While we’ve mentioned many small daily wins to start you on a path towards clean, green living, there are endless ways you can incorporate larger scale practices to make a deep, resonating difference for the good of our beautiful planet.

Updating your home with green practices will eventually reduce costs for yourself and your family by capturing our natural resources, harmlessly. Here is a handy checklist of practical, everyday living practices you can start implementing today!

Water should be treated as a privilege

• Try saving rainwater and/or shower water in buckets to water plants with. You can use larger barrels to capture more to use in periods of drought if you live in dry areas like Southern California.
• Speaking of droughts, if it’s yellow, let it mellow. Our sterile lifestyles have resulted in us treating water waste like the expected norm. Resist the urge to flush so often and run your faucet for the rinse only.
• No need to leave the water running while you’re brushing your teeth or washing your hands and dishes.

Energy should be used when needed, not wasted for convenience

• Make sure to only have lights turned on when you need them—your entire home or office does not need to remain lit when no one is using the rooms.
• Purchase solar panels for your roof, and let the energy rich light from the sun power your lighting, warm your home and your water, and anything else you need to plug in and spark up.

Paper and plastic waste ultimately means our demise – save the trees and our oceans

• Bring your own grocery and produce totes, don’t ask for paper or plastic.
• Use hand-dryers in public restrooms or give your hands a manual shake before resorting to many paper towels.
• Start a book club and swap books or look for good reads at the library instead of ordering a brand new print on Amazon, having it shipped to you in plastic packaging (Digital books are another great option to save paper waste.)
• Request no receipt if you have the option, and unsubscribe from junk mail in your mailbox via catalogchoice.org.
• Keep reusable containers, utensils, and straws in your car for takeout food, and bring your own to-go containers to restaurants to save your leftovers in healthy, waste-free glass.

Food waste is a devastating loss of the gifts our earth provides for us

• Save your scraps! Many vegetable scraps can be saved in the freezer to be made in vegetable stock for soups and savory grains.
• Composting is also a major component of cutting back on food waste for those scraps that won’t be making their way into any broth that you’d want to drink—it makes a marvelously nutrient-rich broth for your soil, however!
• Start a membership with a CSA box like Imperfect Foods… another great way to battle food waste.

Go green when traveling 

• If walking is within reason, plan for it.
• If you live in a temperate climate, there is almost no excuse not to ride a bike when you can.
• Mass transit is becoming more and more convenient, and saves you from parking troubles, tickets, and cab fares.
• When you do drive, an electric or hybrid vehicle is the most conscientious choice. 

Go above and beyond

• Research local sustainability guides and practices. Like cleanla.com.
• Write to your congress demanding better sustainability practices and outlets for your community.
• Donate to non-profits organizations that help protect our planet. We love Coolearth.org and SeaSave.org. 

Our planet thanks you for making sustainability an important part of your life. Check back often to see how we are improving our commitment to a sustainable lifestyle and the tools we use.