A 10-Step Guide to Going Green

I remember the day vividly. I was sitting in my car waiting because I was obnoxiously early to my first day at the Peninsula Pulse. I was skimming through the paper in hopes of thinking of some more questions to ask.

As I skimmed through section one of the paper I came across a page that was printed in color, one color to be more specific, green. Laughing to myself, I thought, “man, I could never write for that page, I am the least green person I know.”

Yes I camp, kayak and enjoy the outdoors, I had just never taken any particular interest in researching how my actions hurt or help the environment.

As I nervously sat down to go through the allotted duties that I would have to fulfill for my internship I prayed that the words green page wouldn’t come up.

Low and behold, just as luck would have it, I was assigned to the green page to write the profiles of people whose work and life reflected an eco-friendly lifestyle.

I soon realized that if I was going to embark on this particular environmentally friendly journey that maybe I should read up on the subject.

Easier said than done. There is no easy way to change your life around. What I really needed was a 10-step guide to going green.

From my research on the topic, the easiest way I found to minimize your impact on the environment was to work in pieces. You may think that by not idling your car or by turning off your lights when you leave the room it’s insignificant but in the long run you are saving money and energy.

According to http://www.thedailygreen.com idling your car for more than 10 seconds uses more gas than is needed to start your car. “Overall, Americans idle away 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $78.2 billion.”

The moral of this story is that going green is a continuous effort that cannot be changed in one day. It’s a lifestyle that takes time to become accustomed to.

Step One of the 10-step going green process is the more you are aware of the more you will change.