Today is Earth Day! Yeah, sure – we should be celebrating Earth Day EVERYDAY, but let’s be realistic. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep the Earth in mind when you’re dealing with everyday life. From recycling to eliminating wasteful energy consumption, there are more than enough ways to “go green” but how do you incorporate a greener lifestyle that’s easy to incorporate in your everyday life? That’s why I’ve compiled 5 easy ways to go green, celebrate Earth Day (Everyday) and impact the world below.
5. PAY BILLS ONLINE
One of the easiest ways to go green is to use online bill payment systems instead of the old “mail in” means of payment. By some estimates, if all households in the U.S. paid their bills online and received electronic statements instead of paper, we’d save 18.5 million trees every year, 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste.
4. STOP PAPER BANK STATEMENTS
Some banks will pay you a dollar or donate money on your behalf when you cancel the monthly paper statements you get in the mail. If every household took advantage of online bank statements, the money saved could send more than seventeen thousand recent high school graduates to a public university for a year.
3. TURN OFF COMPUTERS AT NIGHT
I’ve just conformed to going green and saving energy with the press of my laptop button. By turning off your computer instead of leaving it in sleep mode, you can save 40 watt-hours per day. That adds up to 4 cents a day, or $14 per year. If you don’t want to wait for your computer to start up, set it to turn on automatically a few minutes before you get to work, or boot up while you’re pouring your morning cup ‘o joe.
2. RECYCLE OLD CELL PHONES
The average cell phone lasts around 18 months, which means 130 million phones will be retired each year. If they go into landfills, the phones and their batteries introduce toxic substances into our environment. There are plenty of reputable programs where you can recycle your phone, many which benefit noble causes. Check out how to recycle your old cell phones from Verizon, Best Buy and more HERE.
1. USE RECHARGABLE BATTERIES
Each year 15 billion batteries produced and sold and most of them are disposable alkaline batteries. Only a fraction of those are recycled. Buy a charger and a few sets of rechargeable batteries. Although it requires an upfront investment, it is one that should pay off in no time. And on Christmas morning when all the stores are closed? You’ll be fully stocked.
We asked Toyota Green Initiative Coalition Member — Actress Tatyana Ali her #1 tip for anyone looking to develop a greener lifestyle and she shared her #1 tip below…
Want to take your green living to the next level? Discover how to go green with easy car and driving tips – plus travel tips at DivasDriveInHeels and DivasOnDestinations.com. Discover stylish accessories that’ll help you recycle and transform your office space and for more ideas on how to go green, visit 50 ways to help the planet and start making greener choices today!
