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2 Going Green In 24 Hours Published by:

3 Introduction Hello and welcome to "Going Green In 24 Hours". Techniques for becoming more eco-friendly can often be divided into two distinct groups. The first are "knowledge-based" principles such as remembering to turn off the tap while you are brushing your teeth or taking showers instead of baths because they use less water. Once you know these steps they are reasonably easy to implement on a regular basis. However the other type of technique for going green are "preparation-based". They work, but you'll need to put some effort into making them happen before you really start to benefit. These are the harder steps to take. They require you to put aside some time - maybe even break into a sweat - to make them a reality. This is the type of tip that you're going to find here in the "Going Green In 24 Hours" report. The concept is simple. We're all busy people. Going green takes time and effort. So rather than expecting you to spend all your waking hours trying to be as environmentally-friendly as possible we want you to put aside a single day to make as many positive changes in your lifestyle as possible. Whether you follow the steps on your own or get together with your friends or family is up to you. Just read through this free report, block off a whole day in the next few weeks and slowly work your way through each of the simple, enjoyable exercises you will find below. Each one will help you to reduce your impact on the planet. When you add them all together you'll be making a massive difference to the environment. So while you're going to be busy during that day you'll also be able to fall asleep contentedly that evening knowing you've really done something positive for yourself and that the hardest part of the process is over. The steps in this report are broken down into four broad sections. Feel free to do the sections in any order you please however for best results try tackling the section that looks least appealing first so that as you go through your "green day" you will find the tasks easier and more enjoyable as you go. Whatever order you choose you should be able to achieve everything in this report in a single day if you out your mind to it - so focus and have some fun with it. Now let's get started going green! Go Shopping Depending on who you are the opportunity to do some guilt-free shopping may fill you with excitement - in which case don't get carried away! Or alternatively you may be a little more like me and loathe the idea of going shopping unless you absolutely have to. If you're one of those people then please feel free to do as much of your shopping online as you like to avoid going into town - especially if it's the weekend. The fact is though that there are a number of simple, cheap items which can be bought to make you considerably more eco friendly. So track them down, buy them and start using them to begin your journey to eco nirvana.

4 Ecoballs Ecoballs are an environmentally-friendly alternative to washing detergents. Detergents can cause all sorts of problems when they get into our water system and can be highly toxic to wild plants and animals. Even if they do smell nice. Ecoballs are placed into your washing machine drum and work by producing ionized oxygen that activates the water molecules allowing them to lift even stubborn stains from your clothes. Even better they work out incredibly cheaply as some can be used for up to 1000 washes making each wash only cost you a few pennies. Incase you can't find them in your local town they can be bought from Amazon (and while you're there check out the glowing reviews from other satisfied customers). Low Energy Light Bulbs One thing that's for certain is that we all use a lot of electricity around our homes. One major source of this is our electric lighting. Old-fashioned light bulbs waste huge amounts of energy by getting hot rather than just giving off light though the latest energy-efficient bulbs can not only save a huge amount of energy but of course also indirectly save you money on your utility bills. Low energy bulbs are available from most supermarkets these days as well as specialist green retailers though as always good-old Amazon also sells them if you're willing to wait a few days for them to arrive before you fit them. Eco Friendly Cleaning Products As with our washing machine detergent many household cleaning products such as washing-up liquid (dish soap), toilet bleach and floor detergents contain harmful chemicals which, if they get into the environment, can cause serious problems. So why not take the time to find more ecofriendly alternatives in your local supermarket so that when your old cleaning products are all used up you can turn over a new leaf? Rechargeable Batteries And Charger From digital cameras to portable games systems, mp3 players and bathroom scales many of the products we rely on in our day-to-day lives require batteries to work properly. Old-style batteries contain an assortment of toxic chemicals which can poison the environment. To reduce this risk invest in rechargeable batteries so you can keep on reusing your batteries rather than disposing of them on a regular basis. And while we're on the subject if you do have any old batteries to throw away try to find a local recycling center so they can be disposed of properly rather than just polluting a landfill site. Tupperware Boxes The amount of food we waste in the developed world is disgraceful. They say that, as an example, for every bag of salad you buy, two others have already been thrown away in the picking and packing process. They say that we throw away 1/3 to 1/2 of all the food we buy. And growing, manufacturing, packaging, selling and transporting food all use precious resources.

5 So the less food we waste, the fewer resources we'll use and the more money we will save. Plastic tupperware boxes allow us to store food in a secure, air-tight container to prolong it's life in the home. It also means we don't have to resort to plastic wrapping, kitchen foil and so on which will add to the rubbish we throw away. Aim to buy a range of sizes of tupperware boxes so you can be confident you'll always have something of appropriate dimensions. Buy Food In Bulk We dispose of a huge amount of packaging each year. Buying food in bulk is not only cheaper for you in the long run but will also drastically reduce the amount of food packaging you throw away. Thanks to your new tupperware boxes it should be easy to decant larger food containers into smaller, more manageable sizes to use around the kitchen and the food should stay fresh at the same time. Consider learning about proper food storage such as freezing guidelines, drying and pickling so you can preserve food in a nutritional condition for as long as possible. Inside Your Home There are so many things you can do in your home to go green that there are whole books on the subject. However as the premise of this report is quick, simple things that you can do that have a very real effect we're not going to talk about fitting double-glazing, getting a wood burning stove or any of the other expensive, long-term investments that many eco warriors recommend. Instead we have a "hit-list" of super-quick tasks that you can get done in the next few hours if you put your back into it. Fix Dripping Taps Check all the taps in your home (and outside if you have them) to make sure there are no drips leading to unnecessary water loss. Often all they need is a new washer and you will save on your water bill as well as reducing water wastage. Vacuum Behind The Fridge The cooling unit on the back of fridges and freezers can quickly become covered in dust as these items can be heavy to move. This dust acts as an insulator forcing your appliances to work much harder than necessary to keep your food fresh. By taking a vacuum cleaner to the rear of your refrigerator and freezer you can quickly remove this dust, meaning you will use less power keeping your food chilled which will save your pocket and the environment. Set Up A Food Diary/Calendar Huge numbers of resources are put into food production, people seem to constantly complain about the price of food and yet we throw away a crazy amount each year. Eggs, ready-meals, fruit and vegetables and so on are all prime culprits. A "clear-out" is as much a part of the weekly grocery shopping as actually going to the shop for many people.

6 By date-checking your food as it comes into the house and placing the best before dates in a diary or calendar you can better plan your meals and so greatly reduce the food you eventually have to throw away. Set Up Recycling Bins Rather than just having a single bin in your kitchen for general waste, do a little research into what recycling facilities are available to you. You might, for example, want to set up a bin just for glass jars and bottles so they can be recycled. You might want a paper bin. Even a compost bin so that you can turn any organic waste into nutritious compost to use in your garden. Crush Rubbish To Take Up Less Space When you throw away any general rubbish, do you best to reduce the volume of it so that we need fewer landfill sites. Squash down plastic containers and tighten the lid if they can't be recycled to squeeze out any excess air. Crush tins, flatten boxes etc. Clear Out And Donate To Charity Spend a few hours sorting through your attic, basement or busiest cupboards to find items you no longer want or need. Rather than throwing them away these items can be taken to a charity shop when you get a chance. This has a number of benefits. Firstly you have more space in your home. Secondly the charity shop that sells your items makes some money - so as this challenge is all about going green try to find a charity shop that takes part in environmental work. Lastly the person who buys your cast offs is reusing existing products rather than forcing manufacturers and retailers to make new ones specially for them. Turn Off Your Bluetooth Do you have Bluetooth on your mobile phone? If so, you may not be aware that if it is switched on - even if you're not using it - Bluetooth can run down your mobile phone battery. And the quicker your battery runs down the more power you need to use to keep it fully-charged. Find your manual or have a search on the internet to figure out how to switch it off if you're not using it. Turn Off 3G In the same way, the fastest mobile phone networks are using 3G technology to allow you to video call, download videos and surf the net on your phone. But if you don't do these things then you're wasting your battery life. The problem is that these networks require far more power to communicate with - even when you're not on the phone - than the old-style networks do. If all you do is send text messages and make calls then the old networks should be just fine for you. So again, consult your manual or check online to see how to turn off these super-fast connections.

7 Check Your Hot Water Timer When does your water heat up each day? Is it on all the time or is it only heated up for certain periods of the day? As most of us are only around for some of the day it makes sense to carefully consider your daily routine and see how closely this matches when you should have hot water. Many people find they can significantly reduce the time their boiler is on for thus further reducing their energy use in the home. Put A Brick In Your Toilet Putting a rock or household brick into the cistern of your toilet means that when you flush it, there is less water wasted. Normally your toilet will still do it's job without any problems and yet you're saving considerable water every time you flush. Turn Off Appliances When Not In Use Leaving electrical appliances on stand-by uses almost as much electricity as leaving them on all the time so many households bleed unnecessary energy use. By actually switching off - or even better unplugging - electrical devices when they're not in use rather than leaving them on standby you will save a surprising amount of electricity and help the planet along the way. In The Garden I hope the weather isn't too bad for you today because there are a number of eco friendly tasks which you can do around your garden too. If it's raining then suck it up, put on some waterproof boots and a jacket and get going because these are important steps towards a greener existence though there are far fewer than most of the other sections. Feed The Wildlife As the human population expands so our wilderness areas continue to shrink and wildlife in many areas is struggling to keep a foothold. Many species of native plants and animals are experiencing severe population reductions so any way we can do our bit to prevent that the better. One simple and enjoyable way to help local wildlife is to provide them with suitable sustenance. Simply putting out bird feeders filled with peanuts, wild bird seed, fat balls, bacon rind and so on can all be beneficial to local wildlife. Leave A Wild Area Another way to do your bit to protect the countryside around us is to create a little wild area in your garden. Seed it with native plants and flowers which will not only produce seeds and help genetic diversity in your locality but these can often be important food plants for local insects. And the more insects you have, the more of the other wildlife that feeds on them you will also have. Pump Up Your Tyres Ensuring that your car tyres are suitably pumped up can improve fuel economy by a surprising 10%. So to save on your driving costs and reduce the fossil fuel use that owning a car results in consult your car's manual and ensure your tyres are pumped up to the correct pressure.

8 Make A Compost Heap There are dozens of different ways to make a compost heap from simple ideas like making a container out of chicken wire in which to put grass clippings, fallen leaves and kitchen waste through to expensive bespoke solutions. Choose whatever you can afford but whatever you do, try to do your bit by turning waste plant material from your home and garden into rich, nutritious compost which you can use to nourish your garden. Plant Some Seeds Food production on an industrial scale is incredibly wasteful and unsustainable. Fortunately many food plants can be grown even in tiny spaces such as window boxes so why not consider creating a small vegetable plot to try and produce as much of your own food as possible? Preparation This section is arguably the easiest of all because most of it involves doing some research - the internet will be perfect. This is probably the best way to end your day by spending your evening infront of the computer making some smart, hassle-free changes without having to put too much effort in! Start Car Sharing If you regularly travel from your home to a certain place - such as your workplace or the local school to drop your children off - consider "car sharing". The more people you can get into a car (within reason!) the better it is for the environment rather than having a number of cars all driving around half empty. Ask around at work or your local school to see if anyone fancies a lift (or giving you a lift!) or check out the various websites online designed as meeting places for potential car sharers. Carbon Off-Set There are now a multitude of websites which will allow you to calculate your carbon footprint and then buy carbon credits to offset the impact you have on the planet. These credits go towards green initiatives such as the planting of trees so they are an excellent and simple way to go green. It should be said that many people over-estimate the benefits of carbon credits in my opinion. Your first priority should always be on reducing your carbon footprint in the first place - and of course the other steps in this report will help you do that - but in today's hectic modern world few of us can live a truly carbon-neutral lifestyle. All of us consume to a degree. Most of us drive. Many of us go on holiday and so on. So for these unavoidable carbon emissions try "doing the best of a bad job" by offsetting this carbon. There are plenty of online calculators for estimating your footprint and many of these are provided by offsetting companies who will then let you buy credits based on your individual circumstances. One example can be found at

9 Volunteer Green charities of all shapes and sizes need as much help as they can get. In order to do as much as possible many have volunteer opportunities where you can help plant trees, recruit new members, survey wildlife and so on. Have a search for your local area to see what is going on close by. Your local wildlife charities can be a great place to start and can lead you to not only doing something worthwhile with some of your free time but also can lead to some exciting adventures along the way. Freecycle Freecycling is all about giving away or receiving items no longer wanted. Rather than selling item such as on ebay they are simply advertised for free if the recipient comes to collect them. By reusing existing items fewer need to be manufactured cutting down your carbon emissions and by giving unwanted items away you will be doing similarly good work. The original site is called Freecycle but there are now plenty of alternative "marketplaces" online for freecyclers. Even if you have nothing to get rid of right now, why not take a few minutes to register so that as and when you either have a clear-out or are looking to buy something new you can log in and make the freecycling sites your first point of call. Join The Library And A DVD Rental Service Why buy books and DVDs when you can rent them? It can be a lot cheaper to borrow items than to buy them, we cut down on manufacturing costs again and realistically once you have read a book or watched a movie there aren't too many that you will want to watch time and again. So take the time to find out about your local library - opening times and so on - and if you can join today. At least download a membership form to drop in over the next few days. Netflix is a great service for watching movies if you live in the USA and Lovefilm is their closest rival in the UK. Organic Box Schemes Rather than buying chemical-laden fruit and vegetables that have been shipped half way across the country (or worse, the world) do your health a favor as well as the environment by looking into organic box schemes near you. Each week you will receive a box delivered to you of fresh, locally-produced and organicallygrown produce for you to enjoy. And besides all those benefits just think of the extra flavor you will be able to enjoy as a result! Write To Your Local Government Office Track down the mailing address of your local government office and take the time to send them a carefully considered letter. Ask them what recycling and otherwise environmentally-friendly services are available in your area. Express the importance of green issues and inquire what they are

10 working on to make being eco-friendly as simple as possible for your community. The more people who write to them on this subject the more notice they will take. Support Local Farmers - Find A Farmers Market Just like our organic box scheme, buying local, seasonal food is far better for the planet (and your taste buds!) than factory-farmed foods from supermarkets. But few people live on just fruit and vegetables so do some internet research to find out where your local farmers markets occur so you can pick up sustainably-produced meat, eggs and dairy products together with a few treats! Bus Timetables/Train Timetables Generally speaking public transport is a far more eco friendly way to get around than driving. So put aside a few minutes to do some research on your local facilities and find out what train and bus routes operate in your local area. Download a timetable if you can so you can make traveling by public transport as easy as possible for yourself. Set Up A Direct Debit To An Environmental Charity Another way to help green charities is to join as a member and set up a regular monthly payment to help support their work. Not only are they guaranteed money to help them do their excellent work but you can do so almost on autopilot each month without having to remember to send them any money directly. Why not take a few minutes now to support the environmental charity of your choice? Switch To Online Billing Save paper by switching your household bills from paper bills to online bills. A quick phone call to each company you receive paper bills from each month should be enough to make this change and some companies will even let you set up this facility on their website without you even needing to speak to anyone in person. Switch To Renewable Energy Contact the company that provides your household electricity and find out if they also offer a renewable energy tariff. Many established energy suppliers do, and if they don't then consider switching to another. It should be said that renewable energy will likely cost you a little extra each month but with all the energy savings you will be making after following the guidelines in this report the difference should be tiny. Switch To An Ethical Bank Most standard banks will loan money to companies with less-than-enviable environmental reputations if the bank feels comfortable that it is a good investment. Green banks in contrast only lend to environmentally-aware companies and so by switching from your standard bank to an ethical bank you can be sure your money is only being used to help the planet rather than damage it. While changing bank accounts may seem like a big deal, many ethical banks now have a smooth process for changing over all your old payments and so on from your old account to your new one

11 so the transition should be virtually painless apart from a little research to decide on which bank is best for you. Get A Bicycle Just as traveling by car is generally bad while public transport and car sharing are much better the best forms of transport are really "human powered" - either traveling on foot or by bicycle. Investing in a bike is a great idea and doesn't need to cost as much as you might immediately think. Whilst brand-new bikes bought from shops can be pricey if you hunt around there is often a sale on and you really don't need the latest in technology if you're just cycling a few miles around town to do some jobs. But there are potentially even cheaper ways to sort yourself out with a bicycle quickly and cheaply. Do some research looking in your local newspaper or shop windows for second-hand bikes for sale for example. Alternatively ask your boss if there are any workplace schemes - as many large companies now have - to make owning a bike and cycling to work more cost-effective. Lastly you can keep an eye on the freecycling websites you registered for earlier so that when one comes up in your local area you can land yourself a free set of wheels. Join Meat-Free Mondays While many of us - myself included - love to eat meat it is unfortunately not very environmentallyfriendly for a whole host of reasons. Some of these involve the inefficiencies of producing quality meat such as the amount of grain it takes to feed livestock for very little return. Some of these involve the space that livestock take up which could be used for growing plant-based foods and there are others such as the methane produced by cattle, rainforest areas being cut down for cattle grazing and so on. The end result is if you want to lessen your impact on the planet then one smart move can be to reduce the amount of meat you eat. Certainly you can just aim to reduce your meat intake in general but there is also a growing movement of giving up meat entirely for one day per week. Which is where the idea of "meat free Mondays" came from. Having lived with some vegetarians for a while I can assure you my eyes were opened about the possibilities of meat-free meals and the delicious smells that emanated from the kitchen each night were enough to convince me to learn more about vegetarian cooking. While I still eat meat I'm no longer so adverse to going "meat-free" for periods of time so why not investigate some delicious, nutritious vegetarian meals yourself and try giving up meat one day a week?