Kick-off the Season with a New Green Routine
(Family Features) - A change in seasons brings a chance for
families to make changes in their routines. With a heightened sense
of environmental awareness, a new season is a great time to "green
your routine" and establish simple, everyday eco-friendly habits
with your family.
Green living expert and mother of three, Beth Aldrich,
encourages families to try little things to make a difference every
day, and to look for products and adopt practices that work for
them and the environment. "How you treat yourself, your family and
your home all add up to how we collectively take care of our
planet," says Aldrich. There are many simple ways families can be
more environmentally-conscious this fall without overhauling their
entire lifestyle, including:
- Swap-Out for Greener Staples: Harvest season
is the perfect time to visit a farmers' market for fresh, local
produce. Try to buy local, fair trade and organic foods when you
can, since most food has to travel more than 1,200 miles to land on
your grocery store shelf. If you can't make it to the market, try
buying store brand organic. And, in general, buy from companies
that use environmentally-aware practices.
- See Green to Live Green: Keep your family's
eyes healthy while helping the environment by purchasing new
"green" Airwear eyeglass lenses. Now manufactured using 100 percent
recycled water and packaged in 100 percent recyclable cardboard,
the lenses are greener than before.
- Change Your Light Bulbs: Daylight savings time
means it gets darker earlier, and with one less hour of daylight
people will be turning on the lights more often. Switch the light
bulbs in your house to energy-efficient, inexpensive, compact
fluorescent bulbs. If every household in America exchanged five
light bulbs, the energy savings would be equivalent to taking 8
million cars off the road.
- Drive More Efficiently and Spare the Air: Team
up with neighbors to cut down on carbon emissions, or consider
purchasing a hybrid car. The combination of a small gasoline engine
with a battery-powered electric motor doubles the mileage of
conventional cars and reduces the more than 97 million billion
pounds of carbon dioxide released into the air from fossil fuels
each year.
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: Cutting down on
waste can save 1,600 pounds of garbage a year. Clean out the
clutter by recycling old school papers and giving away outgrown
clothes. Before going shopping for anything new take inventory and
identify what can be reused so you only replace what you really
need.
In addition, Aldrich invites other environmentally-conscious
people to submit the creative ways they are making their world a
greener, more sustainable place through the
"Lighter.Safer.Greener." contest. The grand prize is the latest in
Airwear eyewear for their entire family. To enter the contest, and
for more of Aldrich's simple, attainable green-living tips, visit
www.LighterSaferGreener.com.
