, we go through our indicators, we see which ones match up, now no one hits all eight indicators, but what we are trying to do is have at least three or four that are relevant for the products that we carry.

Rebecca Brayton: Would you say that sustainability is something that's attainable for everyone?

Sarah Richardson: I think sustainability is attainable to a certain degree in the choices we make. That means the choices we make as people in terms of what we are going to buy and it seems the choices we make in terms of what kind of businesses we're going to support. At the same time, we also think about where the things that we consume come from and who is making them under what conditions they have been made and we're trying to bring in things that will support that angle of sustainability.

As consumers that's interesting, we have a lot of power and often we can move faster than governments in terms of promoting sustainability. And what I am hoping is that this gallery offers people just another choice.

Transcription by: Scribe4you Transcription Services

Can You Live A Green Life Without Breaking The Bank?

Going green isn't always cheap - at least in the short run. Whether you're shopping for organic beef, an energy efficient washing machine, or a bamboo sweater, the price of green living can be a little higher. Here are some ideas that will make going green a little easier on your pocketbook.

What's the difference between "organic meat" and "natural meat"? What's a carbon footprint? Why is everyone suddenly using the word "sustainable" to describe everything from food to furniture? There are lots of great resources out there that explain the labels, the terms, and the impact of various choices. You might begin with some basic books such as:

Green Living for Dummies

The Everything Green Living Book

It's Easy Being Green

These books not only explain important concepts, but also provide tips on making small changes and investments that can actually save you money in the long run.

Do your homework

Green is more mainstream now than ever before. There are more and more recycled products, organic food, energy-saving appliances and other green choices on the market. You can search on the Internet and compare prices. You can find wholesale or bulk options that reduce cost over time. You can learn more about exactly what you're paying for, so that you know, for example, whether the price of your organic steak reflects a commitment to quality and taste as well as organic certification.

Prioritize your values

Price is important, especially in these lean times. But remember to consider different aspects of your choices: lifestyle, taste and aesthetics, convenience, sourcing (where does it come from?) and philosophy (what kind of producer or company do you want to support?) Also decide what parts of your life you feel most passionate about "greening up." For some people, choosing organic food is essential, since it impacts individual health as well as the environment. If you commute long distances for work, you may want to spend more on a hybrid or fuel-efficient vehicle. If you're energy bills are sky high, you may want to focus on lowering them through savvy investments.

Vote with your wallet

If you haven't seen the movie Food Inc. yet, you can now watch it on DVD. The film makes many compelling arguments about the problems with our current food industry. One thing that stands out: every time you make a food purchase, you're telling producers what you want to eat. So if you really prefer organic beef, make a vote with your wallet! When enough people demand organic food and other green products, they will be more available and affordable.

Invest in a green lifestyle

Spend money to save it. Consider buying an extra freezer to stock up on bulk or wholesale quantities of organic beef and other organic foods. Calculate how much you'll save over time if you buy that energy efficient washing machine, or a programmable thermostat, or new windows for your older home. Eat out at restaurants less, cook meals at home more, take public transportation, get an energy audit, calculate your carbon footprint... If you're willing to take the time and spend the money to make changes now, you may find that green living is much less expensive than you thought.

About the Author:
Donna Jefferson has been an advocate living healthy. Organic Beef is her specialty and would like to share facts with the public.