Buying a new home at Mosaic Walk is the perfect way to live a greener lifestyle and feel proud for doing your part. What makes Mosaic Walk so green you ask? Here are a few of the green and eco-friendly features built into each and every new Mosaic Walk home.
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For so many years now, green was the buzzword in many circles. Now, you may be wondering what living green is all about considering that so many people are taking it up as their new ideal.
Well, living green means different things to different people. However, one common theme persists despite these differences in opinion – living green means making the choice to lead lives aimed at achieving health for one’s self, for one’s community, and for one’s environment. In short, it is the conscious choice to be more eco-friendly, day in and day out.
Common Criteria
To be more specific about it, living green follows certain common criteria regardless of the daily activities involved. More often than not, it will take plenty of practice to determine the best course of action for living green but soon enough, it will take little effort to do what’s right for your health and the health of the environment.
With that being said, here are the common criteria for living green:
Your actions should lessen the use of energy and other resources, both of the natural and manmade kinds. This involves saving on the use of water, soil, trees, fuel and even air.
Your decisions involve lesser toxins and harmful chemicals being released into the environment.
Your uses of resources are designed to recycle, reuse, and reduce wastes.
You utilize organically grown, sustainably produced, and socially responsive resources.
Your actions are in themselves socially responsible, ecologically aware, and environmentally friendly in virtually all aspects possible.
You will observe that all these actions and decisions involve the environment at some point while engaging your health in terms of the physical, mental, and financial aspects first and foremost. It only reinforces the thought that human beings and their environments are intimately connected.
Common Ways
If you think that living green is mission impossible, think again. In reality, you can take baby steps towards truly living green – no undue pressure, no great money involved and no extra strenuous effort necessary. Just your commitment to living green and acting on your commitment may be enough.
The following are good steps to starting your journey in living green:
Lessen water wastage by taking more showers instead of tub baths, using just a glass of water to brush your teeth, and washing the dishes only when it can fill the dishwasher, to name a few suggestions.
Replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescent lights to lessen energy costs. Better yet, go for solar power to provide light to the interiors and exteriors of the house as well as to provide heat.
Compost your household and garden wastes to make natural fertilizer for your garden. For that matter, plant more fruits and vegetables even in containers to lessen dependency on supermarkets. You save on food costs, you eat organic foods, and you help the environment.
Walk, jog, and ride a bike to your nearby destinations instead of using your car. You lessen emissions, lessen dependency on fuel oil and you get your exercise, too.
Indeed, living green has its benefits. So, start today and reap them all!
Living green doesn’t mean you have to wave goodbye to all the niceties and luxuries of modern life. In fact, once you start to investigate the advantages of living a greener life, you may well discover all sorts of extra pleasures. Your taste buds will certainly notice and it’s highly likely your wallet will as well.
There are plenty of things you can do which will help you to live green without total sacrifice. Here are seven tips that are quick and easy for you to implement. Most of them will barely change the way you operate but will help save the environment, especially if you can gradually persuade your friends to do the same things.
1. Re-use the bags you get every time you shop are good for more than one trip. Re-use them or, better yet, buy a “bag for life” and use that. Collectively, we use millions of plastic bags on a daily basis. Saving a couple bags here and there may not seem to make a difference, but as more and more people do this, the savings will mount up.
2. Re-cycle as much as you can. You probably already have a recycling collection service. If not, look out for recycling places local to you and drop off your newspapers, bottles, cans, etc next time you are passing. Don’t make a special trip though. For larger items, if they’re still usable then look up Freecycle for your local area. They offer a great way to give unwanted items a new, welcoming home.
3. Eat local produce. Especially if it’s bought fresh from a Farmer’s Market. You’ll notice the difference in taste. And if you buy just what you need (rather than the supersize pack your grocery store normally sells) it probably won’t cost much more. Plus you’ll save all those miles that the often tasteless food your grocery store stocks has been forced to travel.
4. Turn off unused appliances at the socket. Standby mode still uses lots of energy. Cut your fuel bills by turning off televisions and other items when they’re not in use. That includes your computer’s monitor as well. Screensavers only stop the screen from getting burned in images. Energy saving mode cuts power usage but nowhere near as much as the on/off switch does.
5. Wash your clothes at a lower temperature. Modern detergents work fine at lower temperatures. Or throw away the detergent in favor of Eco washing balls, saving on the fossil fuels that are used for most modern detergents as well as cutting your washing costs without compromising wash quality.
6. Turn down your thermostat in the winter (and turn it up in the summer if you use air-conditioning). One or two degrees difference is barely noticeable, except when the fuel bill arrives. When you get used to the new, lower temperature, turn it down another degree or two!
7. Compost waste if you have a garden, saving on fertilizer cost and giving your plants a treatment they’ll love.
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In this article I want to take a look at two possible worlds. One, a world where everyone has embraced the living green way of life and the other where living green never quite caught on. I just want to say up front that these two worlds arenât based on any research by experts. These are merely forecasts as I see them based on my observations.
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First lets look at a future world that is a result of everybody embracing the living green way of life. In this world everybody is happier and healthier. Because of usage of alternative fuels and energies thereâs cleaner air due to the lack of carbon and other harmful emissions. With cleaner air and eating more fresh fruits and vegetables people started feeling better and exercising more, which made them healthier.
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With the reduction of toxic emissions along with the reduction of trees being killed and more being planted the ozone was able to repair itself, which averted the green house effect and also helped us rid ourselves of deceases caused by exposure to harmful sun rays.
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Because of using cleaner energy sources we were able to stop water pollution, which gave us more fish as a food resource, which also makes you healthier. As you know when youâre healthy and happy youâre friendlier, which reduced violence.
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Is this future world possible? Maybe not in the near future, but if we all adopted living green as a why of life our future generation could live in this world.
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Now letâs see what a future world might be where living green didnât catch on. The population has been greatly reduced because of illness, violent crime and war. The ozone is greatly damaged. That and the polluted air cause people to spend most of their time inside. Wars are fought to control the depleting energy resources and only the ultra rich can afford to buy gas.
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Pollution of our water and land for toxic chemicals being dumped from industrial factories has greatly reduced our food supplies causing rationing and an increase in violent crime in order to have something to eat. Brown outs and even black outs are commonplace in order to stretch our energy reserves. Global warming has melted the polar caps causing a sever change in our climate. The prognosis for this world is very bleak.
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Both of these future worlds may or may not be an exaggeration of what could be, but how close are they? What do you think a future world would be like if living green is embraced or if it is rejected?
I do not consider myself to be a huge environmentalist but, I am proud to say that I saved my allowance to join Greenpeace in the 80s. As an adult, I now realize the importance of having an awareness about our impact on the earth and sharing this with our children.
We may not be able to save our planet from every black cloud, but it is important to be responsible and respectful to the earth on a daily basis.
There are simple steps that we can all take to help live in a more green, earth friendly way. We do not have to change our lives drastically and with a few adjustments, nothing will seem to be different (for the exception of the land fills not being as full, our energy and water bills not being quite as high, and our knowing that we are doing our part in living a conscious and environmentally friendly way).
The following is a list of simple steps that families can take to living green. It is not a complete list, but a starting point. The important thing here is that parents and caregivers discuss these steps and ENFORCE them. If parents teach children to live green at an early age, children will naturally respect the earth.
I know there are many more things we can do, so I encourage you to please send us your great tips too! The earth thanks you and so do we!
Steps to Living Green:
1. Turn off the lights and the TV when you are not in the room. Better yet, turn the TV off all together and grab a book!
2. Get energy efficient appliances. This will help save on your electric bills as well as helping the environment!
3. Change out all of your old incandescent light bulbs with the new energy efficient florescent bulbs. They not only save you money, but time- you do not need to replace them as often and there is less waste from needing fewer bulbs!
4. There is one thing that is better than these new energy saving light bulbs and that is natural light. If it is light out, open the shades and catch some rays! Natural sun light helps with seasonal depression and vitamin D!
5. Recycle all of your plastic and glass bottles and aluminum cans. We have been hearing this for years, so do it! Every little bit counts.
6. Get a water purifying filtration system, or just a container with a filter like a Britta and STOP using those plastic water bottles!
7. Buy a kitchen timer and put it next to each shower in your home. Take the 4 minute shower. One minute for shampoo, one for soap, one for conditioner and one to rinse. Shave with the water off in between soaping and rinsing. This is HUGE in helping with water consumption, especially if you have more than one child taking showers. Better yet, take showers with more than one person at a time and still keep it to minutes! Make it a game!
8. Turn the water off while brushing teeth and while washing hands. After a quick initial rinse, turn the water off during lather and turn on again for a thorough rinse to finish up. For extra dirty hands, use a washcloth to remove dirt, not running water!
9. Recycle toilet paper and towel rolls. Better yet, if your kids are in preschool or grade school, save up the rolls and give them to the school. Kids can always make great art or science projects using paper towel and toilet paper rolls!
10. Fix leaky faucets as soon as the start to leak. Do not procrastinate on this kind of stuff. It not only costs you money, but wastes way more water than you realize.
11. Switch your household cleaners, dish soaps and hand soaps to environmentally friendly ones. The chemicals in bleaches and harsh chemicals are not only bad for earth, they are bad for you! Think cancer and fertility issues, not that much fun.
12. Every time that you go to the store to stock up on supplies for the house or office, look for recycled or green products. This way, you will know you are at least trying to be green!
13. Organic is the way to go. Buy from local farmers if you can and buy most, if not all of your produce from the organic section. Again, this not only benefits the earth, but your body does not need all of those pesticides and chemicals- more cancer and infertility, yuck!
14. Even shampoos and cosmetics companies are starting to go green. And these products are actually good! Give them a try!
15. Be open to trying new things that are green. The more open you are, the sooner you will find out that this whole green movement is kind of fun and definitely makes you feel like you are being responsible! What could feel better than that?
Living green is becoming a way of life more and more everyday for more and more people. People are more aware of the danger this world is in from global warming and the green house effect. I have noticed that big companies are even adopting the living green way of doing things. Car companies are making and pushing hybrid and electric cars. Energy companies are looking in to using alternate energy sources such as wind and solar energy. TV stations are promoting green activities. Politicians are even starting to put saving the environment on their agenda. If you just look around you can see that living green is really catching on.
For most people saving the environment is enough for them to start living green. But there are still others that might just need a little more of a nudge. Well, money is always a great motivator for people to do anything so here are some ways you can save and make money by living green.
Save Money On Your Energy Bill
Save Money On Gas
Make Money Living Green
I’m going to leave it there. This gives you a taste of how living green and saving as well as making money can go hand in hand. So if you’re one of those that needed an extra nudge to start living green I hoped this pushed you over that edge.
I think everybody has the same basic concept of what living green is. Basically it’s making the earth healthier so that we, the inhabitants, can live healthier. But beyond that what does it mean to you on a personal level? Are your reasons for living green humanitarian or personal?
What are some of the personal reasons people might choose for living green? Well, finances for one. Gas prices are very high right now and getting higher. Switching to biofuel or another fuel alternative might help cut down on carbon emissions, but it can also keep more money in your pocket. Using those energy efficient compact florescent bulbs may be a part of living green, but they also save you money on your energy bill.
Another personal reason for living green can be health. Followers of living a green life stress giving up or reducing meat consumption. This is also a health issue for someone with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart problems. Green household products are good for the environment, but there also good for health conditions like allergies.
Ego can be a personal reason for living green. Living green is really big and getting bigger so showing people that you have conformed to the green way of life can you some pats on the back. It can be a big boost to the ego when you are being congratulated for something you’re doing.
Living green is very important in the longevity of this planet. So whatever reason you have chosen to embrace living green, personal or humanitarian, just doing so helps us all.
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