Category Archives: Environment

Eco-House

Embracing Green Living As a Full-Time Lifestyle

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Guest Blogger: Victory Lean Eco-House

Living a green lifestyle has come along way in the last few decades. Once considered a fad, green living has moved from being more than just a trend into an effective lifestyle for individuals and families that fully embrace the process.

What is Green Living?

Simply stated, green living requires stewardship in caring for everything an individual purchases, eats, uses or consumes and the effect it has on nature and the earth. Incorporating green living as a natural way of existing requires consumers to make conscious decisions on purchases they make every day. They need to understand the effect their actions have on the world and the environment around them.

Many people incorporate green living as a natural way of life for a variety of reasons. Most understand that all of the resources that are found on earth are finite. This means that once they have been consumed, processed, mined or used, they will be forever gone. Without curbing our appetite or finding some alternative, most of the resources that we all have become highly dependent upon will sometime in the future be completely depleted. Similar to the extinction of animal species, once a natural resource has been completely depleted, its existence will be gone forever.

Conserving Resources

By conserving resources, the way we live life can remain stable for now. Green living provides a variety of benefits to the community, the family and the individual. It can be accomplished in a variety of ways from simple adjustments in daily living (reusing a grocery bag) to making the most out of renewable resources (installing solar panels or driving hybrid cars).

Many individuals consider living green as the only sensible way of existing. Many of the items in our daily world are reusable in its current form. These include grocery bags, drinking containers, and other items.

The lifestyle centered around living green is based on minimalism. More than just the types of products that are purchased, it is the minimal amount of purchases individuals make that helps to reinforce a green living lifestyle. Having enough, or being content with what an individual has will help make the most out of all the resources that are available, while providing enough for everyone.

Specific Guidelines

What you eat, what you want, what you can do on your own, and how you can make the most out of recycled materials are the basis of living a green lifestyle. Each one specifically includes:

  • What You Eat – Individuals that live a green lifestyle watch what they purchase, grow and consume. They focus on purchasing locally grown organic foods and meats from those that live in their community and the surrounding area. The green living individual understands the process of growing the fruits and vegetables and raising farm animals, along with the pesticides and hormones that are incorporated into the process. They read labels on every product they consume and avoid foods that have been overly processed.
  • What You Want – Individuals and families that incorporate green living into their lifestyle will avoid impulse buying. Deciding what they want is based more on what they need. This helps to consume less and conserve more. By purchasing only what is required, they save the planet’s resources for the future.
  • What You Can Do – Whenever an item is broken, it might have the potential of being repaired or restored. Learning what an individual can do provides many do-it-yourself opportunities that save resources, and money. What an individual can do might also include the ability to grow their own foods and raise their own meat.
  • Enhancing the Surroundings – Without continuing stewardship, the environment can get ugly very quickly. Cleaning up the surrounding area will improve the environment, while beautifying the area.
  • Reuse, Reduce, Recycle – Green living individuals and families know how to make the best out of reducing what it is they need, reusing products that have alternative uses, and recycling every product they can. The recycling process is designed to help save the planet and create a better and stronger environment. Recycling often includes making better purchase selections including reusable grocery bags or shopping with a recycled basket. It can include reducing the need for fossil fuels by riding a bicycle or walking to the grocery store instead of driving the family car.

There are many significant ways to make small adjustments in daily living. This includes turning down the water heater, turning off the tap instead of letting it run, minimizing the idling of the car and many more simple reducing options.

Through a proactive approach, any home, family or individual can improve their daily life by reducing the amount of resources they require. As a benefit of adopting green living as a lifestyle choice, money can be saved, energy efficiency improved, and the need for resources reduced.

About the Author

Victory Lean is a writer at Di Cigs.com – an Electronic Cigarette showcase site. She likes to share lifestyle tips and advices for healthy living.

Hoarding

Overwhelmed with Clutter: 5 Steps to Overcoming a Hoarding Habit

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Guest Blogger: Dixie SomersHoarding

Clutter is a problem for many Americans. When it goes from clutter to chaos, it becomes hoarding. While it can seem nearly impossible to clean up a home that is overwhelmed with clutter, you aren’t doomed to a life in a messy house. Follow these five steps to overcome your hoarding habit.

1. Analyze Why You Hoard

Figuring out why you have so much clutter is the first step toward getting rid of it and breaking the habit. Many people keep things “just in case” they’ll need them later. Others keep unnecessary clutter because of emotional attachments to objects. Determining why you keep things you don’t really need will help you immensely during the cleanup process.

2. Examine Each Item in Your Home

Clearing clutter from your home won’t be a fast process. It’s okay to take your time and examine the items in your house to determine whether or not you really need them and why you’ve kept them for so long. As a general rule of thumb, items that you haven’t used in more than one year should be sold or given away if they don’t have considerable financial value. Start by examining one room or one section of a room at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

3. Get Rid of Easy Things First

Most people that hoard realize that they have some items that they simply do not need once they start the cleanup process. That’s because unimportant items like junk mail just tend to accumulate when your home is full of clutter. Take the time to get rid of those items first. It will be easy for you to do, and you’ll start to see how much better your home will look when it’s finally completely free of clutter.

4. Rent a Storage Unit

If you have items that you don’t need in your home but you absolutely want to keep – items like pieces of antique furniture passed down by family members for example, renting one of the many Baltimore MD storage units can be very helpful. You’ll be able to keep the things that matter to you for a low cost, but they won’t be in your way and creating clutter on a daily basis.

5. Ask for Help

Cleaning an entire house on your own can be a really difficult task. In fact, most hoarders that want to overcome their problem simply aren’t up to it because it’s just so overwhelming. That’s why it’s important to ask friends and family members you can trust to pitch in. Ask a friend to get rid of recyclables or toxic items; ask another to take care of old furniture that you don’t want to keep. You’ll be surprised how many people are willing to help you build a better life in a clutter-free home. If you feel your hoarding problem is serious enough, it is advised to seek help from a mental health professional.

About the Author

This article was written by Dixie Somers. If you’re looking for a good place to store your necessary belongings, visit  http://www.extraspace.com/Storage/Facilities/US/Tennessee/Memphis/501756/Facility.aspx.

airplane

Ways to Prevent Noise Pollution

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Guest Blogger: Kathryn Shepherd

Noise pollution can affect you physically as well as mentally. You may become deaf and it can cause fatigue. While on the other side, it can also cause you some psychological changes. As the world turns more forward-thinking, noise goes up. The most common type of noise pollution at the present is from transportation, mainly automobiles, motorcycles, and aeroplanes.

In the modern era of developments and innovations, noise pollution is always on the rise. So it becomes important to adopt ways which can help you prevent noise pollution. Some of the ways that can help you prevent noise pollution are given below:

  • Make your rooms – especially those ones where piano, guitar, or any type of music is played – sound proof so that sounds of these devices don’t cross the room and cause any noise pollution in the outside. This can be done easily with curtains, carpets, and by closing windows and doors while playing on these musical instruments.
  • Make use of fabric windows instead of plastic or wooden shades.
  • Beep your car horn only when it is really needed.
  • Switch off your radio, TV, or music player when you are not listening to it for a long time.
  • Barking by dogs also causes noise pollution. Training them properly can prevent this kind of noise.
  • Use your calm voice while conversing with others. Don’t shout or scream.
  • Keep the nature clean and green by planting more trees and plants around your living area. Plants and trees help in sound reduction by absorbing it while also keeping the air clean.
  • Keep the sound volume of music played on computers and speakers low. It can cause damage to your as well as others’ ears.
  • Do your dishes or hammering, or some other thing which creates a lot of noise, on a rubber mat which can reduce the generation of noise pollution.
  • Large usage of DJ systems at public functions also causes noise pollution. So cutting down on it can also help in reducing noise pollution.

Some of the causes described above may not cause noise pollution individually; but as a whole, it causes a lot of damage. So for the betterment of you, your family, friends and relatives, and all of those around you, try not to be a part of those things that cause noise pollution. Follow the above methods that will help reducing the noise pollution and will make you a part of a noble cause. It is very important to take strict steps to get rid of noise pollution.

About the Author

Kathryn is the author for Chrisalex Corp. She also writes for a website that offers online aging booth adding effects of smoking, weight gain, obesity, and sun exposure to your shot at www.ageme.com.

The Truth about Inhalants

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Guest Blogger: Gregg Gustafson

A responsible parent would never keep prescription or illicit drugs around the house within arm’s reach of their children. However, most average US households allow children access to plentiful supplies of substances just as dangerous, and even easier to abuse—inhalants. Unfortunately, many parents are not aware of this potentially deadly use of common household items or by the time they are, it is often too late.

What and Where

Inhalants can take the form of liquids, sprays, or gases. Examples of products used for each type of inhalant include:

Liquids

  • Correction fluid
  • Gasoline
  • Kerosene
  • Glue
  • Paint thinner
  • Felt-tip markers
  • Solvents
  • Degreasers

Sprays

  • Cooking spray
  • Spray paint
  • Spot remover
  • Fabric protectant
  • Hair spray
  • Deodorant
  • Lubricants
  • Engine choke cleaners

Gases

  • Butane lighters
  • Whipped cream cans
  • Propane tanks
  • Canned refrigerants
  • Chloroform
  • Anesthetics used by doctors and dentists such as ether and nitrous oxide AKA, “laughing gas”

Nitrites

There is a fourth type of inhalant in a special class of its own because it acts directly on the nervous system. These inhalants are called nitrites and are referred to as “poppers” or “snappers” by those who use them. Often used for sexual enhancement, nitrites are found in room deodorizers, leather cleaners, and also happen to be found in many foods as a preservative.

Slang

There are many slang terms used both for the act of abusing inhalants and for the inhalants themselves. The most common term for inhalant use is “huffing”, but it can also be referred to as “sniffing”, “bagging”, or, “dusting”. The list of slang used to refer to inhalants is quite long, but some of the more common terms include: air blast, aroma of men, bullet bolt, buzz bomb, chroming, discorama, glading, hippie crack, moon gas, poor man’s pot, Satan’s secret, Texas shoe shine, and whippets.
Who’s Using

Inhalant abuse is not new and unfortunately is on the rise. Preteens and early teens seem to be the main demographic using inhalants. According to a recent publication by the University of Virginia Health System, by eighth grade, one in every five kids will have used inhalants, and among 12-year-olds, inhalant use is more common than marijuana, cocaine, and other hallucinogens combined. A disturbing statistic released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported that in 2008, nearly 5 percent of girls between the ages of 12 and 17 had used inhalants to get high. This figure was up from 4.1 percent in 2002

Accurate statistics about deaths from inhalant abuse are often difficult to come by because the deaths are in many cases erroneously reported as accidents or suicides. Families do not want the stigma of addiction or substance abuse to be attached to their child, and the child’s friends do not want to be caught. As a result, suicide is a more willingly accepted cause of death and the inhalant abuse goes unreported.

High Risks and Lasting Effects

The easy access to legal products makes using inhalants an attractive option for kids looking to get high. However, kids usually have no idea of the risks they are taking and are unaware of the long-term effects inhalant abuse can have. It is a fact that using inhalants can cause death—even with the very first use. Foundation for a Drug-Free World reported that among inhalant users who died of Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome, 22 percent were first-time users.

If a child using inhalants is lucky enough to survive, the short and the long term effects of that use can be devastating. Short-term effects can include a numbing feeling, inability to reason, loss of consciousness, convulsions, seizures, heart failure, suffocation, and even coma. Long-term effects are less obvious but are still deadly. As the inhalants are distributed throughout the body through the lungs and into the blood stream, the heart and lungs as well as the kidneys and liver can be damaged in such a way as to mimic the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Other long-term effects include addiction, loss of balance, memory loss, impaired hearing and sight, as well as impaired cognitive ability.

What Parents Can Do

Parents can help protect their children by educating themselves about the signs of potential inhalant abuse and by watching for those signs. If a child exhibits sudden behavioral changes such as increased moodiness or unprovoked rage, these are warning signs that should not be ignored. Other possible signs include failing grades or a change in friends, red or watery eyes or nose, mouth sores, loss of appetite, an inebriated demeanor, or a chemical smell on the child’s breath or clothing.

Most importantly, parents can make all the difference by talking to their kids about inhalant abuse. Kristin Wenger, public education coordinator for the University of Virginia offers parents advice on the best way to educate their children about inhalants. Wenger stresses the importance of focusing the conversation on how important oxygen is to our brain and the rest of our body, and then explaining the consequences when our bodies are deprived of oxygen.

About the Author 

Gregg Gustafson is a freelance writer and consultant for Drug-Rehab.org. Gustafson works with individuals who suffer from alcohol and drug abuse, in turn referring them to some of the most prestigious drug and alcohol addiction centers active today.

How to Make Your Online Education Even Greener

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Guest Blogger: Harper Mac

The importance of being eco-friendly has become more obvious in recent years, and online education can help students and instructors become even greener. Everyday consumption like paper, fossil fuels for transportation, and electricity can add up on a campus with thousands of students. By making your degree program portable, you can do your part to make your education even easier on the environment.

Control paper usage

Controlling paper usage isn’t simply a matter of using fewer sheets, though that is an important part of going green. Use recycled paper and pencils to do even more. By using recycled paper, you help keep it from going into a landfill or a municipal incinerator. You also help to slow deforestation by reducing demand for virgin paper and pencils, and using recycled materials helps to reduce pollution.
Thanks to technology, there are alternatives to using pens or pencils and paper altogether. If you are accustomed to writing notes, try using a text document on your computer rather than jotting things down on paper. Buying a tablet can help you stay mobile: taking notes on an iPad or Kindle Fire eliminates your need for buying notebooks, and reading your textbooks on a tablet can help you save energy as well.

Lower electricity usage

It may surprise you, but computers and other electronics use electricity even when they are turned off because they contain transformers that remain energized if they are plugged in. The only way to stop them from wasting power is by disconnecting them from the source of electricity.

To lower electricity needs while you’re using your devices, look for options that carry the Energy Star label which tells you the machine makes efficient use of power. Monitors often have this designation. Some computers and printers are also made to be extra efficient.

Use alternative sources of electricity

Using electricity is unavoidable when you have to run a computer, printer, and other peripherals. This does not mean you have to draw electricity from some pollution-belching power plant. A small solar panel setup can provide enough energy to keep your system running for as long as you need it. If you usually use your computer at night, add a battery to store the sun’s power. Another alternative—though it will take a lot of work and land—is to set up a windmill. It takes a fairly large amount of wind to power an entire house, but a smaller setup will still help lower your usage of on-grid energy.

Recycle waste materials

Even studying at home can generate a surprising amount of waste; so lower your environmental footprint by recycling everything you can. This includes, but is not limited to, paper, empty ink cartridges, empty soda or energy drink cans, water bottles, and pretty much any other kind of empty container.

These are just a few of the many ways you can be even more eco-friendly while you pursue your education. As you go through your day, keep an eye out for other opportunities to lower your use of resources, reduce your carbon footprint, and lessen negative impacts on the planet. You might be amazed at what you can do!

About the Author

Harper Mac

Harper Mac loves to write about education. Making time to study and play with her children can be difficult to balance. She feels as if finding the balance is very important to personal health. Harper loves to learn more about eco-friendly living in her spare time. She writes on behalf of Colorado Technical University.