Green Is The New Black

^{While we laughed at the Birkenstock-wearing, tree-hugging hippies on the left coast 30 years ago, who knew that their Earth-friendly ways would sweep the nation slowly, but surely, making us all green with envy at their savvy, forward-thinking eco-consciousness?}

When Googling the term "Green Business" you will find more than 54 million sites. In fact, there are even now government and other organizations dedicated to regulating who can and cannot call themselves green.

Here’s my take: green – the true environmentally friendly kind of green – is all about SAVING money, saving energy, recycling more, wasting less and living in a very conscientious way. You CANNOT live a truly green life by blindly going along with the collective mind, spending your money on gobs of products someone tells you is green.

It’s come to bother me so much that every single time I hear someone use the term green, I cringe. Not because I have anything against trying to be eco-friendly, but because I’m certain that the majority of people have no idea what that really means.

In my mind, living green is synonymous with people like hillbillies, hoboes and hippies, pioneers and people of the old west. True, I’m not advocating renegade justice or homelessness, but there’s something to the way those people live(d) their lives that was so at one with nature. They didn’t make impulse buys, they weren’t into material goods and status symbols, in fact they didn’t have anything they couldn’t use to better themselves or to serve their basic needs. That’s green.

Here are five things that I think every human being can do to improve their eco-friendliness:

1. Anytime you leave the house, make a list of what you’re after and where you’re going to go. Examine your list and see if you can’t eliminate some of these items – this will cut down on the gas you use and the money you spend. Not to mention you won’t have more unneeded items cluttering your house. Once the list is final – don’t stray from it; if you didn’t think you needed it when you left the house, you probably truly don’t need it!

2. Clean out one room in your house, going through every pile of stuff, every piece of furniture and every nook, cranny and closet in that room and gather up everything that you don’t absolutely need. Here’s the catch – you can’t throw any of it away. Take that pile and donate it to a charitable organization, find friends who can use the items, have a yard sale or sell it on the Internet – but find someway to recycle your pile. Not only have you learned to recycle and cut down on material stuff in your home, but you’ll have a room that offers a lot of freedom – clutter is where hope dies; unclutter your life and you welcome positive things to find you.

3. Turn off the AC. Did you know that nearly half of your yearly electric costs occur in just the few months you use your air conditioner? You could literally have an electric fan turned on high in every room and leave your refrigerator and freezer doors open 24/7 to attempt to cool down your house and still spend only something like 1/10th of the money on electricity as with your AC. If you feel you must use the AC (and there’s no shame in that) you can save money and energy by turning it up a few degrees, turn it off when you leave the house or go to sleep, or make a schedule to have it on at certain times of the day and off at others.

4. Eat in more. Yeah, I know, cooking dinner every night is the pits, but it does save so much in money and energy – not to mention being healthier for your family and better for bonding. If you’re feeling lazy, make something easy like mac n cheese or PB&J, or better yet invite the kids to do it – my boys feel so privileged when I allow them to take over my kitchen! Their specialty is breakfast, but how can I complain about eggs and bacon for dinner – I didn’t have to make it, pay extra for it, tip it or drive away to get it!

5. Reuse your paper. Long ago they said we’d be a paperless society by now – nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, I’m certain we use more paper now than ever. If you recycle your paper, you’ll find you rarely even need to buy any. In the past 3 years I’ve bought just one ream of computer paper. I use the blank backsides of my children’s homework (after it’s come back home – unless it’s too precious and must be kept in a special place), the notes and newsletters they bring home, junk mail, etc. The school was giving away some really old and yellowing paper they didn’t think they could use last year, so I took that, too. The only time I ever use clean paper is when I need to send something professional off somewhere – otherwise you’ll never see anything I’ve printed or written with a blank back side. Another great way to get more paper is to take the rejects from a copy shop – they’re just going to throw them away, so snap them up. Anything that’s too small to use or two-sided already can be cut into quarters and used for little notes or lists (like your shopping/errand list from item #1!)

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