Save the Planet: Go Green!

As we become more and more aware of how the actions of human beings and our wasteful tendencies are affecting the earth, it becomes obvious that we need to clean up our act. Reducing the amount of unrecyclable materials we use, recycling what we can, and reusing what we can’t are some excellent ways to help make our planet a healthier and greener place. However, many of us may not know much about recycling or maybe you’re just looking for other ways  of going green. Fortunately, however, there many easy, fun, and creative ways of being environmentally conscious.

Easy Ways to Go Green

For those of you who have woken up and realized what a terrible state our planet is currently in, you probably want to start by doing simple things to be more involved with the environment. Fortunately for you, there are all sorts of different and easy ways for you to go green!

One excellent way to begin going green in a simple way would be to change the lightbulbs in your home. Did you know that your standard, incandescent lightbulbs use up an incredibly large amount of your electricity? However, a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) is a much better choice for adding light to your home. CFLs consume about 75% less energy than the incandescent bulbs you may be using. These types of lightbulbs also convert more of their energy into lighting up your home rather than just heating up the lightbulb.

Another easy, awesome way to go green is to recycle your electronics. Most of us simply chuck our old, broken, out-dated electronics in the bin. The best and most environmentally efficient way to get rid of your unwanted electronics is to recycle them. Did you know that in 2005 alone, Americans threw away about 5.5 billion pounds of their unused electronics? That is insane! Instead of throwing these things away, simply take them to your local recycling resource center.

Fun Ways to Go Green

Perhaps you are in search of a fun way to go green so you can get the whole family involved in taking care of our Earth. There are also many fun ways to recycle as well. One fun way to recycle is repurposing – simply taking things that you already have and creating a new purpose for it. For example, say you have a few mason jars that are just collecting dust in the basement. You could decorate these jars by adding little white doilies, painting them, whatever you like and voila! you have your very own candle jars, just in time for spring. You could keep a few around your home or even give them to friends.

Another fun way to recycle is to go outside and plant your own herb garden. This isn’t only an easy and fun way to go green, but the kids (especially younger ones) will love it! Get creative, plant anything you can see you and your family putting to good use.

Creative Ways to Go Green

Are you sick of doing the same old thing when it comes to recycling and doing more for the environment? Luckily for you, there are some new, creative ways to go green. Eating a vegetarian meal about once a week is a great way to go green. Not only does this help your diet, but it helps the planet as well. Did you know it takes about 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef? Not only can you save water, but you can save trees by eating a meat-free meal one night out of the week.

Another creative way to go green is to stop throwing away your dryer lint. That’s right. Instead, throw it out into the woods, or your backyard. Birds can safely use dryer lint to make their nests a little more comfortable for baby birds.

As you can see, there are plenty of easy, fun, and creative ways to go green and help to save our earth. If you would like to know more about recycling and how you can help the environment more, don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint with Commercial LED Lighting

lightingLighting is responsible for a large amount of unnecessary wasted energy and the release of  potent greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Although many people have chosen to switch from incandescent to florescent lighting, this has a number of disadvantages. By learning more about how the use of commercial LED lighting can reduce your company’s carbon footprint and energy costs, you can also do your part to help reduce global warming .

Lighting is Responsible for A Significant Percentage of Energy Usage

According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, “EIA estimates that in 2011, about 461 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity were used for lighting by the residential and commercial sectors.” This was equal to about 17% of the total electricity consumed by both of these sectors and about 12% of total U.S. electricity consumption. Since commercial LED lighting is 50-90% more efficient than traditional lighting, its installation can greatly reduce your respective carbon footprint.

Fluorescent Lights Contain Mercury

Each fluorescent light bulb contains about 5 milligrams of Mercury, a potent neurotoxin that can cause brain and kidney damage. Although this amount may seem small, that actually enough Mercury to contaminate approximately 3,000 gallons of drinking water. Besides the obvious threat of contaminating your business and employees, this presents a complex waste disposal problem for when the light bulbs burn out, in case of which the average consumer will just throw the bulb away in the trash. LED Lighting is non-toxic and up to three times more efficient than a fluorescent equivalent.

Be sure to contact us at Relumination if you have any questions about reducing your commercial carbon footprint with LED and other energy efficient lighting solutions.