Today’s children are riddled with the violence and a complete lack of respect for people and the environment.  Many children feel that they are entitled to things and do not respect what they get.  For these children, learning how to live green can teach them how to respect nature and wildlife which can lead to a respect for their fellow humans. 

There are two major parts of living green that people focus on.  The first part is the saving money and the future for the next generation.  The other part is the act of living green out of respect for the Earth and those other inhabitants in it.  This respect can be taught and passed on to the generation who needs it the most.

Respect for the Earth includes taking care of the animals, people, and forests of the earth, but it also includes preventing waste buildups and managing our resources.  These are all at the heart of the green living process.  Taking care of animals and people is accomplished by respecting and taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves. This means not abusing or treating animals like objects.  This means respecting and helping one’s neighbors and friends.  This means having respect and learning to respect all life.

Taking care of the forest is often associated with anti-logging rallies, but these are often ineffective and costly.  Better methods of logging should be explored and are currently being explored by logging companies.  Logging in such manners as to promote the re-growth of the forest can help the land remain fertile and free of erosion.  This in turn gives the wild life a place to live and flourish. 

Preventing waste is one of the most important aspects of green living and one of the things that help to promote respect.  Preventing waste helps to teach respect by teaching the child how to conserve natural resources and dollar resources.  This is because without the respect, the point of not being wasteful gets lost in the immediate satisfactions of today’s society.  By teaching one not to waste, one is teaching responsibility for actions and thoughts which in turn leads to a higher level of respect for everything around them.

Green living can be an overwhelming activity and task to take on if one decides to do it completely.  For others, the idea of green living means making small changes that helps to build a better world.  Such changes can even lead to saving some money while saving the world. 

1. Don’t leave the faucets running.  By leaving the faucets running a lot of clean water gets wasted and must go through the filters again.  By shutting off the water while brushing your teeth or washing dishes, the water can be saved, the hot water tank does not have to be working to heat more water, and the filters do not have to work to clean the already clean water.  It is cheaper for you, and healthier for the environment.

2. Open the windows rather than turn on the air conditioning.  Oftentimes, people will run the air conditioning in their vehicles or home without realizing that it is cooler outside.  Running the air conditioning units in the home can waste a lot of electric and can also cause a leakage of Freon.  This can be harmful to the environment and the animals or children who may stumble upon it.  Running the air conditioning can also be very expensive as it does require a lot of electric draw.

Running the air conditioning in one’s car can be equally as bad for the environment and the pocketbook.  Studies have shown that the air conditioning unit in the vehicle eats up more gas than riding with all four windows rolled down.  By rolling down the window rather than running the air conditioning, one can save money and the environment, plus hear and smell the world around them. 

3.  Skip a flush.  The toilet uses the most fresh water and of any system in the home.  By skipping one flush, upwards of five to ten gallons can be saved each time.  So, save money and the environment, and skip a flush every now and again.

4.  Turn off and unplug appliances and lights when not in use.  Contrary to popular belief, turning on and off the lights does not take more energy than it does to leave the lights on.  Nor does simply shutting them off ensure that they are not drawing power.  Unplug the appliances and lights to ensure the least amount of energy is being drawn and the most benefits can be seen for Earth and Self. 

Simple ways to Save Environment Save Money

Green living is more than simply buying products made from reduced or reused materials, although this is important.  Green living means cutting energy consumption and waste for a cleaner world.  There are simple ways to save environment.  Such cuts in energy and waste can drastically reduce the amount of money that one has to pay for such things and can help to build security in an every declining economy.

Simple environmental changes, such limiting the use of the air conditioner to only the hottest times of the day, or keeping the heating unit a few degrees cooler can significantly decrease the amount of energy used and significantly decrease the amount that one has to pay to run such appliances.  Using coal versus oil to heat your home will save you.  Other things include the use of plastic on the windows in winter, and light reflecting currents in summer to help to regulate the temperatures in the home without using more energy than one needs.

Simple inconveniences that come with great amounts of energy and cost savings include car pooling or riding a bike to work.  Cars are one of the greatest wasters of gas and one of the biggest contributors to global warming.  By not running one’s car, one is not contributing to the problem while saving money.  If every individual car pooled with just one friend, that would cut the number of vehicles on the road by half which is a huge amount for a small inconvenience.

Pets also cause inconveniences, such as picking up pet waste.  By feeding one’s pet a high quality diet, the size of the stool can greatly reduced, making for less to clean up.  By using a biodegradable doggy bag, one can ensure that the stool is not saved for research by those archeologists who happen to dig up our world.  The normal petroleum based plastic bags, such as the blue bags or the white grocery bags, do not degrade and therefore are preserved and preserve anything inside of them for centuries to come.

Thinking about grocery bags, if one decides to use the reusable canvas bags rather than the plastic bags, the amount of oil needed to produce the bags can begin to decrease.  This can take the pressure off the gas manufacturers and help to low the price of all gas.

Green Driving Test Games

Green driving is one of the heaviest of the promoted green living life changes.  This is because vehicles are some of the heaviest polluters and are absolutely everywhere.  There are some ways to cut down on the pollution that the vehicles put out without changing out the vehicle for a hybrid or other green vehicle. See how many of the green driving techniques you follow to see if you pass our green driving test games?

1.  Car pool- This seems like an obvious choice for cutting out the amount of energy and fuel uses by the vehicles, but this is often a choice that many people forget about.  With the rising price of gas though, this method is becoming more and more popular for the economic reasons as well as the green living reasons.

2.  Get frequent tune-ups- Frequent tune-ups help the vehicle to run smoother and be more efficient.  This can greatly limit the amount of energy that is required to run the vehicle and the amount of gas that the vehicle puts out.  Tune-ups also help to make the car last longer so that it does not take up more room in a landfill, but rather is able to remain on the road, running great.

3.  Change your air filter- If your hair filter is dirty, the vehicle has to work harder to pull air in to make the necessary spark to keep the vehicle running.  By changing the air filter frequently, one can help the vehicle use less energy while maintaining a smooth ride.  Many of the air filters are biodegradable and do not take up space in the landfills, others are recycled, and others still just need to be cleaned out, rather than replaced on a regular basis.

4.  Keep your car clean-  No, this does not mean driving it through the car wash every day, but rather keeping it free of clutter and extra stuff to reduce the weight of the vehicle.  This may not seem like a big deal, but when moving a ton of car plus fifty extra pounds in books and clothing, then it can become a big deal.  It can take a lot of gas to move all that extra stuff around all the time.

5.  Keep your tires inflated and well cared for- The ideology that the feet make the horse is true for cars as well.  Well cared for feet help the horse to run better while well cared for tires help the vehicle run better.

If you didn’t get a 100% on this green driving test, we will have more green driving test games to come!

Living Green is more than just recycling!  We want you to live the good life and while being aware of better healthier more efficient Green actions.  We will be discussing topics on Green Saves like Gores energy policy, the efficiency of coal versus oil to heat home, how to make a home made wind mill, oil drilling in Anwar Alaska, the propane conversion kits for domestic cars, the healthy guy public health report, training log workout logs, and much more.  Please join the Green Saves Blog today!