‘Going green’ is a term used quite a lot these past couple of years, along with terms such as ‘sustainable’ and ‘environmentally friendly’. It might come as a surprise, but there is a lot more to green living than installing solar panels on your roof. It’s important for your home to be as environmentally friendly as possible, which means that you have to put a lot of effort into turning an inefficient building into an efficient one. People have been going green a lot, but are we witnessing the rise of a trend or a true desire for change?

Environmental benefits

A green and healthy lifestyle includes simple and responsible actions such as recycling, plant and tree cultivation, and pollution reduction. All these things will provide us with a safer world, but what’s more important, it will be a safer world for future generations as well. The knowledge that in just a couple of decades we will be living in a very different world is enough to motivate a great number of people to change their habits and lifestyles. If you choose to live green, you will help your environment stay healthy, and thrive. These things will not only be good for the environment itself, but for all of us as well.

Lower costs

Another factor which proves that people are not choosing a green lifestyle just because it’s popular is the significant cut in monthly and annual bills. Going green helps us cut costs not only as individuals in our own households, but as a community as well. By conserving energy and resources, saving water and electricity, choosing to donate or recycle items we no longer need or use, we are saving our industry and saving money. Even by reducing our waste, we benefit a lot, since we save money on waste disposal. Green means sealed doors and windows, better insulation, efficient heating and cooling, and efficient lighting – all these things translate into lower electric and gas bills.

Green up your backyard

You can start with your own backyard: green up the space (literally) by using grass pavers instead of regular concrete ones. They are incredibly useful, because they allow the drainage of storm water back into underground soil. Rainwater is thus recycled, which is much better than allowing it to go to waste and into our waterways. You can also plant vegetables and herbs in your garden instead of flowers. Not only will lettuce, rosemary, and basil look amazing in your garden, this way you will grow your own organic food which will taste much better than the one you can buy in supermarkets.

Transform your home

By making a few simple changes in your household, you will make your home environmentally friendly. You can switch to green cleaners and reduce air pollution, minimize exposure to chemicals which can be bad for your health and which can trigger asthma and allergies. There are plenty of plant-based products on the market, all you need to do is take a couple of minutes and read the label. Together with other members of your family, agree to have a single vegetarian day – raising livestock produces a large amount of greenhouse gases, and by cutting back you will make a big difference.

People’s daily routines contain more and more lifestyle changes which play a significant role in making their daily routines more environmentally conscious. By choosing to live in a way which does as little harm as possible to the environment, you are helping to preserve our planet and its fragile ecosystem. If you are thinking about green living or are actually making an effort to live green, you should know that you’re doing the right thing, because green living is saving our planet every single day.