The Pet Report

Many people try to tell you that green living is hard, that it is un-American, that it’s useless and expensive too. None of those arguments against the green lifestyle are valid. Green living is simply the act of considering the environmental impact that a given action will have and choosing to do things that will either be environmentally neutral or environmentally beneficial. Realistically, these goals are not always possible, but most people want the Earth to be here for future generations and the best way to insure that is to make a lighter personal footprint. A benefit of the “going green” is that it often will save you money and improve your lifestyle too.

A sustainable lifestyle is a “reality-based” decision system. What does that mean? It means that you are aware of where things come from and how they were made. It’s not always easy to find this reality, many people try to hide it from you, because they are aware that if you know the destruction it took to get the product to you, you wouldn’t buy it. If you are buying meat from cows grown on rain forest land that was ripped up for hardwoods and polluted the water, destabilized the soil and destroyed habitat for thousands of animals and indigenous people, is that really worth it being priced at $.25 a pound less? Well, that’s reality. In the internet age there are hundred of resources that can help you on your reality based journey that will make you a green warrior, armed with facts and the power to not buy.

Is “sustainable living” compatible with modern life? Yes, more so than ever. The “green revolution” is over. Everything you need to go green is already in place. You just have to know about them and take the correct actions. The power of consumers choosing green over “not green” will eventually make the Earth a better place for all of us to live. So choose reality-based products and recognize the impact of your actions and make the decisions to not pollute (while recognizing that this is impossible, but you can reduce your pollution footprint), recycle when possible and buy products that were produced from sustainable practices and your power to change the planet will be complete. Nothing and no one get it perfect every time, but by making the changes you can make, you will go a long way to help and the choices will be come easier over time.

As noted previously, part of sustainable living is recognizing how you’re using the Earth’s natural resources and vowing to reduce your pollution and use. Locally this means not dumping toxins (like oil, paint thinner, herbicides, pesticides) into streams or into storm drains. Don’t fire up your fireplace with wet, smoky wood, and use a pellet stove if possible. Buy electricity from “green” sources if you can afford it. Conserve water. Buy a low flow shower head. Turn your water heater thermostat down to 120 or lower. Heat your house to 68 - 70 degrees (F) and cool it to 78 - 75 degrees. The list of easy ways to reduce your personal use of natural resources is endless and you will live just as comfortably as you do now. Not everyone can afford to do everything (or is willing to), but by being a responsible citizen of your community, and the world, you will be helping and that’s what we all need to do.

So what’s next in your quest for sustainable living? Education. Start going to blogs and forums. Read newspapers and articles. Keep learning and thinking about how you can do your part. If every month you can add one little thing you do that promotes sustainability, you will make a huge difference in our world. Thanks for caring

Find all the news and blogs that can help you to Go Green. The Go Green scours the web daily, has tips, tells you about rebates that can save you money, tax credits, and can be your most informativeresource when you want to Go Green.

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