If you’re like most of us, this is the time of year that you take a moment to self reflect and think of ways you can do better in the upcoming year. You might be thinking that 2016 is the year your new year’s resolutions include being green. At Good Green Moving, the practice of being green is something we do all year long. To help you be green in 2016, here are our top 10 green resolutions for 2016.
1) Drink Less Bottled Water and Soft Drinks: It takes a tremendous amount of energy to produce a plastic bottle. So why not use a water filter to drink tap water? Or use a water filter in a water container? Both are easy and much less costly than buying bottled water or expensive soft drinks.
2) Drive Less Often: Walk, bike or take public transport to work. Ask your employer if you can telecommute 1-2 days per week to further minimize your carbon footprint. Whatever you can do will mean you’re driving less and creating less pollution.
3) Use Recyclable Shopping Bags: Over 1 million plastic bags are used every minute of every day worldwide. We recommend keeping a few recyclable vinyl or canvas bags in your car and using them every time you shop. You’ll be amazed at how many plastic bags you can eliminate weekly by doing this one simple step.
4) Take Shorter Showers: Where Americans use an average of 100 gallons of water per day, Europeans only use about 50. All countries need to conserve water and we know that in Marin County, we’re in the middle of a multi-year drought. So have the mindset to use less daily by taking shorter showers, turning off the water at the faucet when you brush your teeth, and only flush the toilet when you absolutely need to.
5) Cut Your Paper Use: A ton of paper from recycled paper saves up to 17 trees. Recycle your newspaper, computer paper, envelopes and other papers you receive daily. Start a digital subscription to your magazines or newspapers. Request electronic statements from your bank and utilities.
6) Recycle Your Bottles, Cans and Compostables: More U.S. cities are offering expanded programs for curbside recycling, especially throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Ask your local waste management provider about it.
7) Green How You Eat: Consider fresh, organic ingredients from your local farmers’ market or grocery store. These are grown without pesticides and are healthy for your whole family, too.
8) Green Your Garage: A hybrid car used to be unusual, today, most car manufacturers offer hybrid or even all-electric cars that drastically cut your dependence on fossil fuels. At Good Green Moving, we’ve been able to reduce our carbon emissions by 80%. Furthermore, when available, we use recycled vegetable oil to power all of our vehicles and utilize 100% renewable energy to power our warehouses.
9) Green Your Home with Sustainable Materials: Think about an eco-friendly home that has bamboo flooring, a cotton or hemp shower curtain, zero-VOC paints, wooden blinds from sustainable forests, and more.
10) Let The Sun Be Your Energy Source: Finally, let the sun do the work for you. The latest solar powered photovoltaic systems are more energy efficient than ever and can get you off the grid. You’ll not only lower your electric costs, you can even earn energy credits by selling your excess energy to the power company.
Being green in 2016 is a great idea and we encourage you to take the steps to be green. Once you get started, you’ll find it easy to be green. Not only we’ll you be helping our planet, but you’ll feel great doing it. Happy Green New Year!
