How to Go Green at Work, At School, & In Your Community
Living a green and sustainable lifestyle isn’t just something to do at home! Here’s how to go green in other aspects of your life as well.
We often think of sustainable living as something we can only do at home, but in fact, there are many ways that we can make a difference to the planet in the world at large.
Of course, making environmentally responsible choices at home is important, but you can also find plenty of simple ways to bring the message of eco-friendly living to work, to school, and to your local community!
Here are just a few ways that you can take eco-friendly living to the next level, and inspire others to do the same:
At School:
If you have children, set aside some time to work with their schools. (Even if you don’t have kids, you can still volunteer in a nearby school to start an eco-friendly program.) Then, get a group of like-minded parents and teachers together and start putting forward some green activities and initiatives. You can engage the whole school community by:
- Coordinating an International Walk to School Day. Walking to school not only promotes a healthy lifestyle, it helps reduce air pollution!
- Encouraging the school to go digital where possible to reduce paper waste...
- Establishing a recycling club. Place recycling bins in classrooms, offices, the gym, music room, art room, cafeteria and copy room. Have student members of the recycling club collect and empty the bins during lunch and recess or after school.
- Starting a compost pile. Kids will learn how food waste can be recycled into nutrient-rich fertilizer for their gardens.
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In the Workplace:
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Effecting change from the bottom up is often easier than heading directly to the CEO. Mobilize fellow eco-warrior team members and managers to help set in motion the following changes:
- Standby power is a huge energy expense. Set computers to energy-saving settings and shut them down at the end of the day
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- Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) in fixtures. They cost 75 percent less to operate and last 10 times longer.
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- Arrange an office carpool or encourage use of a car-sharing service like Flexcar or Zipcar.
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- Start an office recycling program. Cut back on the number of trash cans around the office while simultaneously adding more recycling bins.
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…Your co-workers are bound to feel good about doing their part to help the environment, and management is likely to see overhead costs go down dramatically. That’s a win-win!
In Your Community:
Inspiring a change in your community takes a bit of legwork, but it’s well worth it… Chat with your neighbors and get an idea of what’s going on around you, as well as what’s missing. Then, take your place as an eco-leader by organizing community lectures, roundtable discussions and book clubs related to green initiatives.
Coordinate environmental cleanups at neighborhood parks, rivers and beaches. Take part in the community garden — and if you don’t have one, get one going! Start a “buy local” initiative. Shopping locally conserves energy, reduces greenhouse gases emitted during transportation and keeps resources circulating in the community…
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Check out the full article at Earth911.com for more tips…
