Welcome to our new Healthy Bliss Series…check back every Monday for more ways to incorporate living green into your everyday life!

Going Green may seem overwhelming at times. You may think if you don’t go all the way why bother. But every little thing you do, does count. Don’t think that you have to have solar panels on your house to make a difference. Here are some small things you can do to help save the planet.

1. Change a light bulb to a CFL or LED. They can take getting use to. If you don’t like the CFL try the LED or the other way around. If you still don’t like either, try putting them in your closet and other places you won’t be as much. CFL bulbs consume around 65% - 75% less electricity than regular light bulbs.  And they last up to 10 times longer than regular light bulbs. LED use even less electricity and last even longer than CFL’s.
2. Use one less napkin. The average American uses an average of 2,200 paper napkins per year. If everyone in the U.S. used one less napkin a day, more than a billion pounds of napkins would be saved from landfills each year. For a bigger impact use recycled napkins or even cloth napkins for a bigger impact.
3. Turn off your computer. Turning off your computer in place of sleep mode can save you 40 watt-hours per day. For bigger impact put your computer on a power strip and turn the power strip off when not in used to stop “vampire power.”
4. Use a laptop. Laptops use a quarter of the power of a desktop. For a bigger impact when buying a laptop look at the Apple MacBook line. They are made from largely aluminum, energy saving LED lit screens, and a reduction in toxic chemicals used.
5. Use the both sides of the paper. Set your printer to two-sided printing. American businesses throw away 21 million tons of paper every year. Remember to recycle the paper when done. For a bigger impact use recycled paper when printing.
6. Ditch one use water bottles. Almost 90% of plastic water bottles are not recycled! To make things worse plastic never decomposes. Buy a reusable bottle and refill it with filtered tap water. Tap water has higher EPA standards than bottled water. For a bigger impact ditch soda as well and go for tea or make your own soda with a Soda Club soda maker.
7. Stop brushing while running. Running water while you brush your teeth uses on average five gallons a day. For a bigger impact use a tooth brush made from recycled plastic like the ones made by Preserve.
8. Turn off the lights. If you are still using incandescent bulbs turn off the light every time you leave the room. CFL’s are more affected by being turned on and off so turn off if you will be gone for more than 15 minutes. For a bigger impact use natural lighting during the day and turn off the lights all together.
9. Set your cruise control. You can get up to 15% better mileage. Even with gas prices a bit lower these days is that really where you want your money going? For a bigger impact brake and accelerate slowly. You will save even more gas!
10. Inflate your tires. Keep your tires properly inflated. You can improve mileage by more than 3%. Check them weekly for best results. For a bigger impact carpool. Just sharing 2 days a week can reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 a year.

If you want more tips on living green, check out Lisa’s blog Retro Housewife Goes Green.

Crocs. You either love ‘em or hate ‘em. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you love ‘em. You love ‘em so much that you wear them all the time, in fact, until the tread is worn out, but then what are you supposed to do with them?

Throw them out? No.

Donate them to charity? That’s better.

How about recycle them? Recycle them?! Yes, recycle them!

Thanks to Soles United - a Crocs program - your used, worn-out Crocs will be recycled into new shoes and distributed to people in need around the world. For more information, to watch a video about how it works and to find recycling locations in your area, visit Soles United.

(Thanks to Amy the Crunchy Domestic Goddess for this excellent tip)

Now that school is in full swing, it’s a good time to make an effort to pack a waste-free lunch for your kids. A typical American student generates 67 pounds of discarded school lunch packaging waste per school year. Making a few simple changes can have a big impact on cutting down the amount of waste generated in our schools.

photo provided by phase1foto

As your packing your child’s lunch or encouraging them to pack their own, try to incorporate as many items as possible that can be reused, recycled or composted. By following five simple tips you can be on your way to packing a waste-free lunch.

1. Pack in a reusable lunchbox or a cloth bag.
2. Pack your food in reusable containers.
3. Use a refillable bottle for your drink.
4. Add reusable utensils.
5. Include a cloth napkin with your lunch.

photo provided by David Belson

Not only are waste-free lunches good for the environment, they’re also healthier for your children and easy on your budget. Single-use disposable items may be convenient, but they’re expensive and in most cases, unhealthy.

It may take a little more thought and time to pack a waste-free lunch, but the benefits are huge and once you get into the swing of things you’ll feel good about it.

Laptop Lunches is a great resource for you as you start on your journey of packing waste-free lunches. They have great product suggestions, menu planning ideas, and information on implementing a waste-free lunch program at your child’s school.

Alana’s many words of wisdom about living green and other matters important can be found at Gray Matters.

My family is fairly new to the “green revolution”, but we are making baby steps toward a more sustainable lifestyle. As with everything in life, in order to make permanent changes in the way we live, it is going to have to be one thing at a time.We are currently recycling paper, plastic, aluminum, and tin cans - but our big goal is to eliminate as many of these from our life so that recycling won’t be necessary.

For the month of July, I participated in a beverage challenge and quit drinking Coca-Colas. It was unbelievable the amount of “plastic” bottles I was taking to the recycling center every month! Now my plastic consumption is down.

We try to eat locally, but I don’t beat myself up if I can’t do it for every single meal. I love shopping the Farmer’s Market - my local farmers have the best produce and I can even visit the farms where they are grown. But last week, my daughter had a craving for bananas - since we had not bought bananas for over six months, I caved in and bought some for her, but I didn’t let myself feel guilty. I told myself the bananas were healthy for her, plus my rose bushes got an extra dose of potassium from the banana peels.

I also try to grow veggies at home: tomatoes, onions, lettuce and potatoes, in addition to several herbs. There is nothing better than walking out into the garden and picking the ingredients for a fresh salad. And I feel so virtuous doing it!

We’re not perfect, but we are trying. Everyday we try to make small changes: from composting junk mail and kitchen waste, to line drying clothes and using grey washer water to irrigate, to growing some of our own food - every little bit helps. I’m hoping, with the support of other bloggers, to make more changes in the way we live and in the way we think about sustainablity.

Bobbi Rightmyer, Mrs. Greenhands…read more about her gardening exploits at mrs.greenhands.

• I’ve rid my house of plastic shopping bags
• Traded in my SUV for a car that gets double the gas mileage
• Take reusable bags everywhere I go
• Replaced our washer and dryer with energy star ones

But the big green no-no I am having a hard time with is giving up my plastic water bottles.

I mean, look at the new Eco-shaped design that fits oh so nicely in your hand (and in my car cup holder). Who wouldn’t love it?

For me it is not about the water inside the bottle, it is about the bottle itself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I haven’t tried. I have. I have tried many different kinds of reusable water bottles but I haven’t found one that I like nearly as much as my Eco-Friendly designed disposable one.

I will let you in on my other No-No secret; we wash and reuse the plastic disposable bottles. I know we shouldn’t but we do. We fill them with filtered tap water and put them in the refrigerator so whenever we leave the house we just grab and go.

Does it make it a shade of light green if I tell you that when we are home we drink filtered tap water out of a glass? How about if I tell you that we recycle the plastic bottles? (I didn’t think so but it was worth a try)!

Now that I have put my big green no-no in writing I feel I have to try again with my search for the perfect Reusable Water Bottle. Wish me luck!

If you have a favorite reusable water bottle tell me about it. I would love to try one that I know others use and like. You can find Lena trying to live a greener life at OverCoffee.