Implementing Your Personal Sustainability Plan_ Break Old Habits and Become Greener _ Living Green Magazine

8/22/2019 Implementing Your Personal Sustainability Plan_ Break Old Habits and Become Greener _ Living Green Magazine

1/11

search

Front Page

Mother Nature

Climate ChangeEnergy & Ecology

Food & Health

Home & Garden

Lifestyle Choices

People & Solutions

Green Business

Videos

Community

You are here: Home Featured Articles Implementing Your Personal Sustainability Plan: Break Old

Habits and Become Greener

Implementing Your Personal Sustainability Plan:Break Old Habits and Become Greener

Editor Post | March 26, 2013 | 1 Comment

Tweet19Share25

More Cake and Ice Cream?

Eating Healthy at Weddings

and Outdoor Parties

What Climate Activists Can

Learn By Studying the Gay

Marriage Movement

Struggling with Sugar

Addiction: Ways to Help

Overcome the Cravings

Ligh

Fire

Sum

menting Your Personal Sustainability Plan: Break Old Habits and B... http://livinggreenmag.com/2013/03/26/lifestyle-choices/implement

1 6/20/2013


2/11

By Marcus Hemsley

A lot of people dont live a green way of life because they are simply not used to it. Human are creatures ofhabit; once a certain system or way of life becomes ingrained in their lifestyle, they tend to mindlessly follow this

method.

So, to become greener, all we need to do is change our habits and make sure we consistently switch off all the

lights or recycle that soda can. But how long will that take? The universally accepted figure of how long it takes

to break a habit seems to be around 21 days; this is simply because back in the 1960s a plastic surgeon observed

amputees usually take an average of 21 days to adjust to the loss of limb. Of course, it is ridiculous to think this

can be applied to everything as different lifestyle changes will vary greatly.

More recently, a London psychologist found that her subjects took an average of 66 days for their new habit to

become automatic for them. The figure for her subjects ranged a great deal some people took 18 days andothers took a massive 245 days to stick to their new habits. She found that depending on the habit, the length of

time to adopt it varied and that bigger changes took longer to become second nature.

Luckily the steps we can make to become more green are small lifestyle changes and therefore more achievable

and quicker to become habit. Psychologists find that people find it easier to accept small changes because the

difference between fantasy and reality is not so great and the goals are therefore more imaginable.

So, try to make your goals small and attainable. If they are minor changes, your family and colleagues are a lot

more likely to accept them and implement them in their day to day life.

Remember, it doesnt matter how long it takes for it to become habit just keep at it and it definitely will.

Hopefully, most of the following list is already part of your daily life at home; if theyre not, take them on stepby step. Decide Im going to save water and slowly integrate the steps below into your life until they become

second nature. Then move onto the next step.

They are only small changes, but even over a year will make a huge difference. Try to implement these changes

in your place of work as well.

Save energy simply adjust your thermostat by a few degrees, use energy saving bulbs, wash your clothes using

cooler water and linedry your clothes and this will make a huge difference to your carbon foot print and energy

bills.


1 6/20/2013


3/11

Save water Use less water by taking shorter showers and using a low flow showerhead, put a weight in your

toilet cistern, invest in some faucet aerators, they are cheap and easy to install and save water use and heating.

Use your car less Walk or cycle to work, carpool with your colleagues or make the most of public transport.

Consider moving closer to work or local amenities or telecommuting to save on your gas bill.

Change your eating habits Support your economy and keep air miles down by buying local produce. Try and

eat at least one meat free meal a week and buy sustainable foods like line-caught fish and organically farmed

goods.

Avoid bottled drinks they create huge amounts of container waste and are expensive. Carry a reusable

container around with you and use filtered tap water instead. If you have to buy drinks make sure you recycle

your bottles.

Make recycling easy Place a recycling bin next to your trash, and stick a list on the wall next to it with what

can go in it, this will help remind you to use it. Reuse anything you can, try and write on the back of scrap

paper, if you buy bottles of drink, refill them. Never bin your electronic goods- use them for as long as possible,

recycle your cell phone and dispose them safely. E-waste contains mercury and other products that are toxic and

harm the environment.

Dont buy so much - Borrow from libraries and download media, this saves on packaging and space. Sharethings expensive, rarely used goods with your family and neighbours (power tools etc) and see if you can pick up

what youre looking to buy second hand, it could be cheaper or even free.

Look at your energy supplier A few minutes online researching will tell you how green your existing supplier

is. There are some companies that offer a 100% renewable energy electricity package.

The above changes are so simple and easy it might seem like they wont make a huge difference. So here are a

few facts to put it into perspective:

Washing your clothes at a cool temperature will reduce the energy costs significantly; almost 85% of the

energy used by a washing machine is heating the water.

Recycling plastic save double the energy that would be used to incinerate it and recycling one ton of paper

saves 17 trees and average of 1260 miles worth of gasoline and these trees can absorb 250 pounds of CO2

annually from the atmosphere.

If every household in the United States changed one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent one, the

reduction in pollution would be the same as removing one million cars from the road!\

You save on more than ten gallons of water for every two minutes less you shower.

It takes the same amount of energy to recycle 20 aluminum cans as it does to make a brand new one.

Adjusting your thermostat by one degree could reduce your energy bill by around 10%/

A massive 2,500 gallons of water is required to produce just one pound of beef.

The evidence is clear: It is well worth getting into good green habits.

This article was written by Marcus Hemsley on behalf of QMS, who offer ISO 14001 to help businesses become

more environmentally sustainable.

Tags: energy consumption, green lifestyle, home and garden, lifestyle choices, recycling, sustainability, water

You may also like -


1 6/20/2013


4/11

use

Category: Featured

Articles, Lifestyle Choices

SEE MORE ACTIONS

Subscribe

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.

submit

Privacy guaranteed. We never share your info.

Comments (1)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

Pat says:

March 26, 2013 at 11:03 AM

This is a good article thats suffering from a lack of copy editing.

Reply

1.

Leave a Reply

Name ( required )

Email ( required; will not be published )

Website

Kid-Friendly

Conservation

Lessons Make

Summer an

Educational

Experience

Overcoming

Obstacles To

Long Term

Healthy Eating

Discovering That

Quantum Moment

by Kirsty

Greenshields

Eat More

Sustainably: A

How-To Guide

Greening Your

Business: Good

for the Earth,

Even Better for

the Bottom Line

20


1 6/20/2013


5/11

SubmitComment

Prudence or Paranoia? Three Green Parenting Trends

How to Make Real V8 Juice!

Powered by Translate

Follow Us

Get Living Green Magazine Updates.

submit

Privacy guaranteed. We never share your info.

Recent Posts

More Cake and Ice Cream? Eating Healthy at Weddings and Outdoor Parties

June 20th, 2013

What Climate Activists Can Learn By Studying the Gay Marriage Movement

June 20th, 2013


1 6/20/2013


6/11

Struggling with Sugar Addiction: Ways to Help Overcome the Cravings

June 20th, 2013

Lighting Bugs Provide a Fireworks Display All Summer Long

June 20th, 2013

How Much Water Is Your Home Wasting? [Infographic]

June 20th, 2013

Create a Garden As Your Own Personal Eco-Sanctuary

Editor Post | June 17, 2013 | 0 Comments


1 6/20/2013


7/11

Where are you located?

enteryourzipcode

Fathers Day Picks for The Eco-Conscious Man

OrganicContessa | June 14, 2013 | 0 Comments

Does Solar Energy Need a Revolution or More Evolution?

Editor Post | June 11, 2013 | 0 Comments

Non-Profit Contributors

5 Gyres

Born Free USA

Climate Post Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions

Defenders of WildlifeDream of a Nation

Ensia

Environmental Defense Fund

Green for All

NRDC

Oceana

PETA

Sierra Club Green Home

SustainableTrip

Worldwatch Institute Nourishing the Planet Project

What are you looking for? (Solar, HVAC, etc .)


1 6/20/2013


8/11

Environmental News

United States, Or UnitedAmerican Emirates?

Oklahoma Victims SearchFor Lost Pets

10 Most Incredible EarthScars

Historic Houses, NewTechnology!

Join Us on Facebook

Living Green Magazine

Like

15,404 people like Living Green Magazine.

Facebook social plugin


1 6/20/2013


9/11


1 6/20/2013


10/11

ENVIRONMENT

Africa Will Starve and Asia WillDrown in 30 Years Due to ClimateChange: Report

How to Create the Worlds LargestMarine Sanctuary


11 6/20/2013


11/11

Will Chinas Pollution Lead to aChinese Spring?

Tell Senator Boxer: We Need HerLeadership Now More than Ever onToxics Reform

Earth: Your Fragile Planet (PHOTOS)

Popular Posts

Fasting: The 5:2 Diet Is the Next Big Health Craze!

The Beginners Guide to Juice Fasting

Keep Mosquitos AwayWith Plants!

Greenest of the Green: Five Eco-Friendly Colleges and Universities

Low-Impact Lawns: Green Ways to Save Time and Money

Blogroll

Citizen Green SoapboxDeja Dragovic

Elephant Journal

Green Philly Blog

Jock Gilchrist

Organic Contessa

TakePart

Home

About Us

Contact Us

SubscribeAdvertise

Comments

Write For Us

Sponsored Content

Terms & Privacy

Site Map

Living Green Magazine 2008-2012. All rights reserved.


Documents

Implementing Your Personal Sustainability Plan_ Break Old Habits and Become Greener _ Living Green Magazine