You could decide to lose weight—again—or this year you could resolve to lighten the load you leave on the planet. To help, we’ve outlined a series of small changes that add up to big results and divvied them up by time frame—tasks you can complete today, in the next week, during the next month and over the course of the next year. Breaking your efforts into smaller, more manageable tasks isn’t a cop-out: By following this plan, each small step adds up to changes that will benefit the health of the planet—and, yes, even your own health—immediately and in years to come.

Food
Over the course of the year,your goal is to educate yourself about food—where it comes from, how it’s packaged and transported, and what happens to the waste—so you can make wiser choices at every meal.

This week, start at the end: Research your composting options. Throwing food scraps in the garbage may seem innocuous, but decomposing food not only clogs landfills, it also releases methane—a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. And encasing food scraps in a plastic bag or landfill keeps fruits and vegetables from replenishing the soil, increasing our dependence on chemical fertilizers.

The University of Arizona estimates that if every American household reduced the amount of food it throws away by half, we’d cut our entire environmental impact as a country by 25 percent. Aim to do your part by composting your fruit and vegetable scraps. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, check out a no-fuss option such as the Once a Year Compost Bin ($139.99; cleanairgardening.com). Or find local resources that will accept your food waste, such as a community garden, recycling center or farmer’s market, and start storing scraps in your freezer until you can make a drop-off.

Transportation
Vow to take two fewer car trips over the next seven days, replacing them with walking, biking or public transportation. Keep tracking each car trip in your notebook, and start writing down how many gallons of gas you’re buying each time you fill up. And for each car trip you do without, note any other benefits you reap beyond saving gas—such as fresh air, exercise, community interaction or reading time—so you can see the full spectrum of ways that driving less impacts your daily life.

Energy
Schedule an energy audit to get a list of suggestions for reducing your home’s energy use. You can either get a free audit from your local utility— the best choice if you rent since their suggestions tend to be smaller-scale projects, such as weatherstripping—or from an energy assessment professional. The latter is the best choice if you own your home, since they specialize in larger projects such as helping you choose efficient heating and cooling systems.

A professional assessment will run $350 to $550 but will likely pay for itself in energy savings if you end up making a major improvement. To find a certified building energy rater, visit resnet.org. And if you think an energy audit isn’t worth the time or money, think again. “An energy audit will help you focus on the top one or two purchases that will have the biggest impact on your home energy use,” says Josh Dorfman, author of The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget ($14.95, STC, 2009).

Open a savings account devoted to green home improvements. Look at your budget and see what you can set aside toward a new efficient appliance, hot water heater or furnace. Even if it will take a couple of years to get there, it will pay off in the long run.

Everyday Purchases
Create your own personal “Going Green” kit. Small purchases that can add up to a big impact include: – reusable tote bags
- stainless steel water bottle
- travel coffee mug
- BYO-lunch supplies—an insulated carrier, utensils and wax paper or aluminum foil (instead of plastic wrap)
- compact fluorescent light bulbs

By Kate Hanley

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BulbAmerica.com makes the transition easy AND affordable!  You can select from a wide variety of lighting options, including Stage & Studio, Medical, Aviation, Automotive, Marine, Outdoor Lighting, General Lighting and many more.  You can find ways to save energy and money at home, at the office, and more! 

BulbAmerica.com offers ALL top, high quality brand names like GE, Osram Sylvania, Philips and Ushio as well as other brands.   Their light bulb catalog contains more than 16,500 products as well as 4,500 lighting equipment.   If you cannot find it here, I am not sure where you will find it!

Why choose BulbAmerica’s product line?

1. NO ONE CAN BEAT THEIR PRICES!  And that is important to those of us trying to SAVE money!
2. NO QUESTIONS ASKED when it comes to returning a product because the customer is ALWAYS right!  (Don’t you love that kind of customer service policy?!)
3. Excellent customer service with more than 28 dedicated knowledgeable agents.
4. Experienced & knowledgeable technical support team
5. ALL items in stock!
6. Shipping order within 24 hours

If you are looking to go green with your lighting options at home, at work, for students or dorm rooms, or at play, look no further than BulbAmerica.com!  Energy Saving Bulbs – 10% off ALL Fluorescent Bulbs – use Coupon Code: 10bacj10005   *Use Coupon Code for all Green Office Home readers!*

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Unfortunately, what also comes to mind are kind of noisy and smelly lawn mowers, leaf blowers, chain saws and more that help to maintain my lovely lawn and garden areas.   I often find myself trying to drive far around the landscaping companies that maintain the green spaces in and around my neighborhood and community as the tools that they are using cause a great deal of noise and air pollution.  While I certainly do enjoy the green spaces and can appreciate the environmental impact that they offer, I wonder about the trade-off in the environmental impact in the nosiy and dirty way in which those green spaces are kept green and lush.

The good news is that you can create lush, green spaces for your home or even your community, without worrying about the environmental impact of the tools and equipment used in maintaining and grooming the landscaping.  Now, of course, many of us have not-so-fond memories of push mowers, right?  That is certainly one way to cut your lawn in a “green” manner.  However, Green Garden Tools offers a variety of lawn mowers and other landscaping tools that are truly “green” and incredibly easy to use.  I was amazed by the following information on the Green Garden Tools website:

“Every weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns and tend to their gardens while using more than 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants.

Don’t let the fact that their engines are small lead you to believe that they don’t pollute. In most cases, they can be worse the automobiles when it comes to pollution. In fact, ONE lawn mower can produce as much pollutants equivalent to driving 43 new cars 12,000 miles every year!

Even smaller garden equipment engines such as trimmers and edgers can be detrimental to the environment. Having had unregulated emissions until recently, gas-powered lawn and garden tools emit high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. To put this in perspective, according to the EPA, lawn and garden equipment produces up to 5% of the nation’s air pollution each year.

By shifting to eco-friendly lawn and garden tools, you can help reduce the impact that lawn and garden equipment has on the earth. Electric, battery-powered, and even propane-powered equipment helps fight pollution, reduces our dependence of foreign oil, reduces outdoor water consumption, and eliminates harmful fumes from being emitted into the atmosphere.”

Green Garden Tools makes it easy to not only impact the earth with green gardening equipment, but they also help you keep more “green” in your wallet with money-saving and eco-friendly garden tools!  Many of these tools are also far more efficient than their gas-guzzling counterparts, saving you time on tending to your lawn and garden as well.  Saving the earth, saving money AND saving time…what more can you ask for when it comes to tending to your green spaces and enjoying your lawn and garden?!  Visit Green Garden Tools today to “Go Green” with ECO FRIENDLY landscaping tools from Green Garden Tools and the LOWEST PRICES on the Internet!

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Did you know that live, green plants in the home or office can actually help to purify the air? Houseplants can help to decrease the presence of volatile organic
chemicals (VOCs) in the home and office,  including formaldehyde, benzene,trichloroethylene and xylene by absorbing the VOCs and breaking them down. Live plants can be a wonderful gift for a new mom who wants to ensure a healthy home for her baby and family! Such a joyous time calls for a special delivery. Celebrate baby and pamper mom (and dad) with a beautiful plant gift!

I recently read that a Norwegian study that found that office workers whose spaces had plants reported 23 percent fewer complaints of fatigue, stuffy noses, coughing and eye irritation than workers who had no plants nearby. Isn’t that amazing?  What better gift for an office manager who needs to run an efficient office and for fellow co-workers who cannot afford lost time due to getting sick?!

Did you know that indoor plants can help to create a more calm, serene and quiet atmosphere? If your home or office is located on a noisy, busy street or intersection, you can use plants to block that noise! You can create a natural “hedge” of plants in a window well, or in front of windows and significantly reduce noise pollution. This makes giving life plants a great idea for the home office, or for a student. Think of those loud dorm rooms, and how a few live plants could help your student create a more quiet study space!    Show your appreciation for a favorite teacher or professor with a green gift of a live plant, and help them to create an ideal calm learning environment! Signal your gratitude with a plant that conveys your heartfelt appreciation. Shop GivingPlants.com!

Did you know that indoor plants can help you reduce levels of stress, increase your productivity at home or in the office and even aid in recovery and healing? There is something about capturing the outdoors in your indoor environment that helps reduce stress and create a more positive and productive environment.

Hospitals that have live indoor plants that patients can enjoy, even small indoor gardens that they can help to tend, find that patients spend less time recuperating from illnesses than patients who do not enjoy live green plants in their rooms, recreational centers, etc.    While flower can brighten up a hospital room, or the day of a patient recuperating at home, the gift of a live, green plant can not only brighten their room and day, but also positively impact a loved one’s recovery. Plants are healing. They enliven a space, add positive energy and express your good intentions for recovery. A beautiful way to say “get better.” Shop GivingPlants.com Now!

Finally, did you know that indoor plants can work as a natural humidifier in your home or office? A home or office that has proper levels of humidity and is not too dry is a healthier home, and a healthier and more productive office!  Add plants to do the job for you, and use plants to help detect when a room or office is getting a bit too dry.   You will easily detect if humidity levels are too low in the foliage and health of the plant.

So, the next time you want to give the generous gift of nature, give a live plant. While cut flowers and floral arrangements can be quite lovely, that beauty is fleeting. A live plant is a green gift that keeps on giving! Send Gifts that Grow – Living Plants for the People you care for. Buy Now!

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So what is the solution?  SCE suggests unplugging consumer electronics when they are not in use.  A stunning energy fact: even when turned off, CD players in the U.S. consume enough energy in one year to power the Las Vegas Strip for six months.

As a consumer, you do have choices.  You can select consumer electronic items with the “Energy Star” rating, as these products use less energy, and this has a direct impact on your ability to create a greener home and impact your wallet by controlling soaring energy costs!

You can also select items with fewer “bells and whistles”.  For example, I have a clock in my kitchen, and I do not need redundant clocks on my kitchen small appliances.  I try to buy small appliances that do the same job, but have fewer features, and they also use less energy.   I am also not setting dozens of clocks around the entire house anytime there is a brown out or power outage!

And, as someone who LOVES to cook, I strive to use fewer electronics in my cooking, and more of my own personal energy.  I rarely, if ever, use my hand mixer any more, I prefer to do that work myself (and give my arms a great workout!).  Ditto with the food processor.  While it saves time to quickly “chop” veggies in my food processor, I can save electricity and money by taking a few more moments to chop them myself.   There is something really enjoyable about chopping veggies and other foods and putting that care and love into the meal I cook for my family.

Do you have any special energy saving tips to share?  We would love to hear from you!

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However, we have truly found a solution, beyond taking all of the allergy medicine available over the counter.   Our allergist has recommended that we look into air purification, and we have our eye on two air purifiers from Alen:

Desktop Air Purifier by Alen

T100 Desktop HEPA Air Purifier:  The Alen T100 air purifier combines a HEPA air filter, an activated carbon filter with an ozone-safe Ionizer to in one tiny package that packs a powerful punch! The HEPA filtration in the T100 air purifier eliminates pollen, pet dander, mold spores, dust and dust mites, while the Ionizer in the T100 air purifier promotes a healthy environment and the built in carbon filter in the T100 air purifier eliminates odor. Yes indeed this is a small but mighty air purifer!  Perfect for a home office, or to keep your your office area at work free of allergens and even those funky office odors. 

Even great for college students and dorm rooms, keeping your students healthier!

And our true favorite, a GREEN air purifier!

Paralda, Green Air Purification for Your Office or Home

Paralda HEPA Air Purifier:  The Paralda air purifier has multi-filtration technology contains HEPA filtration, an ozone safe Ionizer and a long-lasting ultraviolet light.  The HEPA filter in the Parlada air purifier has been tested to remove 99.42% of airborne particles like dust, dust mites, pet dander, mold spores and pollen.  The long-lasting UV light in the Paralda air purifier has proven to eliminate 98% of airborne bacteria and viruses.  The Paralda air purifier combines the ozone-safe ionizer which promotes an environment of health and rejuvenation.

The Paralda air purifier is green – literally.  The translucent exterior poetically suspends the bamboo green interior portraying a feeling of freshness.   The Paralda air purifier is also green, in design; it’s RoHS compliant, Energy Star qualified and ozone safe.

Yet another great idea for college students, dorm rooms, office areas and more.  If you are a traveler, you can use this in on your travels, in a variety of ways, keeping you healthier and able to fully enjoy your travels.

So, we have our plan in place to get fresher, purer, cleaner air to improve our health and wellness…and still GO GREEN!  For more green home ideas, check out our Green Home Cleaning page, our Green Home Decor page or our Green Home Entertaining page.  Click here for Green Health and Wellness suggestions, tips and resources.

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Go Green Reminder!

I love the idea of using a financial reward system to land a habit.  Here are some ways you could help your friends and family go green with financial inspiration:

*  Every time you catch a green habit, put a quarter in the piggy bank.  At the end of the month, you may have enough to buy a pizza, go out for ice cream, or put aside for a fun family event. 

*  Every time you catch someone NOT behaving green, they need to pay a “fine” to the piggy bank.  Maybe leaving the lights on costs a quarter, forgetting to put a full load in the dishwasher another quarter, leaving the TV on after they leave the room, etc.  This can still be fun, and certainly a way to get friends and family members to remember to go green!

*  Every time someone at the office forgets to act green, they also have to pay a “donation” to the communal green piggy bank fund!   You can appoint a “Green Captain” to remind fellow office mates to put their glass bottles or aluminum cans in the recycler, turn off lights behind them, power down their computers, etc.  An office can go green very quickly, and save a company a great deal of money by making small changes.  At the end of the month, you can use the funds to help pay for an office party, or buy green office supplies!

The possibilities are endless, and this can become a very fun and inspirational way to remember to go green every day.  To have a financial reminder truly becomes a reward system when you can find fun ways to spend that money, even investing it in more green home and office products!  VivaTerra – Eco Living with Style.  Find natural home décor, unique women’s accessories, elegant dinnerware, organic gifts and more.

Going green is a reward in itself, but to share that reward with friends, family or collegues can make it even more fun!

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Green Printing Resource

Green office home has recently been faced with the fact that our 9 year old printer has given up on us.  It took its last brave gasp…and now I am faced with having to buy a new printer.  While starting to look for a new printer, I also really evaluated how “green” I am, my business is, and even my family is, in our combined printing habits.  Shockingly, the proof was not only in my home office, in my recycling pile, but also in the receipts that I have accumulated and tallied.   I honestly cannot say that I realized how incredibly much that copy paper and ink cartridges were truly costing me!  OUCH!

Unfortunately, it is tough to print “less”.  But I know that I can print “smarter”.

I found that I could go far greener with a fantastic resource, ecoPrint2.  I love their claim of “Saving the World, One Printer at a time”.  Well, I am certainly signing up my printer to print greener and help save natural resources! 

They offer two key products, ecoPrint2:  Ink and Paper Saver and ecoPrint2:  Ink and Toner Saver.  What are these products?

ecoPrint2 Pro:  Ink and Paper Saver is a convenient download in which you can cut down on both ink and paper usage.  How?   ecoPrint Pro Ink and Paper Saver is a printer driver that helps you control the ink you want to use and how you want your pages arranged so you maximize your paper usage.  You can cut your ink usage by 3/4, print your document on only one page, and even combine pages from different documents…and…DO ALL THREE AT ONCE!  So cool!  Works for inkjet and laser printers, and your print quality is not sacrificed. 

ecoPrint2:  Ink and Toner Saver is another download which is a background application that allows you to cut up to 3/4 of your ink usage with one click.  You can set your ink and toner ratios, and even set ink saving profiles, still get high print quality and track your ink savings with a handy savings calculator! Save Ink, Save Money, Save the World with ecoPrint2 Ink and Toner Saver.

For a small business owner, this could save hundreds, even THOUSANDS of dollars each year.  For your student, this is a great gift to help them to save money and still produce high quality school and college products.  For a larger business, I can hardly think of the savings, not to mention the amazing way in which any business can make a commitment to improving not only their bottom line, but also the environment.  Want to know what your savings could be in ink, paper, even water and solid waste?

Immediately visit the ecoPrint2 website and calculate your printer’s ecological footprint (sit down for this exercise!) and see how ecoPrint2 can help you not only impact the environment, but also your budget.   Calculate the savings for your printer, your small business printer, your students’ printing needs, even calculate the savings if you are an office manager or operations manager struggling to cut costs in a smart way.  To demonstate, here is my calculation just using the numbers for my “home” printing use (mostly forms for kids’ school and activities, the kids’ school projects, etc) I found the following:

Current printer eco footprint vs.  My potential eco footprint with ecoPrint2 Pro:

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Making it Easy to Go Green!

Green office home is curious to know if you are sometimes as overwhelmed by green choices as we sometimes feel?!  We, too, want to create a greener lifestyle, save money on our energy bills and ensure a healthier planet for our children and grandchildren to inherit.  However, it is a challenge to sift through the great deal of information, the onslought of product offerings and this expert or that expert telling us how to best “go green”.  If you want to get some sound, knowledgeable, and real world advice, we recommend “The Rewards of Making Energy Efficient Choices”, by David Nelmes, offered by Alternative Power Choices.

In this book, you will get how very easy it can be to “go green”.   Here are some of the key topics covered to help you make green choices for your home and/or office:

In addition, Alternative Power Choices offers many of the kinds of products that are covered in the book so you can make a fully informed decision prior to making an investment in your greener home or office!   Discover the Best Energy Saving and Renewable Energy Products.

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True Green College Starter Kit

Are you a green college student looking for ways to create a greener, more eco-friendly experience for your dorm room? Are you passionate about doing your part to sustain Earth’s precious natural resources?

Do you have an eco-aware college student who will be going to school soon, and you want to send them off with an incredible green care package? Or, do you want to encourage your student to be more green and begin their independent life as a greener young adult?

The Truegreen College Starter Kit is a fantastic way to kick off your college experience in an eco-friendly way! Here is what the Truegreen College Starter Kit offers:

Truegreen College Starter Kit is filled with Earth Friendly, People Friendly products that contain ONLY 100% recycled content! Truegreen products are hypoallergenic, non-toxic and biodegradable making it safe for both you and the environment.

(1) 32oz Glass Cleaner

(1) 32oz All purpose Cleaner (Citrus)

(1) 8.4 oz Foamy Handsoap (Citrus)

(1) 16oz Ultra Dish Soap (Citrus)

(1) 32oz 3x Ultra Laundry Detergent (Free and Clear)

(1) 40 Count Wet Dryer Sheets (Lavender)

(1) Kitchen Towels (4-Pack) 2-Ply, 90 Count, 11″ X 9″ Per Sheet

(2) Premium Bath Tissue (4-Pack) 2-ply, Jumbo 500 Count, 11″ X 9″ Per Sheet

(3) Facial Tissue 2-Ply, 100 Count.

(1) Natural Jute (Burlap) Grocery Shopping Bag (Reusable)

(1) O/W Jute (Burlap) Grocery Shopping Bag (Reusable)

(1) Duffel Bag (Burlap) Reusable

(1) Double Laundry Washing Ball

(1) Laundry Dryer Ball

And, for Green Office Home readers and followers, we have the following EXCLUSIVE savings for you! Enter the following codes at check out and not only will you be positively impacting our Earth, but also positively impacting your wallet!

Coupon Code 20369: Free Shipping on all orders of $150 or more.
Coupon Code 20368: Take $10.00 Off Orders of $75.00 or more.
Coupon Code 18466: Take $5.00 off Orders of $50 or more.

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