Go Green

Being organized not only means that you have de-cluttered all the unnecessary objects in your home, but that you are efficiently and cost-effectively utilizing the ones you do want and need. Being green means keeping an eye on waste and consumption. Keeping consumption down is good for the mind, body and house! No one can go 100% green in one day, but doing some simple things each day, week, or month is a step in the right direction.

Miscellaneous Tips

Tips on going green in the home that people may not think of:

Do full loads of laundry on cold or warm. This saves time and your energy too!
Use environmentally responsible products like low VOC paint, FSC Certified wood products (to ensure the wood has been grown from a sustainable forest).
Turn off lights when not in the room.
Purchase wonderful experiences for gifts like spa treatments, theater tickets, and restaurant coupons. Does anyone really need more stuff?
Drive a hybrid car, carpool, bike or use mass transportation.
Take paper printed on one side and flip it in your printer to reuse.
Plant trees.
Wrap your hot water heater in an insulating hot water blanket. You will save 1,000 lbs of carbon emissions a year.
Get rid of your junk mail forever and save millions of trees. Go to Tonic Mailstopper and they will do the legwork for you!
Get Virtual. Put bank accounts and statements on line. Get rid of that monthly paper clog.
Take your name off the list. Get your name removed from unwanted credit cards and insurance offers. Go to OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1(888) 5 OPT OUT.
Lose the junk from your trunk. Each 100 lbs in the car increases gas consumption 1-2%.
Recycle your dead rechargeable batteries from laptops, cordless and cell phones, camcorders, cordless power tools and digital cameras at several retail locations including: Best Buy, The Home Depot, Lowe's, Radio Shack, Sears and Target. For a complete list go to www.call2recycle.org.
Put CFL light bulbs in the fixtures, and you will use a 1/5 of the energy of standard incandescent bulbs and last 10X longer. Each CFL you install will keep about 1,500 lbs of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere over its lifetime. One bulb can lower your energy bill by $15 annually and reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 150 lbs.
Resist the urge to engage in retail therapy. Stop and think do you really need it? Do you already have something like it? If you must, go to http://shopgreen.pricegrabber.com, for ecofriendly purchases ranging from organic lip gloss to Energy Star appliances. And they donate 5% of the profits to environmental charities!