Whether it\u2019s your\nbasic New Year’s resolution or it\u2019s a really big goal you want to pursue, being\nenvironmentally friendly is more achievable than ever before. With all of the\nbuzz around the real economic benefits of going green, big companies, small\nmom-and-pop stores, and individual homeowners are beginning to take\naction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thought of\nchanging your habits to reduce your carbon footprint can become overwhelming\nwhen you begin to analyze all the waste you produce each day. Don\u2019t worry! Here\nare 10 simple steps you can implement into your daily life to help you become\nmore eco-conscious in 2020.1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The smallest tweak can make the biggest difference when changing to an\nenvironmentally friendly lifestyle and changing from regular lightbulbs to LED\nlightbulbs can be a minimal change that you can implement throughout your life\nwithout much effort. LED lightbulbs use less power, last longer and are\navailable in a range of colors and designs to accommodate all of your lighting\npreferences. Why not make the switch? <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have a farmer\u2019s market nearby that you have wanted to visit but\njust never have, now is your chance to try local produce. Buying local helps\nreduce your \u201cfood miles,\u201d the distance your food traveled – whether by plane,\ntrain, or automobile – to get to your plate. Lowering your food miles is a key\ncomponent to shrinking your carbon footprint.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, when you purchase your groceries from a local farmer\u2019s market or\nfamily-owned store, you are supporting local businesses, and it\u2019s less likely\nthat the food you are consuming has been treated with chemicals or\npesticides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you have old t-shirts you haven\u2019t worn in years? Instead of throwing\nthem away, cut them up to use as a dishrag or face cloth. Americans alone\nproduce 13 billion pounds of paper towel waste a year. If every family replaced\none roll a week with an old t-shirt to use as a dishrag, it would make a huge\nimpact on the number of paper towels that end up in landfills every year.4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time you turn on the sink to brush your teeth or start your next\nload of laundry, energy is used. This includes both heating and pumping the\nwater you\u2019re using. By reducing our water usage by even a fraction, we shrink\nour carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We recommend taking shorter showers, turning the water off while you\u2019re\nbrushing your teeth, and washing small loads of dishes by hand (without\nconstantly running the faucet). By making even the smallest change to your\nwater habits, you are reducing your total water usage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know that Americans alone produce 16 million tons of textile waste\na year? In 2020, try trading clothing, household items, and accessories with a\nfamily member, friend, or coworker instead of buying everything brand new. This\nway, you directly decrease the amount of waste caused by producing a single\nitem of new, unworn clothing.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Set up a gathering in your neighborhood where everyone trades clothes they\ndon\u2019t want or wear anymore for other clothes. You could build an entirely new\nwardrobe and spend little to no money! <\/p>\n\n\n\n That being said, we know that clothes really do wear out. When you are\nshopping for new clothing, research where the clothes come from. Many clothing\nlines are trying to reduce their fabric waste, so finding a sustainable fashion\nline is easier than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If possible, you should find a local designer or clothing shop that\ncreates their clothes in-house. Not only are you supporting local designers,\nbut you are simultaneously impacting the number of miles your clothes traveled\nto get to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Examine your daily care routine and count how many pieces of plastic you\nuse. The number might shock you, as a majority of hygiene products use\nsingle-use plastic packaging. Try switching to bar soap and bar shampoo, both\nof which last longer and are more environmentally friendly than bottled\nproducts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The old adage \u201cYour eyes were bigger than your stomach\u201d rings true in most\nhomes every day. Many people overbuy groceries each week, which means they\nthrow away food that went bad before they had the chance to eat it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We recommend planning your week of meals ahead of your trip to the grocery\nstore. This helps you better evaluate the amount of food you need to buy,\nsaving you money and reducing food waste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a direct correlation between your energy use and impact on the\nenvironment. When you consume less energy, you cut down the number of\ngreenhouse gas emissions released by energy companies and power plants. This helps\nconserve the earth\u2019s natural resources and protects the ecosystem from\ndamage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But we also know that technology isn\u2019t going away. We need electricity for\neveryday life. Start with the little things: Unplug your phone after it\u2019s fully\ncharged, turn off the lights when you leave a room, and let your clothes\nair-dry instead of using the dryer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the simplest step to becoming more eco-friendly is to recycle. You can recycle more than you think, from cars to batteries to old technology. If you find a way to recycle everything instead of automatically throwing it away, you will reduce your amount of waste exponentially. This lowers the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being released every day by landfills all over the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have any questions about what you can and cannot recycle, contact your local waste disposal company for more detailed information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By taking even the smallest step towards eco-friendly living, you are helping the environment. When you create an environmentally friendly daily routine, not only are you helping the planet, but you are helping yourself financially, physically, and mentally. Start creating a happier Earth in 2020! Sources<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it\u2019s your basic New Year’s resolution or it\u2019s a really big goal you want to pursue, being environmentally friendly is more achievable than ever before. With all of the buzz around the real economic benefits of going green, big companies, small mom-and-pop stores, and individual homeowners are beginning to take action. The thought of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-living"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How to Be More Environmentally Friendly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Use LED Lightbulbs <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Buy Local<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Reuse and Reinvent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Minimize Your Water Usage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Swap, Don\u2019t Shop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Know Your Clothes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Reconsider Your Hygiene Products<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Don\u2019t Overbuy <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Cut Down on Energy Usage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
10. Recycle, Recycle, and Recycle Some More! <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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