Today's struggling economy has many people looking for ways to conserve energy, help the environment, and save money.
Thankfully, many "green" lifestyle changes that you can make can do all three.
Many people would like to start living more green but don't know where to begin.
This list of five simple steps can help get you started.
1.
Replace your current light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).
CFLs use 75% less energy than regular bulbs and will last longer.
Over the span of their lives, the savings in electricity will more than pay for the additional cost of CFLs when compared to regular bulbs.
2.
Stop using paper and plastic bags for your shopping and start using reusable shopping bags.
Reusable bags help reduce the number of paper and plastic bags that are produced and enter our waste stream - where paper and plastic account for over 40% of solid waste.
Paper and plastic bags harm the environment in their production (pollution) and disposal (litter, contamination of water and soil, incineration which pollutes).
They are commonly NOT recycled.
3.
Begin using rags and towels around the house to clean up spills and other messes instead of paper towels.
4.
Recycle your dish water and use it to water plants or complete additional chores.
5.
Start using rechargeable batteries to reduce the amount of toxic waste that you dispose of each year.
There you have it - five things that we all can easily do that will have positive impacts on our environment and energy use.
A couple of them will also help you save some money.
Living green isn't any more complicated than not living green - it just involves making different choices - so start making them!