5 Ways to Save the Planet

Today I stumbled across this article titled “Five Ways to Help Save the Planet in 30 Minutes or Less” and after reading it I thought it summed up a lot of what we have discussed in class. The first thing the article mentions is to drive less. If you are only going a short distance ride a bike or walk, and when traveling longer distances take public transportation if available. This article says that a family who uses public transportation may save enough money to cover their food costs for a year. The second thing the article suggests doing is to eat more vegetables. The article talks about how the raising of animals contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and how vegetables are better for you anyway. The third and fourth items the article suggests is to use reusable shopping bags and to change your light bulbs to more energy efficient ones. The last suggestion the article makes is to pay bills online, as this will cut down on paper mail, and paper being thrown away.
These are all small changes but as we have discussed in class these small changes can make a big difference. Many of these small changes we can make are not only better for the environment but can also save us money, time, keep us healthy, and help make our lives more hassle free. These changes not only benefit the environment they benefit us. There is no reason that all of us can’t make small changes in our everyday lives, we just need to find the motivation to do so. What we need to realize is that there is motivation for every person to make these changes. Whether one wants to save money, get healthier, or help the environment motivation can be found. We just have to teach ourselves to think differently. For example if one wants to lose weight, they might join a gym; they pay for their membership, then drive to the gym then drive home. Instead why not go for a run outside, or eat more vegetables, or walk to work or school. We need to learn to think differently and teach ourselves not to keep buying more and more.
http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/30_minutes.htm