Collectively, small lifestyle changes can make a huge impact on the environment-and your life. Looking for happiness and health? What’s good for the environment is also, it turns out, great for you. Here’s a collection of tips from the No Impact community.
We gave up TV (owning a set and all!) over 6 years ago! Our entertainment has changed from all TV to reading, watching DVDs on our computer and hanging out as a family and with friends!
Has been a wonderful time ever since. We play more and do more outdoor activities with out 4 yr old like playgrounds, hiking, picnicing and to top it all he is not exposed to all the commercial selling aimed at kids, the violence in the shows etc etc!!
We also, gave up all other media coming into the house in the form of newspapers, magazines and other paper related products that we controlled. Stopped buying “new” books and now request all and any we need from the library! Also, switched to audiobooks for lifestyle reasons!
This has made our lives healthier emotionally too since we are not bombarded by constant “bad” news and when the news is big enough for us to be concerned …. we hear about it, since it is important enough for people we know and interact with to be discussing!
This season, I did not put on the AC at all. Opened the windows, draped the over sunny windows and used the ceiling fans when it got HOT… I got my husband to install one in all rooms that we use regularly. Life is much cooler now than with the AC and it means a lot more money in my pocket than last year!!!!!!
Overall, “going simple” has made our lives as a family more fulfilling and meaningful.
This post was submitted by Ashita.
Hang washed clothes outdoors whenever possible, mainly summer in our neck of the woods. In winter, hang them on wooden clothes’ horses in front of our wood stove or in front of our little Eden Pure heater (which saves us money too). Only use the dryer to fluff wrinkles out of “permanent press”, 20 minutes on low setting, but take out before “cooling” which can reset some wrinkles. Ironing in our little house with many animals is an impossibly complicated affair, so I’ve worked out the above formula for as little impact as possible on the environment while still looking presentable (at least in our rural community!).
This post was submitted by Kathy Butler.
I have started hanging my wet clothes on a clothesline to dry. I picked the clothesline that winds up after use from a discount store and I am now saving money and energy by not running my dryer as much. I love the peacefullness of hanging the clothes out and just spending a small amount of time outdoors. This seems “old fashion” but it is great!
This post was submitted by Elizabeth Cook.
TURN IT OFF!! Unplug it, flip the circuit breaker. I’m single, I bath/shower and clean the kitchen after dinner about the same time each evening. So what I did was start keeping the HOG switched off at the circuit box, turning it back on a when I start cooking dinner and back off half hour after I’m done cleaning or showering. I even went so far as using a timer so it’s not on more than an hour and a half each evening.
My power usage is about 30% lower than it was last year this time!!!
This post was submitted by Karen.
The Cool School Challenge aims to motivate students, teachers, and school districts to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions schoolwide. At the heart of the Cool School Challenge is the philosophy that big changes start with small steps, and that taken together, simple individual actions create a world of difference. Student leaders conduct an energy audit of their school, estimating CO2 emissions from electricity, heating, waste and transportation. They then find ways to reduce their footprint with simple behavior changes!
This post was submitted by Mike Wierusz.