EBook Excerpt: Week 1 – Doing Your Green Home Audit

Here is the next in our weekly series of excerpts from the EBook, “6 Weeks to a Greener Lifestyle.” See the note at the end of this post for more information. — Paula

How to Get Started

First, look around your home for places where is energy being wasted. You will probably find numerous places where energy is being consumed unnecessarily in your home every day. Most are common sense once you see them, but probably escaped your attention before you looked more closely.

Consider the following three examples:

1) Stop drafts. Drafts around windows and under doors allow heat to escape in the winter and hot air to enter in the summer. These areas can be sealed to reduce those energy losses by purchasing weather stripping at your local hardware store for a few dollars.

2) Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). CFLs use about 75% less energy and last about 10 times longer than traditional incandescent light bulbs. CFLs also give off a lot less heat, keeping your rooms cooler in the summer. Continue reading “EBook Excerpt: Week 1 – Doing Your Green Home Audit”

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EBook Excerpt: Your Costs and Your Carbon Footprint

Here is the next in our weekly series of excerpts from the EBook, “6 Weeks to a Greener Lifestyle.” See the note at the end of this post for more information. — Paula

Want to know how to calculate your carbon footprint? Here is great resource. Follow these steps, and you may be surprised by the result.

1. Go to the carbon footprint calculator.

2. Enter your country and state of origin. This will give you a more accurate estimate, as some factors vary by location. Note: As the site says, the calculations for secondary emissions are based on estimates developed by Carbon Footprint to illustrate the impact on the environment from your day-to-day activities.

3. Start with HOUSEHOLD and be prepared to enter the following information regarding your house: the number of people in your household and your consumption of electricity, natural gas, heating oil, coal, and the like. It may be helpful to have a year’s worth of utility bills handy.

4. FLIGHTS is an area where it’s key to be prepared by knowing where you traveled and in which class – yes, the class matters in this calculation, as you take up about twice as much space in first class. Continue reading “EBook Excerpt: Your Costs and Your Carbon Footprint”

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EBook Excerpt: I Want a Greener Lifestyle – But I Don’t Want the Inconvenience

Here is the first in our weekly series of excerpts from the EBook, “6 Weeks to a Greener Lifestyle.” See the note at the end of this post for more information. — Paula

A common sentiment today is the desire to live greener – reduce waste, use less energy, conserve valuable resources – but many people are held back by a fear that living greener will mean a lot more inconvenience and hassle in their lives.

I know.

I had that same fear, and the fear of being inconvenienced created an inertial barrier to my actually doing anything.

But the only way to create a greener lifestyle is to take some action, some positive step toward “greenness.” You really can begin to establish greener habits right away with minimal inconvenience or upset to your current lifestyle. Living green and saving energy is good stewardship of the world we are privileged to live in.

There is also a very practical reason for establishing a greener lifestyle: it will save you money.

You will be rewarded for your efforts to “go green” not only by the realization that you are doing your part to conserve valuable resources and reduce your carbon footprint, but also by saving significant money as well.

The mission of this book is to help you create a greener lifestyle by taking practical, cost-effective steps that will minimize the inconvenience and maximize the financial benefits to you. Continue reading “EBook Excerpt: I Want a Greener Lifestyle – But I Don’t Want the Inconvenience”

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