SOME GO GREEN TIPS

http://www.emeraldcoasthomesonline.com The Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS® is committed to the “greening” of America.  Realtors® sell quality of life, and on the Emerald Coast nothing says “quality of life” more than a healthy environment.  Clean air, crystal-clear water, healthy beaches, and afternoon sea breezes are all important to the Emerald Coast way of life.

http://www.chelco.com

http://www.idealbite.com/widgets/

Get Inked....Ink cartridges can take up to 450 years to decompose. Recycle your old ones, and next time you buy, go with refilled cartridges, which work just like conventional ones and cost up to 75% less than new ones.

Safeguard Your Lunch....Baggies are piling up in landfills quicker than you can say “ziplock,” and toxins in plastics are no picnic. Reduce waste by taking your lunch in reusable, safe containers. Some plastics, like PVC (#3), polystyrene (#6), and polycarbonate (#7) contain hormone disruptors or other nasty chemicals. Stay healthy with plastics #1, 2, 4 or 5.

Climb Your Way to Green...A surefire way to avoid awkward elevator silences and save energy? Take the stairs instead. No surprises here: Climbing stairs burns up to 10 times more calories than standing in an elevator. And, depending on type, capacity, and usage, an elevator’s yearly energy usage can equal the energy used to power seven homes annually.

When it’s time to rework your appliances An Energy Star Rated dishwasher can help you go clean AND green.  A family can save up to one third of your dishwashing bill every year, which translates into a savings of 95 dollars with a more environmentally sound dishwasher.  So while it may cost you a little more at the beginning, don’t get sticker shock, you’ll use 41 percent less energy and save water, plus you’ll be saving the earth, one dirty dish at a time. 

Previous generations remember the depression when food was scarce.  They ate everything on their plate, and told you to do it when you were a kid.  It’s good advice.  Compostable waste like yard trimmings and food scraps make up 23 percent of the United States solid waste stream.   You’ll also be saving the land resources that produce food.  So save your leftovers, and when you’re hungry go to the fridge.  After all, nothing is better than a slice of leftover pizza for breakfast. for you, and the environment.

When you wake up on Sunday Morning and go for the news paper ads with your coffee, you are trying to save money.  But a half a million trees are cut down for just the Sunday paper every week.  Most retailers now offer their Sunday circulars on their websites for free, and the same articles are available with no cost as well.  So by reading the paper and other periodicals online, you’ll get the same savings on your purchases, save on subscription costs and save trees, too. 

It may sound funny, but for your next party, why not throw a kegger!  Unless a keg gets punctured or goes unreturned, they can be recycled almost infinitely and immediately... A glass bottle takes 4000 years or more to decompose.  For parties with smaller attendance look into other options like party balls and growlers instead of serving longnecks. And when you tap a keg, use glasses or mugs instead of disposable ones.  Americans throw away almost 25 billion Styrofoam cups every year.  Who knew, a keg, the green way to throw a party.

Bills and Garbage, Bills and Garbage… sometimes it seems that the only thing you get in the mail are bills and garbage.  But when your bills become garbage, they become as big of a burden on the environment as they were on your pocketbook.  Hardcopy bills generate almost 700,000 tons of waste every year, plus use considerable resources to be shipped, sorted and delivered to your home. So when possible, switch to E-Billing.  It will make your bills go away, atleast, away from your mailbox.

Paper or Plastic – we used to get that question every time we went to the store.  Now it’s pretty much just plastic which take less energy to produce and ship, but they’re still not the best choice.  99 percent of the 4 trillion plastic shopping bags made every year end up in a landfill.  Instead, take your own canvas shopping bags to the store.  They  take up minimal space in the trunk, and they don’t end up littering landfills.  Plus they’re stronger than paper or plastic, so your groceries won’t end up littering your drive way when a bag breaks.

Ever seen a movie where an animal in the sewer gets exposed to a chemical and then ends up terrorizing a city?  Well, you might not be making a monster, but every day we dump 32 million pounds of toxic chemicals down our drains from household cleaning products.  There’s plenty of natural alternatives that do just as good a job, without the negative impacts.  Vinegar and Baking soda are easier on the pocketbook, and just as effective at cleaning up messes.  And if it makes you feel better, remember you’re not just preventing damage to the environment, you’re preventing Godzilla. 

By Now you’ve certainly heard of BioDiesel, but did you know all diesel engines can use this product of vegetable oils?  It’s bio degradable, non-toxic and can generate les pollutants than regular diesel.  It’s just one of many alternative fuels being developed.  There’s also corn based ethanol and hydrogen powered cars.  Still years from the mass market, hydrogen powered vehicles emit no harmful pollutants.  There’s still many others in development, so stay tuned into the news, because the day may not be far off when traditional fuels are history, just like the fossils they come from.

With Summer here, a vacation is probably entering your mind.  Even when you aren’t working, a few small steps and you can be working for the environment.  Book direct flights, as less jet fuel will be used to get you there.  Adjust your thermostat and turn your water heater to the lowest setting before you go.  And at your hotel, tell the staff that you’re linens don’t have to be changed daily if they aren’t dirty.  And when you’re sight seeing, consider a walking tour.  So you can forget about life’s troubles, and not create trouble for mother nature by doing little things when on vacation.