The truth is that everything single thing we do every day has an impact on the planet -- good or bad. As globalization makes the world become smaller, it becomes increasingly easy to see how the lives of people, plants, animals and ecosystems everywhere are closely synced up with one another. So toys made in China can affect the quality of life in Europe, pesticides used in Argentina can affect the health of people in the U.S, and greenhouse gas emissions from Australia can affect a diminishing rain forest in Brazil.
The good news is that as an individual you have the power to control most of your choices and, therefore, the impact you create: from where you live to what you buy, eat, and use to light your home to where and how you vacation, to how you shop or vote, you can have global impact.
Real food is fuel for the body and the planet.
By following the green mantra to eat seasonal, local, organic foods -- you can enjoy fresher, tastier foods and improve your personal health. Buying local means supporting the local economy. Buying fresh food means reducing packaging and energy used for processing. Choosing organic foods means helping promote organic agriculture and responsible land use.
Greener goods are more humane.
Just as it’s required materials and energy, all "stuff" requires another common resource: the human kind. If you opt for green and ethical goods, you are often supporting local and global craftsmen and communities. Supporting "Fair Trade" products and fair labor practices ensures that goods-- from coffee to clothing were not born in a sweatshop.
Clean, renewable power is already available to everyone.
We use electricity to power our lights, computers, and televisions, but what happens before you flip the switch? Your electricity has to come from somewhere; more than half America's comes from coal-burning power plants, which also happen to be the country's largest source of air pollution. By generating your own power, or purchasing renewable energy credits (also known as "green tags"), you contribute to our collective capacity for generating more clean power from wind, solar, and other sources and you help reduce demand for energy from more polluting sources.
Better transportation means less global warming.
Anytime you choose to walk, ride a bike, or take public transportation, you reduce the carbon dioxide and particulate emissions created by driving a gas- or diesel-powered car. You'll help slow global warming and help stave off our date with peak oil.
Nature recycles everything.
Making proper use of the blue recycling bin has become an iconic action. Reducing the amount of stuff we consume is the first step reduce-reuse-recycle, finding constructive uses for "waste" materials is the second. Why? nothing is ever really thrown "away" -- it all has to go somewhere. By recycling and reusing, we reduce the amount of waste that sits in landfills (where even biodegradable products often can't break due to lack or oxygen and sunlight).
Your clothing choices impact more than just your appearance.
Making clothing involves a large amount of materials, energy, and labor including the pesticides used to grow crops for textiles, the dyes and water used to color them, and conditions under which laborers work. By choosing eco-friendly clothing - say, purchasing organic over conventional cotton, one of the world's most chemically dependent crops, you also choose a better product that is easier on the soil and groundwater. How you care for your clothes - using cold water in the washing machine, eco-friendly detergents, can all reduce the impact of your wardrobe.
Water is not a renewable resource.
Clean water is perhaps the planet's most precious resource, and, with the increasing effects of global climate change, for many regions across the globe, our ability to have enough high-quality H20 on hand could likely to change in the near future. Being water conscious helps reduce strain on municipal treatment systems and ensures there's enough to go around. By shifting away from bottled water, we can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, the energy required to produce petroleum-derived plastic, and the volume of waste trucked to our landfills from empty bottles.
Happy Green Life
Xoxo Gia
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