All of us have some sort of routine to our day. Unless you’re the quintessential adventurer, who doesn’t know what he’s going to end up doing from one moment to the next, there’s a familiar pattern that our life follows on a day-to-day basis. In fact, it’s this very pattern that we seek to break on weekends and during holidays.
If there’s an environmentalist somewhere inside you who wants to do his or her bit for the planet, incorporating a few green practices in the regular course of your day is one of the easiest and most effective ways to start.
Here’s how you can make every day a green day:
6.00am: The dreaded alarm goes off. You somehow manage to fight off the urge to crawl back under the sheets and make your way to the bathroom. With your eyes half-closed, you start brushing your teeth. ONLY you don’t forget to turn the tap off. ONLY you don’t let the water run while you work at those pearly whites. ONLY you remember that water is a precious commodity and make the effort to save it. Find more ways to conserve water here.
6.30am:You go for your morning jog because you take your health seriously. Great! But instead of grabbing that plastic water bottle, you fill your reusable bottle or canteen with filtered tap water. You’ve done your research and you know these plastic bottles are a menace to the environment taking hundreds of years to disintegrate, so why use it when you have a better, cheaper alternative?
7.00am: Time to head for a bath and get ready for work. You know what? A quick shower is just as effective in washing away the germs as a dip in the bathtub. What’s more, it will help you save bucket loads of water and time. For the women, this means they can to do their hair and makeup in leisure. Just make sure all your cosmetics are organic and cruelty free.
7.30am:Morning hunger pangs begin to gnaw at you. Since you’re a smart girl (or guy), you know skipping breakfast is not really healthy. But you can give your drive-in coffee and doughnut routine a miss. Also, why not cook yourself a fresh breakfast from 100 percent organic produce instead of eating sugary cereal from a pre-packaged box? While having breakfast, you check the morning news on your tablet/laptop having canceled your newspaper subscription to save paper.
8.00am: Hallelujah! You’re ready to head for work on time. Leave those car keys behind because you’re not going to need them when you walk to work. If that’s not an option, consider biking or taking public transport. Won’t work either? Car pool with others in your neighborhood and you can together save both money and fuel.
8.30am: Reach work but can’t function without your morning cup of Jo, so you head straight for the coffee machine. The difference is that you’re armed with your reusable coffee mug because you know drinking coffee from paper cups is wasteful and not really environment-friendly.
12.30pm:Engrossed in work, you suddenly remember that you need to take some prints. Thinking like an environmentalist, you decide to print on both sides of the paper. You also request your bank statements and utility bills be sent to you by email instead of snail mail.
1pm: You get to the cafeteria for a well-deserved lunch break. But unlike a lot of your colleagues who are eating out of Styrofoam take-out containers, you dig into a healthy lunch packed from home in a reusable plastic box or brown bag. Easy on the environment, easy on the tummy, and easy on the pocket!
5.30pm: Time to call it a day and head back home to your family. You turn off your computer completely and switch off the lights in your office before leaving.
6pm:You’re home in time to sort some of the waste that’s been staring at you for way too long now. So, you collect all the plastic containers, glass bottles, soda cans, and other sundry scraps of metal and make an appointment with your local scrap yard or specialty recyclers like Sims Metal Management with centers spread from Albany, NY to Memphis, TN.
6.30pm: You take out the trash after making sure that all the waste has been placed in proper bins – garbage, recycle, and food. The first type of trash is meant for the landfills/incinerators, the second is processed for reuse, and the third should be composted.
7pm: You begin unwinding as the day draws to a close. While the smell of freshly cooked dinner fills up the house, you decide against watching television and play a board game with the family. Oh, the laughter, the joy, and the power you are able to save by abandoning the TV will be stuff you remember long time from now.
And that’s how you make every day of your life a green day. So, when do we start?
