6 Ways to Be More Eco-Friendly

Not everyone can afford to stick photovoltaic panels on their roof. The good news is that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on home renovations to live a greener life. Here are six normal, everyday ways to be more eco-friendly.

1. Take Shorter Showers

Can you shave just one minute off your morning shower? Because that translates into six hours each year, and that translates into gallons and gallons of saved water over the course of a lifetime. If you’re willing to skip the “repeat” cycle of your shampoo regimen, Mother Earth will thank you.

2. Shop Locally

Hit up the neighborhood farmer’s market the next time you need vegetables. Not only will your produce be fresher, but you’ll also be supporting locally-sold products that didn’t take gas-guzzling trucks to ship across the country and into your grocery store.

3. Recycle Your Trash

Gone are the days when your garbage had to be sorted into a dozen different color-coded containers. Nowadays, most cities have programs where you can throw all of your recyclable materials into the same garbage bin, and the recycling plants will do the sorting for you on-site.

4. Donate Your Heavy Goods

In the same vein as the above, if you have old furniture or a broken refrigerator that you’re ready to throw away, re-consider taking it to the dump. There are companies that will come and haul it away for you so that they can re-use and re-purpose the parts.

5. Stop Using Plastic Bags

The next time you go grocery shopping, don’t put your goods in plastic bags. Use tote bags or cloth bags instead; they’ll get the job done just as well, and they won’t clutter up landfills afterwards. You can even order reusable tote bags with logo if you want something personalized and eco-friendly.

6. Do Less Laundry

How often do you run your washing machine when there’s only a single blouse in it? How often do you dry towels even when you know you won’t need them for awhile? Save your laundry for a designated laundry day so that you’ll preserve water, energy and manual labor.

These are just a few tips for living more sustainably. As you can see, it’s not all recycling and solar energy; there are small and completely unremarkable ways that you can do your part to help the environment. Good luck!