Five Beginner Steps to Go Green

Are you new to the “green scene”? Are you getting discouraged thinking that there is no way you can possibly be as green as someone else you know? Don’t worry and please don’t get discouraged! There are incredibly simple things you can do in your everyday life that CAN and WILL make a difference! Be confident in your “green-ness” and know that small changes make big differences! Here are some easy changes you can make in your home to get started!

Five Beginner Steps to Go Green

1) Can the Bottled Water! If you are one of those people who NEED bottled water, you can buy gallon sized containers instead of individual bottles. It creates less waste. You can also switch over to a water filtration system that has reusable bottles that tastes and gives you the “experience” of bottled water!

2) Set up a recycling “center” in your kitchen or basement! You’ll be surprised at just how much trash can be recycled and how much the kids actually enjoy helping! We recycle everything in the kitchen from boxes (from food like cereal, noodles, snacks, etc) to juice containers to egg cartons! Typically there are local recycling centers you can drop off to and the kids will not only learn from it, but they’ll look forward to your weekly recycling trip!

3) Turn the water off! When brushing your teeth, turn off the water! Set a timer when in the shower so you don’t take too long and waste too much water, and if your dishwasher has a timer, run it in the middle of the night. OK, that last one is just to help with water bill because it’s cheaper in the middle of the night! 😉

4) Get rid of Paper Towels! In today’s “going green” world, there are plenty of paper towel alternatives! You can use re-usable paper towels in the kitchen and beyond! You’ll be surprised at just how many you use on a daily basis and just how much money you can save when you decide to cut them out!

Those are all pretty easy things, right? These things don’t take much extra effort and are easy habits to develop! You’ll feel better about your efforts in going green and you’ll make a difference, no matter how small your changes are.

What tips do you have for going green?

This guest post was written by April who blogs about parenting, toddler art, recipes and going green. She and her husband have a 16 year old son, a soon to be 3 year old son and an 15 month old baby girl who have all encouraged them to make greener choices in their home. Learn more at Mama on a Green Mission.