Tips for Greener Living

Humankind has not woven the web of life.  We are but one thread within it.  Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.  All things are bound together.  All things connect.   ~Chief Seattle, 1855

• When shopping, pay attention to how much packaging products come in.  Reduce waste purchasing items that have minimal packaging, buying in bulk, and buying the largest size of an item you can reasonably use.
• Of the 25 billion single-serving plastic water bottles Americans use each year, 80% end up in landfills. Recycle your water bottles and, better yet, choose to re-use a refillable water bottle made of a refill-safe material.  Do your part to reduce that number by taking a pledge to not buy bottled water; instead keep a re-fillable water bottle in your car or handbag, and fill it from water coolers and drinking fountains.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.   ~Native American Proverb

• 75% of the electricity used by home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off.  This can be avoided by unplugging appliances when not in use or using a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliances.
• Switch your computer monitor to sleep mode or manually turn it off when not in use.  Despite common belief, the screen-saver mode does NOT actually save energy.
• Getting a new cell phone for Christmas? Not sure what to do with the old one? Now, you can drop off that old phone at any Staples store, as part of the Sierra Club cell phone recycling program. Each year, 130 million cell phones are thrown out, weighing approximately 65,000 tons. Recycling your old phone prevents hazardous elements like mercury, cadmium and lead from ending up in our landfills.

(Green Tips provided from: BeGreenNow.com)