It’s high time that people, like you and me, started taking effective steps towards living in a manner that helps towards environmental conservation. We need to start pulling out all the stops to ensure that our actions are having a positive effect on the environment as a whole and in some ways help conserve it, nurture it and allow it to prosper.

Here are 5 great tips that can set you on the path towards eco friendly living.

Save on Power/Energy Consumption

The first thing that you need to do is bring down your energy consumption. Yes, it’s important to start off with the basics and this is as basic as it can get. For this to happen, you need to set yourself certain energy reduction goals, which includes electricity, gas and even the fuel consumption of your car. When it comes to cutting down on your power usage at home, a good starting point would be to charting the electricity usage over the past one year and identifying a baseline to start reducing from.  You will also need to start making specific changes to the kind of electrical applications used by you and your family members. Another important aspect that encourages eco friendly living is making certain changes in your habits, for e.g. something as simple as switching off the lights when nobody is in a room will go a long way in energy conservation. Using other equipment, such as a solar air heater, a boiler. Also, where it works, improving gas efficiency – read more on Jager Gas Equipment Company

Alternative Transportation

Follow the maxim ‘Don’t Drive When you can walk’. Whatever your car, whether it’s a gas guzzler or isn’t one, its consuming fuel and emitting fumes. If you want to contribute positively and effectively towards environmental protection, than you will need to go alternative when it comes to transportation. It will be great if you have a home that’s at a walking distance from your office but usually this is not possible and a long car drive between the home and the office is inevitable. But, you can try and cut down on your use of your four wheelers. For e.g. people have this habit of driving down to the neighborhood store that is some meters away from their homes. These habits must be shown the door. If you don’t want to walk, you can even cycle the distance. Yet another way of cutting down on those fuel emissions is by using the public transportation system as much as possible. Quite a number of office goers also tend to use the car pool, which also helps cut down on fuel consumption. Of course the reason behind carpooling veers more towards convenience and cost efficiency, but in doing so carpoolers are also doing a great service to the environment.

Focus on a Non Toxic Home

Most homes are toxic. Don’t believe it! Take a look at your home. List down some of the building materials used such as paint, wood preservatives, solvents etc. Most of them are toxic in nature. Now, take a look at all those household cleaners that you use such as, spot removers, drain cleaners and your bathroom cleaners and determine whether they are toxic for the environment or not. The results will surprise you. Now, the bottom line for a not toxic home is trying to use as many environmentally friendly products as possible. Using only green certified products that are result of rigorous certifications processes will help immeasurably as will the use of home made products for cleaning the home. There are plenty of easily available resources that will help you in this regard.

Try Reducing your Use of Products in General

We tend to make our lives complicated in more ways than one both at the emotional and material level. While we tend to then over-simplify the emotional quotient of our lives, we keep on complicating the material aspects. We are overly dependent on appliances, gadgets, clothes and all kinds of products that become a pre –requisite of our daily lives. While there are some items like clothing etc that we simply cannot do without, there are others whose use can be avoided. In order to live in an eco friendly manner you will need to simplify your material life as much as possible. You need to cut down on your purchases, which in turn will help you reduce waste. Try and focus on purchasing reusable products and or even buy used products. Remember, to set your pride aside as eco friendly living asks for some sacrifices to be made. The first time you buy a used product, might be difficult, but it gets easier after a time and infinitely more satisfying.

Water Conservation

More often than not, we take certain resources for granted, for e.g. something like water. Our thinking is that if it’s coming out of the tap and I am paying for it, I determine how I use it. But the problem is that it won’t be long before, your tap will run dry. It might or might not happen in your life time but why wait to make a difference. All it takes is some common sense to make an effective contribution towards saving water and reducing water consumption. Start off by setting some achievable water reduction goals. You can also give an added fillip to your efforts by using only those products that will help you save water.

So, here they are. Just five tips, but together they have the power to make a huge contribution towards environmental conversation.

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