April Tip: Going Green & the Small Things

Going green IS simple, but hard. It's about intentionally avoiding certain efficiencies and shortcuts that damage our environment and create unnecessary waste because it's the right thing to do. It's about giving something, your time or energy, for the good of your community and the long term health of the planet. We're all working to make the planet a greener place, but going green is about the incremental, the small things.

Yes, that's a little bit of a preachy statement, but it's also very true. Recycling means taking the extra moment to set up a sortable trash recycling system, and it might mean an extra errand to take some bottles and cans to a recycling center. But you're lessening the volume of garbage in landfills and you're reducing the demand for raw materials in new goods.

It takes effort to repair leaky faucet heads, or to adjust your sprinkler system to use less water. But your effort is rewarded by saving money.

It might be walking back to the car because you forgot your reusable bags. It might be adding a reusable mug to the array of items you take to work everyday. But you're trimming just a few of the billions of plastic bags and cups that end up in landfills. It's the little things that count when you're going green.

On this Earth Day, we want to encourage everyone (and ourselves) to embrace the small things, embrace the extra few seconds or minute, to build in the extra few moments in your day to make the environmentally conscious choice. So, remember to keep it simple but also to keep it green.

Happy Earth Day!