Green Your Online Business

Save the World – All By Yourself

Everywhere you turn, people are looking for ways to go green. The term itself is fast becoming the trend of the decade, and while it’s an overwhelming concept, it can be easily implemented into your everyday life without adding a lot of physical costs. Here are just a few ways you can effectively implement change now.

Electricity

Easily one of the biggest problems today is wasted electricity, and almost all of us do it. We leave our computers on to the tune of $1 billion in wasted energy every year. We use outdated incandescent bulbs, and then leave them on unnecessarily. Many still own energy-inefficient appliances that not only make the bill a bit higher each month, but take valuable electricity off the grid that others could be using. There are lots of quick ways to make changes.

• Turn it off! Whether it’s the light fixture you don’t intend to use in the next fifteen minutes or the computer you planned to leave on all night for no apparent reason hit that off switch and save some electricity for the times when you really need it.
• Buy smarter! Compact florescent light bulbs are available in every shape and size these days at almost every store and ecommerce site. Energy efficient appliances stand out in most home improvement shops and departments stores. There may even be tax credits available for your purchase. Making the shift not only helps the environment, it also helps you save some money on your next energy bill.

Travel Intelligence

From your daily commute to the evening trip to the grocery store to the vacation you’ve been planning, there are a number of things you can do to travel smarter. Start by thinking about your trip to work each day. If car pooling, biking every day, or taking the bus is an option, do it. You may experience some mild inconvenience, but just making a shift once every single week can have a huge impact. Walk or ride your bike to the neighborhood store instead of driving to the huge discount mart across town when you go for groceries. Not only will you be supporting a local business, but you’ll also get some exercise in the process. If you travel for business, see if a videoconference could be an alternative. If you have to travel anyway, consider public transit instead of renting a car at the airport.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

It’s the mantra we’ve been teaching kids for decades, now, but it really will help stop the landfills from hitting their maximum capacity too early. Almost everything can be recycled, and we could all consume a little less. No one needs to print out every email that comes across the connection, and doing so is costing most office employees more than ten thousand sheets of paper every single year. Pay attention to what you don’t need (like all of those plastic bags at the grocery store), reuse whatever you can, and recycle wherever possible.

The bottom line here is that everyone could use some green living tips. Sure, turning your computer off or not printing that one document isn’t going to save the world – but every little bit helps.

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