Eco friendly living is a must if you want to protect your health and the health of the planet. We evolved in harmony with nature and are meant to live that way. The further we move away from that, the more we put ourselves at risk.
Living with the environment in mind is easier than you may think. A plethora of environmentally safe personal products, home goods and green cleaning products are readily available.
Clean air, food, water and land maintain and improve wellness and quality of life. It is living as nature intended. Enjoying unspoiled beauty and nature are good for the soul.
Conserving resources and living in harmony with nature does more than help you live a better quality of life. It saves you money in the long run, especially in health care. And it preserves the health of the planet for other living beings and your future generations.
On the other hand...
Toxins in all forms compromise your quality of life in mind, body, and spirit.
Consider physical toxins such as chemicals and particles. They are in our air, water and foods. Pollution in homes is often several times greater than the outdoors due to out-gassing and chemical use.
Gasses, chemicals and particles from pollution are a major source of many health problems. When we eat, drink and breathe, those pollutants end up inside of us. They are implicated in diseases such as cancer, respiratory problems and obesity.
Whether you breathe in toxins, ingest them, or absorb them through your skin, they get absorbed by your tissues and stored in your body. They can interfere with and alter proper cell functioning which eventually may make you ill.
Eco friendly living is a pillar of healthy living. To preserve your health in the short and long term, make living green part of your lifestyle.
If you, or someone in your home already has a chronic illness, going green is a high priority. The sooner you switch to green cleaning products, non-toxic personal products, and clean food the better. Air out your home often, too.
The following living green tips are easy to incorporate into your modern lifestyle. They help you replace harmful man made chemicals and consumption of pollution causing resources with healthier alternatives.
1-Be discerning about what you put on your skin and in your body.
2-Bring reusable bags with you on shopping trips. Canvas bags are inexpensive, sturdy, last a long time, wash well, and hold a lot of groceries.
Return plastic bags to the store for recycling or reuse them on your next visit. Plastic bag manufacturing in the U.S. alone burns approximately 12 million barrels of oil a year and hundreds of millions of bags end up in landfills and waterways. They take approximately 1,000 years to degrade.
3-Boycott plastic water bottles. This eco friendly living tip directly benefits you and the planet.
Pure water is one of the most essential things you put into your body. Use filtering pitchers or tap filters and refill your own bottles. Glass and stainless steel are good choices. Plastic made from petroleum and obesogenic hormone disrupting chemicals can make you fat and sick. They leach chemicals into the water, especially when hot.
Do not be fooled by BPA-free plastic. Most likely it was replaced by the equally toxic BPS. If you taste plastic, you are drinking chemicals. Not only that, but every year, people in the U.S. dump enough plastic water bottles to circle the earth over 100 times.
4-Eco friendly living starts at home and in your neighborhood. Buy it local. Transporting goods requires a lot of fuel. Support your local economy including the small farmers in your area. Much of their produce at farmers markets is fresh, high quality, and organic or close to it. Feel free to ask.
5-Choose non-toxic green cleaning products to protect your family and environment from chemical toxins that make you sick.
Using green cleaning products is an important part of eco friendly living. They help you protect your health, your home, and the environment from toxic fumes and chemicals. They do a great job for all but the toughest cleaning needs.
It's very easy and inexpensive to make effective green cleaning products at home. Lemon, baking soda, white vinegar, water and natural soap are common ingredients.
6- Limit disposable items. Use real dishes and silverware. Drink from a mug, not styrofoam, which takes 500 years to degrade. It is made from coal, petroleum and ethylene which pollutes air and water. These chemicals cause lung cancer and neurological problems. 25% of landfill waste is chemical leaching styrofoam. Need a doggy bag? Bring your own reusable container.
7-Think eco friendly living when remodeling.
Choose green home products such as low VOC paints, carpets and countertops made with recycled materials, and natural sustainably grown products over synthetics to reduce unhealthy indoor air pollution.
Boycott unsustainable hard woods harvested from rain forests. Cutting down the rain forests to satisfy the human desire for pretty wood is a travesty.
Utility companies may offer free energy assessments and suggest options to optimize energy saving. Weather stripping and caulking are inexpensive and easy. Insulating ceilings and walls, or replacing old windows are more costly in the short term, but pay for themselves in a few years and save you lots of money after that. They save literally tons of energy resources and spare the earth tons of CO2 emissions, making them win-win for everyone.
8-Reduce use of lights, TV and appliances. Electronics using phantom power waste energy and create tons of emissions. Unplug or turn off power strips when finished using them for the day. Turn off lights when no one is in the room for more than 10-15 minutes. Set your freezer to two degrees and your refrigerator to 37 degrees. Set your hot water heater to 120 degrees. That is hot enough and safer, too. These simple practices limit pollution, save natural resources and lots of money.
As a bonus, you reduce the electro-magnetic waves in your home. Always limit how often you stand close to, or touch electronics, including your cell phone. Speaking of cell phones, keep them away from your head and body. They emit radiation, and radiation causes cancer. Unplug your wi-fi while sleeping.
9-Use mercury free compact fluorescent or LED light bulbs. They use four times less energy than regular bulbs and last fifteen times longer. Newer LED light bulbs are much improved. If every American household changes out ten lights it would be like taking 16 million cars off the road for a year.
10-Use your clothes washer and dryer efficiently. Wash in warm or cold water. Hot water is rarely necessary. High efficiency washers save a lot of water and detergent, and spin out more water to reduce drying time. Do a few loads at a time. A warmed up dryer saves drying time and energy. Remove lint after every load to dry clothes faster. Too much lint is a fire hazard and wastes energy.
Eco friendly living can seem overwhelming in our modern world. You may think your efforts don't matter. They do. When lots of people pitch in, the benefits are enormous. Please do your part. The health advantages of living a chemical free lifestyle are huge. Your home and our planet will be a healthier place for you and all of us to live.