Easy changes to be more green

response to original post which is here
Just wanted to give everyone an update to some easy changes we've been making to be a little more green.
1. Just changed my power bill to 100% wind energy.  It actually saved us 25% since we were on a month to month plan.  It was only 2/10ths of a cent more than the cheapest traditional power plan so how could I not? 
Yearly savings $300-$350
2. Signed up for curb-side recycling.  Almost half of our weekly "garbage" can be easily recycled.  All I had to do was call our trash company.  They come to pick it up for the first time tomorrow.
Yearly cost $48
3. Last month I started taking a sack lunch to work 4 days a week(I let myself go out for a long lunch 1 day a week wherever I want).  Fast food isn't very healthy and all those bags and containers end up in the landfill.  Plus it gives me more down time during my lunch break since I am no longer wasting half my time driving to lunch places and back.  Of course I'm saving money too.
Yearly savings $500-$600
So there you have it.  3 easy changes.
Yearly differences: net $750-900 in savings, 50-60 fewer trash bags in the landfill, and all our electricity will come from renewable sources.  More changes to come so I'll keep everyone posted.
Thanks for the read.

It aint easy being green

It ain't easy being green.....
Why? I don't really know. So much of it seems like common sense to me, that it is hard for me to understand why it has taken all of us so long. We have the technologies, we just don't have direction. There is really no set definition for "green" living, which makes it hard to know what to do. It also covers so many things, big things, things that would take a change by industries and governments.

We need reasons we can all agree upon. I don't know if global warming is true or not. Seems like there are smart people on both sides of the fence. So lets drop it as a reason as to why we should clean up our air. When you are jogging and a semi-trunk drives by, you can tell. It gets hotter and the air gets sticky and it gets harder to breath for a second. No one wants to breath exhaust fumes so lets keep more of it out of the air. It doesn't matter to me if it does or doesn't cause global warming. How is cutting down air pollution a bad thing? Same goes for water pollution, have you ever ordered water at a restaurant and thought to yourself "man I hope there is extra pesticide run-off in my glass." Instead of arguing about the huge-can't wrap your head around scientific studies, lets focus on the things we can agree on.

More recycling, reusing, and re-purposing. I challenge you to spend an hour walking around your city/county landfill. I've been to my county landfill probably half a dozen times, it is a life changing experience. Until you go for yourself, it is really hard to understand the amount of trash we all make. We already have regular garbage service that comes to the where we live, so its not like it would be hard to recycle. How is less trash in the landfill a bad thing? It's not just throwing our cans in a big tub, it's finding new uses for common things; and buying used instead of new.

Reducing our consumption. I'm not saying we can't have the stuff we want, but maybe we should all just take an extra second to think about how much of it we need. It's really about being frugal with what we have. It involves thinking ahead about what we will use during the day. My brother started carrying his own water bottle around, and that alone probably keeps him from buying a dozen water bottles a week. That's money in his pocket and fewer empty bottles in the trash.

Finding other sources of energy. We need clean, safe, and renewable energy. You can't look at pictures from the gulf and think "that looks clean and safe." Listen, I realize that a huge part of our energy needs are met by oil, but eventually it will run out. It may be 20 yrs.... it may be 200. It really doesn't matter. The point is this, as there are fewer sources of easy to reach oil we have to seek out more difficult sources. Like the bottom of the gulf, which if there is an accident, becomes a big problem. Same goes for coal, eventually it will run out, and it puts chemicals and smoke in the air when we burn it. So it's really a question of whether we will be pro-active or re-active.

We need to start doing something... anything. The problems will only get bigger the longer we wait to get serious about them. Making small changes can make a big difference. If all 300 million Americans decided to make it on 10% less: gas, electricity, junk food, trash..... that would be like 30 million people using 0. That is something we could really do and it would be a difference in the landfill and in our wallets.

Thanks for the read.