Use Rechargeable Batteries

 This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Batteries can be a cause of extraordinary environmental damage if disposed of incorrectly.  They can leak corrosive acids into the earth and poision it for years to come.  First of all, dispose of all electronics in a responsible manner, do not simply dump them in the trash and hope for the best.  This type of laziness will be the cause of terrible consequences in the years to come.

Rechargeable batteries are a great way to go green that will save money and help the environment.  For a small initial investment, you can re-use your batteries many times.  Batteries are already pretty expensive, and rechargeables do not have a huge premium.  A small price to pay for preventing potentially destructive waste from old forgotten batteries thrown into landfills!

Cameras, remote controllers, old toys, xbox control sticks, flashlights and other appliances can all use rechargeable batteries, and many times a universal charging station can be head to simultaneously charge these different formats.  Check a local hardware store, support local businesses!  Make sure to fully charge batteries, as partial charges are known to negatively affect battery life.

As always, turn off appliances when not in use.  Even though you are recharging the batteries, we always want to conserve all energy when possible!

Conserve Water in Everyday Situations

 This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Conservation of resources is one of the tenets of going green.  Society has made possible many luxuries that are quite affordable, but can have far-reaching costs for the environment and our future.  Running water is taken for granted by many, as it is nearly universal and affordable.  However, wasting this water is not green and should be avoided, no matter what.  Some of the earlier tips including running full loads will save both electricity and water.

 One simple way that I try to employ and think will be incredibly easy to implement in your lives is taking shorter and less frequent showers.  I am not advocating any stop bathing completely and become a dirty hippy, but certainly there are ways to shorten your showers so you can save valuable water.  Showers use gallons and gallons of water, and at minimum 25% of the water used is probably wasted.  There are water conserving shower-heads available as well, for those who want to take the next step.

Another pet peeve of mine is when people leave the water running while brushing their teeth.  This is completely unnecessary and pure laziness.  Simply turn of the water while you are brushing, and turn it on and off to rinse off.  This also applies to washing dishes by hand, turn off the stream while you are scrubbing!

I truly believe that water will and should become much more expensive in the next years.  Whether this is from a "green tax" imposed by governments, which would go to providing for other green pursuits, or if it is due to dwindling resources.  Like the bottle deposit, there should be a high cost for wasting water, which will cause people to reconsider their water usage.  Punishment, especially financial, works a lot better than rewards.  The people who decide to continue wasting should suffer a much larger penalty and some of those dollars diverted to other ways of going green.