We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends! Now that 2017 is almost here, it’s a great time to start thinking about what you want out of the New Year. One suggestion is to be kind to the environment. In that spirit, we’ve pulled together a list of 8 eco-friendly resolutions to help you start 2017 off right.
- Say no to plastic. It takes over 50 years for plastic bags to desintigrate. If you haven’t already, you can make the switch to reusable bags to lessen the use of plastic ones.
- Start a veggie garden. This is the year to grow your own food! It’s a great way to help the environment and feed your family right outside your door.
- Go digital. The internet has opened up so many possibilities, including the option to purchase music and books online. This is a great way to reduce plastic waste and limit the use of paper material.
- Eat organic as much as possible. Organic costs a bit more up front, but this is money well spent because your food will be more nutritious, and you can be sure that your food was grown in a way that helped protect and enhance the ecosystem it was grown in.
- Use your own water bottle. The amount of oil used to create plastic water bottles each year is astronomical. Anything we can do to quickly and permanently phase out disposable plastic bottles would help improve our relationship with the people living in oil and gas-rich nations, protect ecosystems, save resources, reduce waste and deadly pollution, and save money.
- Hang your laundry to dry. Industrial, commercial, and residential clothes dryers use about 15-20% of domestic energy alone. Even using a clothesline or folded drying rack part-time would help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
- RECYCLE. You can get the whole family involved with separating out aluminum, plastics, and paper. Locate and check into all the options at your local recycling center.
- Consider spray foam insulation. This environmentally-friendly home insulation product is labeled as NO VOC, meaning it is free of volatile organic compounds. The benefits of spray foam also include better indoor air quality and better air flow.
Turn over a new leaf and go green in 2017!
Sources:
http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/10-green-new-years-resolutions
http://www.earthfirst.net.au/ten-simple-green-new-years-resolutions.html
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