CFL bulb on coins | Photo by Claudio Jule

Lot of organizations, schools, and even households are turning in to green. What does that really mean? If you have no idea or want to refresh your mind about going green, read on.

Basically, going green means being environmental friendly. However there is more to it than meets the eye. Odds are, most of you who read this live in a good environment that has access to pure water, unpolluted air, and sufficient energy. If you take a step back and think, you may realize that our work and lives depend on these to a greater extent. What if we don’t have access to these one day? What if our children and our grandchildren start to suffer due to lack of these resources one day? Today we hear about global warming, polluted air in big cities, acid rains, Maldives sinking in ocean etc. These cause us great damages, physical, psychological and financial.

Good news is we can preserve the environment and enjoy the benefits for a longer time, if we act now. Going green is one initiative that can make a big difference not just to ourselves and our pockets but to future generations to come. There are lot of tips for going green, which in turn will save money but I will highlight some major ones that can be practiced in our day to day lives.

1. Save energy, save money
   Saving energy means you use less energy. It will show nicely on the monthly utility bills you recieve.
   • Use energy saving/CFL bulbs. They use less power, which saves energy
   • Unplug any unused electronics. When you switch off electronic items such as TVs with remote, it still consumes power until you unplug
   • Shut down unused PCs and laptops without putting them to sleep/hibernate as it will consume power otherwise
   • Switch off any light bulbs, fans, air conditioners that are working at unoccupied areas
   • Lower the heater couple of notches during winter and increase the temperature on air conditioners couple of notches during summer
   • Carpool whenever possible. You can carpool to work/school/college/university with a friend or neighbor to cut costs, energy consumption and stress of driving in traffic everyday
2. Save paper, save money
   Reducing the use of paper and buying recycled paper will cut costs is paper purchases and will save trees.
   • Print, if it is absolutely necessary. You can avoid printing funny emails or photos that can be shared digitally
   • Print on both sides of the paper. Your manager/teacher/professor will appreciate your efforts to save the environment and in cutting organization costs
   • Encourage recycled paper producers by buying recycled paper whenever possible. They use far less resources to produce compared to brand new paper
   • Always recycle paper instead of burning them. Some governments and organizations encourage this effort by paying money for the amount of paper you give to recycle
3. Work from home
   This will cut the daily hassle of traveling back and forth other than reducing energy use, wear and tare of the vehicle, and fuel & repair costs. Today technology is so advanced, many households have high-speed Internet allowing you to share files, join meetings with video conferencing, have a chit chat in instant messengers and more. Furthermore you can concentrate totally on the work without any disturbances from colleagues. You can even work in your pajamas! What more can you ask for? This will save energy and money for the organization as well.
4. Be a part of the growing community
   Going green will make you a part of the growing environment friendly community. You can join great go green initiatives to spread the word and educate others on the same or simply develop environmental friendly habits to save the world!

Is your work place, school or household green? What hinders this initiative? Any more tips and resources you can point out? Share them here with rest of us.

Related Links:
http://gogreeninitiative.org/content/WhyGoGreen/
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-work/green-work-tips.html
http://www.worldwatch.org/resources/go_green_save_green

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Tags: Green, Personal Finance