Green Living - Solidarity and Inner Peace

Green Living
Going green is included in just about everything these days. There is green food, green clothing, green homes, green energy, green gadgets, and just about anything in existence being classified as green. What this means is that the products are sustainable and make a small imprint on the earth. For example, you might use less oil based products and more plant products because it is sustainable and healthier for humans. This is a great trend that has caught on because of the growth in high educational attainment and in the recent trend of huge price increases in poor quality commodities.  Additionally, the recent gas spike, alone, helped a ton of people decide to go green.
The trend is heavily product focused. You need the right green food because you will live longer and be healthier. You need some hemp fabric because it is so much better for your skin. The list goes on and on. It is great that we have green products, but you can get lost in all the details. We need to remember that being green is more than just buying the right things. It is a way of life that brings solidarity and harmony to one's life and society.
All Living Things Connected
Can you see the happiness of a child compared to that of an adult? How can you feel the joy of a baby or a puppy? The joy of each living thing comes from being connected in a spiritual way. It doesn't always make sense. For example, babies and children have little control over their surroundings and yet they are so happy. What makes sense is that we are learning through our culture that happiness comes from a certain way of life. We might call it the good life. It usually has something to do with a house, an education, a nice car, and family vacations.
Fortunately, there are true green enthusiasts that understand connection to the earth in a different way. In the movie, Into the Wild the main character says that life was the most exciting when he was penniless. This is a true story of a man who gave up all his possessions and burned his money on a quest to connect with God.  
Native Americans have long understood the relationship between connectedness to earth and joy in life. The earth gives to each of us and in return we should give back. Many cultures believe that God rewards Good for Good and Evil for Evil. You do something good and it comes back to you. Hence, do a lot of good things to and for people.
How Does Green Living Connect Us?
First and foremost green living gets you to think about how we all interact in society. It is more altruistic because you main focus is not maximizing every dollar. You focus changes from consuming as much as possible to consuming what you need responsibly and giving of yourself. Many people in this trend will say that one day it just hit them that the only thing they will leave on the earth when they pass on is their legacy. And, how do you leave a legacy? You need to connect with people and make a difference to those around you. You're not going to do that sipping cokes, and watching 35 hours of television a week.
Living Simple and Green
It all starts with little changes. One good thing to do is to sit down and make a list of all the items your regularly purchase and put a w (want) or n (need) by the item. If you are truly honest, the needs are not really all that high. Many of us are struggling because of our wants without realizing it. It's still fine to plan for wants and to have them. The important thing is where your focus lies. Does your focus help you connect (happiness) or disconnect (unhappiness)? At some point, many in the green movement will actually feel a sense of relief from not purchasing items. There is that rush and good feeling from shopping that a lot of people get. However, the more connected you feel, the less your desire will be for shopping. And, in fact, many will eventually feel a sense of true peace without longing for any one thing. Some people in the green movement actually feel sorry for these obsessive materialists. They don't do it mockingly, but sincerely want everyone around them to feel the same connectedness.
Some Green Steps    
The first thing for many of us is that we start to recycle things. We find a certain joy in knowing that we are being good stewards of what we have. Then, the big jump might come from purchasing a green car or a green wardrobe. Some of us might just think it's a cool thing to do.
The biggest step, perhaps, is when you start to simplify your life. It's different for everyone. You might want to drink out of one cup instead of using several every day. You may go through your home and eliminate items not being used. In fact, you may start finding joy in getting rid of things because you realize that the less stuff you have the more easily you can be connected. You begin to feel a sense of freedom in spirit that goes beyond the norm. Your style becomes minimalist and purchases are based on holistic ideals that increase connectiveness. You will no longer crave, but will instead find intense joy in just being alive.  How do you find that joy?
Know Thyself 
Some spiritual teachers believe that the greatest knowledge of happiness is to know thyself. As William Shakespeare said, "To thine own self be true". How can you be true to yourself unless you know who you are? This is a hard question, but on the face of it, there are some certain things I am sure of. I can connect with living things. I can connect with people much better in person than through television. I can connect to natural products much better than man made products. The concept of knowing me comes through serving others.
Consumerism and materialism tend to drive much of our culture. The focus, for many, is on self. This inward focus blinds the true self. In some cases, self concept is stripped away and the void is filled with countless hours of television, food, and shopping. The bigger the void the stronger the feeling of getting more grows because people unconsciously think that the void can be filled with things. It is logical because that is what the culture has taught them from birth. Corporations spend billions of dollars reinforcing the idea that things will make us happy and defining our needs for us.  Many of us erroneously believe that we are immune to all the clever advertising.
Wouldn't it make more sense that we determine our own needs? It is vital that we listen to our own hearts. Don't ignore the little voice inside you! Pay attention to it, follow it, and the voice will get louder.  In time, you will become more connected.
We haven't focused much on product here, but going green is about a lot more than buying the most fuel efficient car, wearing bamboo clothing, or eating organic foods. Green living is ultimately about solidarity and inner peace.        

For further information about green living, please visit Solar Home or another favorite site called Green Energy

4 Unexpected Eco Friendly Green Living Tips

Ready to be surprised by unexpected tips for a better and greener life? Following are 4 tips, please read them while thinking of the positive changes you will have in your life when implementing each or any of these tips. So without any further delay, here are the promised tips for Eco Green Living:
Eco Green Living Tip 1 -
Get rid of your desktop
Have you ever thought that a laptop uses barely 25% of electricity consumed by a desktop computer? Get rid of your desktop computer today and your life will become greener.
If you say to yourself - "can not do that now" and you really do not want to get rid of your desktop computer - you can at least turn it off at night - this will save you a nice 90 dollars a year per computer. 2 computers sum up to $180 a year, if you count in away from home time like vacations and if you are willing to turn off your monitor when you are not next to your computer - this can easily save a $1000 a year.
Eco Green Living Tip 2 -
Upgrade your refrigerator
Have you ever thought that your refrigerator accounts for approximately one sixth of all your energy consumption at home? Upgrading your refrigerator might not be cheap - but considering the electricity savings you can achieve - it will pay for itself! There is a lot of information online about saving money while living a green life while saving money - so look into it! This will help your Eco Green Living.
Even if you decide not to change your refrigerator - you can still save some energy here by adjusting the temperature of your current refrigerator to 37 and 3 degrees.
Eco Green Living Tip 3 -
Throw away your washing machine
Have you ever thought that laundry is your second largest water consumption? While you are at the shop replacing your refrigerator, stop by the washing machines department. Chances are that similar to the savings you will get when upgrading your refrigerator - the washing machine sales will explain you how much of your electricity and water bills you will save after moving to a brand new energy efficient machine.
If you say to yourself - "can not do that now" and you really do not want to get rid of your old washing machine, you can still save up to 80% of the energy your washing machine is using by using cold water to wash clothes.
Eco Green Living Tip 4 -
Find a new house
Your address has a major impact on your eco footprint. A lot of energy is being consumed on transportation when you go to and from work and your kids go to and from school. Move your house and save energy, live green life and have much more quality time with family at your green home.
If you can not afford to move house now - you can live a greener life at your home by doing more: develop a long term home improvement plan that reduces energy resources, improving your life quality and saves money.
I hope you found these steps for eco green living useful and even if you will not change your house - hope this article helped you on your direction to green live. The Internet has a lot of great resources to help you going green - so I hope you keep reading, researching and acting.

Related articles about Eco Green Living: 4 Green Living Tips

About the Author<

Harold Casey is passionate about eco green living, he writes about green living, saving energy, saving gas, saving water, solar energy and more - all to help people live a green life. You can visit his website at Eco Green Living

Finding The Best Green Living Retirement Homes

The baby boomer generation is well known for being a part of green initiatives and green living ideas. Members of this generation lived through the birth of the technological age and saw multiple wars in which natural resources were destroyed. Thus, focus on green living only seems natural to many in retirement.
However, older individuals often meet challenges when attempting to maintain their green living. Unfortunately, their bodies do not allow them pleasures like tending their green gardens or volunteering in a marathon for cancer anymore. Retirement communities have become increasingly popular with the boomer generation. Seniors no longer dread retirement communities; they provide senior activities, multiple types of housing, senior clubs and sports, and accessible medical attention.
How do you find a green retirement community and continue your green living? What makes a retirement community "green"?
Many aspects of a community and/or building complex make it environmentally friendly or "green living friendly". A green home or complex must meet the following requirements that encompass necessities not only in the way the area is run but how it was built in the first place.

• Beats the EPA's Energy Star Standards
• Achieves high standards of indoor air quality
• Uses building materials that are locally produced or that have been recycled
• Incorporates water conservation and storm water management
• Achieves a minimal footprint on the land
• Keeps carbon emissions low through use of renewable energy or super-efficient building envelopes

Clearly other aspects of green living can be incorporated into a green retirement community such as green transportation and the surrounding area.
Is a Community Truly Practicing Green Living Ideas? Watch out for Greenwashing!
Unfortunately, one of the dangers of searching for green living retirement homes is finding communities that, on the surface, appear to meet all of your environmental concerns but, in reality, simply use the term "green" as a popular advertising technique.
It has become a trend with multiple developers to layer environmental lingo into their marketing strategies and pitches. Terms like "eco-sensitive" don't mean a thing, but potential clients associate its usage with constructive environmental initiative.
This use of companies pretending to be environmentally friendly when in fact they are not is called greenwashing. A sure sign of greenwashing is if the "green" community you are looking at has a golf course attached to it. Golf courses are generally extremely bad for the environment due to the massive amount of pesticides and water that they need for upkeep. Additional warning signs of potential greenwashing include

• talking about protecting natural resources
• protecting and having environmental quality
• incorporating biodiversity

How Do you Check the Community's Claims?
Retirees need to be wary of senior housing that say they incorporate green living; but do not be cynical! A simple way of finding out if a claim is true includes checking LEED certification standards for communal buildings in the potential development.
The LEED stands for Leadership in energy and Environmental Design. Developed by the US Green Building Council, LEED is a non-profit, non-government department that changes the way buildings are designed, built, and operated.

Melissa Rubin is a senior copywriter and Web developer at OTO Networks, a digital marketing company located in Baltimore, Maryland. Her primary responsibilities include SEO, link building and creating content for multiple sites. A preview of a site on which she has worked, http://www.agreenretirement.com, is available with this article.

Green Living Tips - How to Go Green and Save Money

Green living is now on most everyone's agenda. As surprising as it may sound, even kids are leading the way in some households.But there are still some people who think that green living is beyond them as it's perceived to be too expensive. We're not talking solar panels and wind turbines here folks! Everyone can practice green living each day without breaking the bank with just some simple tips. Here they are...
Green living tip # 1
Throw out the Dryer!
Okay, that might be a little extreme. But seriously guys, one of the best ways to go green is to stop using or reduce the use of your dryers. They use an immense amount of energy and I'm sure you feel it in your pocket each month when you get the electric bill. If you have just 2 people living in a household and you wash every other week, you still have to do multiple loads. I do like 4-5 loads on average, so using the dryer does add up.
You really don't need to use the dryer to dry your clothes. If you live in the tropics like I do or even if you live in warm climates, hang your clothes out to dry. The sunshine and air are great for drying clothes. Shrinkage and discoloration are also reduced, so you save money on clothes as well. How cool is that? Some of you may be concerned about bird droppings. I have big trees in my yard, matter of fact all the clothes lines are under trees which habour lots of birds, but I've never had that problem. Chances are you won't either.
And if I don't live in the tropics or warm climates, you ask. Simple, you can still reduce the use of the dryer. Unless you live in Alaska maybe, I'm sure it doesn't rain and snow all the time. So make use of the good days and only use the dryer on those days when you don't have a choice. Your pocket will still say, thank you!
For Green Living you may have to get creative or do some rescheduling like wash more on the weekends instead of during the week so you can take your clothes up. But in the end it will be worth it, you can even get the kids involved.
Green living tip # 2
Reduce water use
Want to live greener and save money? You should check all taps for leaks regularly and fix those you find. Take shorter showers. Yeah I know, that can be a real damper. I had to adjust to taking shorter showers myself but, there was a real difference in my water bill once I started praticing it. Go a step further and invest in an energy saving shower head. Oh and those bubble baths, you might want to give them up totally or reduce the number of times you have them. Save them for special occasions, that should give you something to look forward to. While you're at it, if you don't already have one, think about getting a new toilet cistern that uses less than two gallons of water per flush. Standard cisterns use about three and a half gallons. Using less water uses less energy and saves you money!
Green living tip # 3
Forget driving for very short trips, walk instead!
Have you ever noticed how some people seem to drive everywhere, even around the corner to pick up the newspaper.Have you ever wondered what on earth did they do before they had a vehicle? Yep, I've wondered myself.
Well for the sake of the environment and your own, you need to develop the habit of walking more. As long as it's safe for you to do so, walk for those shorter trips. The health benefits of walking are great, it keeps you fit and keeps you in shape. Ladies you know where inactivity can pack on those pounds, right where we don't want them to go. Walking can also eliminate or help to reduce circulatory problems.
For moderate trips consider using a cycle. What, you don't know how to ride? Life is an adventure! Grab yourself a helmet, some knee and elbow pads and go learn, you're never to too old to learn new things. Moreover it can be so much fun!
So, only rev up that automobile when it's absolutely necessary. Gas is precious and it pollutes the atmosphere. Save on burning it and you can save on your cash, as well as help the environment.
These are just some simple things you can do to practice green living that won't put you out of pocket and you can have some fun while doing them too.

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Green Living in Businesses - How to Get Updated

Joining the trend of green living that environmentalists started requires conscious effort. For your businesses, you may need to research on how to get the work done. In some instances, you may start it with your own little way. In fact, you may even be going green without actually knowing about it. You may not even notice that you are taking the lead for this endeavor.
Keeping your windows and window sills clean is a simple act of being eco friendly. You may wonder how this happens. Well, the simple answer is by cleaning your windows you allow your office to emit natural light. This being so, you no longer need to put your lights on the entire day. The cost savings you get provides you a means to pursue green living.
What does getting updated in green living mean?
Getting updated is one of the keys to make your businesses go green. You may do this by making some searches on how you may start the act and affect other institutions about it. This may also mean being influenced by other businesses. Try to ask your peers and your colleagues in the in the industry and see what they have done to adapt the trend. If you have the means to invest on eco friendly solutions, then now is the right time to do so.
Together with the cost, you must be able to compare the business of going green with its benefits. By doing so, you will be able to understand more about why a lot of companies strived hard to be updated with this type of trend. It is also your way to appreciate the real scenario of living in an eco friendly world.
More on the benefits of green living for your businesses
The cost is what makes you back out from starting green living in your offices. This is because you have not allotted much cash for the investment. But with this, you must also look forward to the benefits you will reap. Here are some of them:
. Lower utility bills. Once you replace your desktops with the more convenient power-saving laptops, you will surely enjoy the benefits of green living for your business. The truth is this may cut around 40% off your usual utility bills. Thinner versions of laptops marketed nowadays may last up to 8 hours without charging.
. Lesser pollution. When the environment is placed at risk, you will certainly be sacrificing your health. There are many anti-pollution programs for the offices that will make you as eco friendly as you want. You save both on pollutants that may affect you as well as on other related costs.
. More customers. More people become aware of their responsibilities when it comes to going green. Your customers will be no exception to that. Even if you have to reduce packaging of your products, your consumers will still come to you because they appreciate the move you make. This will therefore increase your sales to an amount you have never imagined.
Start simple yet make hard efforts if you want to go green
There are several ways on how your offices may start living in eco friendly means. Remember that it is not all about reducing smoke or pollution all the time. There are other things you may include on your list like:
. Reducing travel costs through teleconferencing. The cost may pertain to gasoline consumption or transportation fares. In like manner, you will also be able to reduce pollutants to the environment because the act means lesser gas emissions to ecological life.
. Expound more on the value of going green. Do not think too much about the cost of your investment. If you will be able to practice sustainability of your eco friendly techniques, you may never even feel the costs that go with it.
. Build an eco friendly community. As you sell your products to your consumers, you make them become aware of their own responsibilities as individuals living in this world. Your business then becomes a good example leading to the creation of more environment friendly communities.
. Convey your product's message. You must be able to convince your consumers about the benefits of going green. Furthermore, you must be able to convey that your product is reliable and deliverable. Meet the expectations of your clients and you will go a long way.
Get updated if you want your businesses to start the practice of green living. You will surely thank proponents of some of the most environment friendly solutions in the market. Well, you will also get the same gratitude and appreciation you give back to your suppliers. This is because your consumers will surely recognize your go green efforts too.
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