Dahlia Breeze

How important is green living to you, your family or your community?

Some of us work hard and take to heart all the tips and tricks to help the environment.

But are we really saving the world from global warming when we choose paper over plastic, or glass over aluminum, or even idling your car versus turning it off?

So let’s knock off some of these so called “green” living tips and start really doing something about our environment.

1. Cans or Glass Bottles?This is a tricky dilemma. Do we choose aluminum that is resource-intensive or glass which uses an abundant amount of natural materials? The answer: It doesn’t really matter what you choose, the key here is to recycle and drink more water. Well, water that isn’t in a plastic bottle, that would just defeat the purpose now wouldn’t it?
2. Paper or Plastic?Most will tell you to choose paper because you can recycle paper, it’s biodegradable and it’s from a natural, re-new able resource. Then others will tell you that plastic is the way to go because it actually generates less pollution than the process of producing paper. The answer: neither. There is essentially no difference between choosing one over the other. To make a true impact on the environment; bring your own bag to the store.
3. Diapers: Cloth or Disposable?Now we’re getting into the nitty gritty; cloth or disposable diapers? The answer: It’s your preferance. For the same reasons as paper or plastic, they both use realatively the same ammount of resources. Cloth diapers are reusable, yes but they take a lot of energy to wash, dry and transport. On the other hand, disposables are filling our land fills. There really isn’t a solution to this problem unless you are a brave soul and go with diaperless parenting.
4. Computers: Shut them down or put it in “sleep” mode?Contrairy to popular belief, shutting your computer off when it isn’t being used saves more energy than putting it in sleep mode. Shutting it down will also save you wear and tare, helping your computer last longer.
5. Cars: To idle for a few minutes or turn it off? The answer: turn it off. Tests from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory and the California Air Resources Board confirm that when given the choice of idling for a few minutes or turning your car off, you should always to turn it off.Tests comparing emissions over minute-long increments for restarted versus idled cars confirm: Idling produces more emissions. Fast fact: Over nine minutes, an idling car will emit double the pollutants of a car that is turned off and then restarted.

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