As we near the end of January, knowing many people have likely left their New Year’s resolutions behind them, I wanted to give you a little reminder…committing to being green is easier than you may think. So, if one of your resolutions was to be more eco-friendly, or participate in more sustainable activities, you’re in luck. I’ve got some ways you can start small and build from there. The key is getting started.

Simple Ways to Go Green

Going green starts with a frame of mind. If you think about how to have less environmental impact on the planet in your day-to-day activities, you’ll start incorporating more eco-friendly activities in your life and you’ll find going green becomes second nature to you.

Take these simple ways to go green, for example:

• Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth
• Limit showers to four minutes or less (you can also turn off the water while soaping up)
• Go paperless with all of your bills and correspondence
• Opt for reusable water bottles and coffee mugs
• Buy second hand, instead of new
• Figure out ways to repurpose or reuse, instead of just tossing items away
• Donate slightly used, and no longer needed, items
• Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms
• Use reusable, compostable or biodegradable products instead of plastic (containers, bags, etc.)
• Walk or bike, rather than drive, whenever possible
• Eat locally-grown and organic foods
• Grow your own

If you take the time to add these simple steps into your daily, weekly and monthly routine, you’d quickly find yourself thinking about other ways you can minimize your environmental impact and reduce your carbon footprint.

Bigger Steps to Take

Once you’ve added a few green activities and eco-friendly actions into your life, it’s time to start looking at bigger steps you can take.

• Consider using more sustainable transportation options. Public transportation can also be a viable alternative to using your own vehicle to get you where you need to go, especially to help minimize traffic and harmful emissions.
• Add renewable energy as a primary, or secondary, energy source for your home. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as through rooftop solar panels, ground-mounted solar, a wind turbine, a solar water heater, a micro-hydro water wheel, a micro-grid and more.
• Start a community garden. One of the ways to ensure you and your neighbors can eat fresh, and free of toxic chemicals and pesticides, is to create a space where people can grow their own on a larger scale. A community garden helps get everyone involved and gives everyone access to organic produce.
• Plant trees on your property and get your neighbors/community to do the same. This one action can help cool your neighborhood down and provide shade/shelter for wildlife. You can also take it one step further and encourage your local officials to focus on green infrastructure and adopt policies aimed at reducing the urban heat island effect.
• Minimize your plastic use on a broader scale. Ditch the plastic storage containers, use glass, bamboo or stainless steel containers instead. Bring cloth and mesh bags, not plastic, when grocery shopping. Go the extra mile to find products without excess plastic packaging and buy those.
• Eliminate single- and one-use items from your life. Despite the hype about how “convenient” these products are, they are extremely wasteful. Choose to be more eco-conscious and environmentally-aware by buying reusable items, as these have a much longer lifespan and generate a lot less trash.

One Step at a time

If you want to be green, incorporate these actions into your routine one step at a time. As you do this, you’ll find each becomes second nature and a natural part of your day-to-day activities. Plus, the more you do, the larger the impact you’ll have on the environment around you. With everyone doing the same, the bigger the difference it’ll make.