Tuesday, June 16, 2009

It's Easy to be Green!

Going Green. I'm loving how it seems to be a growing trend right now because it's so important to protect our environment! And it's so easy to go Green! So I guess that means today I'll be talking about...

Teens going Green!

As a teen myself, I find that protecting my environment is so important. And it is so easy to do! There are so many different things that teens, themselves, can do in an effort to go Green.

- When using a camera, use rechargeable batteries instead of the one-use batteries. Everytime you recharge the batteries, which also have a longer lifespan, you are saving the environment from numerous batteries being thrown out into it.

- When going shopping, bring your own reuseable bag for the cashier to put your purchases into. It really helps to cut down on the amount of plastic bags being wasted each year. And if you happen to forget your reuseable bag, reuse the plastic bag or throw it into the recycle bin instead of the garbage.

- Recycle! This one is huge! So many items are simply thrown away when they could easily be recycled! Paper, plastic, cans... They can all be tossed into a recycle bin instead of a trash can. It makes it easier, too, when a recycle bin is placed next to a trash can in a house! That way it becomes easier to recycle!

- Turning out lights and shutting down appliances (yes, the computer included!) when not in use cuts down tremendously on the amount of electricity used! And they are so easy to do! When leaving a room, just flip the light switch off or shut down the computer so it is not wasting electricity running all night while you're asleep!

- Carpool! When going out to lunch with your friends, instead of all driving separately, conserve gas and have one person drive everyone to lunch! And you can alternate who drives so it's fair to everyone! This way gas is not wasted unnnecessarily!

These measures are all so easy to use when deciding to go Green. But they're not nearly all the methods available for use. So let's share! What are some of the methods you all use to go Green?

Alyssa Montgomery
http://amontgomery99.blogspot.com/
Author of Where Are You?, Mr. Mysterious, and 9:53 PM (from the Heat of the Moment Anthology).

6 comments:

Legendary Lights said...

Just last night my teen daughter went green. In her hair. Stripes.

But seriously. The battery thing gets me. About a year ago, we started a "dead battery box" in the garage. I was shocked to discover how many batteries we went through in a year. And we had to wait for the hazardous waste day at the local college to get rid of them.

Pam
http://beaconstreetbooks.com

Anonymous said...

We always try to use rechargeable batteries. Saves on storage space.

I am trying to be more aware. One of the things I do is read more eBooks. If more people read eBooks then publishers can cut back on the number of books printed in a print run and then less books will be stripped and thrown away. This is something that really bothers me.

Most readers don't know that when a mass market paperback is returned by a publisher, the cover is the only part that gets stripped and returned and then the rest of the entire book becomes wasted nature. It is heartbreaking.

There is also the storage issue with books. eBooks are so easily stored on a disk and accessible any time a reader wants to go back and enjoy them again.

Excellent post, Alyssa!
http://klsyed.com

Mary Cunningham said...

Great post! If we would all just start with something small, think of the impact it would make to that huge floating garbage swirl in the Pacific!

I always feel superior and smug when I go to the grocery with my resuable green bags. I also give people dirty looks that don't have them. heh-heh.

Mary
http://www.marycunninghambooks.com

Martin Bartloff said...

Alyssa, Great blog !! Keep up the great work and thanks a gazillion for commenting my demo creation!!

--Martin

http://martinbartloff.blogspot.com/

avani said...

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Ophelia Julien said...

You hit on a lot of the recycling issues that get under my skin, especially the batteries. I'm STILL waiting for an event to turn those in.

(I'd also like a place to unload expired meds, to keep them out of the water systems.)