Because Young Living’s proprietary Seed to Seal® process is a close partnership with the earth, we work every day to make our production processes ever more friendly to our delicate planet. Some of our efforts include reusing floral water in the distilleries at the Mona, Highland Flats, and Northern Lights farms; avoiding the use of chemical sprays on our fields; and annual reforestation efforts following our Winter Harvest events.

This Earth Day we invite you to join us in supporting and protecting the earth. Here are some simple tips for reducing your footprint, making your day-to-day life—and the planet—a little greener!

At Home

• Set your heater to 68 degrees Fahrenheit or lower in the winter and 78 degrees Fahrenheit or higher in the summer.
• As weather gets colder, open your window curtains during the day and close them at night to help conserve energy.
• Constantly talking, texting, and browsing? Use a solar cell phone charger to power your cell phone. Not only are you using renewable energy, but many solar chargers are also conveniently portable!

Unplug your electronics when you are not using them. Many electronic devices, such as toasters, continue to draw energy even when not in use.

• Turn the lights off when you are not in the room. By cutting your energy use, you are both helping the earth and reducing your power bill.
• Ditch your clutter and have a yard sale. You’ll keep usable items out of a landfill and make a little extra cash!
• Alternatively, you can also donate your used goods to thrift stores and reuse centers instead of throwing them away. Your trash just might be someone else’s treasure.
• When possible, try purchasing used goods, such as clothes, appliances, and more. This helps to keep usable goods out of a landfill, while creating a smaller demand for newly manufactured goods.

Bring your yard inside! In some areas, indoor air can be as much as 12 times more polluted than outside air, due to compounds in paints, furnishings, clothing, and building materials. Research shows that many common houseplants and blooming potted plants can improve your health by producing oxygen and helping to fight these pollutants indoors.

Laundry

• Hang your clothes out to dry in the spring or summer. Use an indoor drying rack in the winter. Doing so reduces both energy use and wrinkles!
• Keep your clothes newer, longer while using fewer resources by washing your laundry in cold or warm water instead of hot.

Bathroom

Use naturally derived cleaning products. Simple products such as baking soda, borax, vinegar, and Thieves® Household Cleaner are healthy and environmentally friendly alternatives.

• Keep a bucket by the shower to fill up as the water warms. Use that water to wash pets, water plants, or flush toilets.
• Limit showers to four minutes, which can save a staggering 25,000 liters of water per year!
• Dual-flush toilets, aerated faucets, and high-efficiency shower heads can help to produce up to 50 percent water savings in your home. To make the transition to more efficient fixtures more affordable, try swapping them out one at a time, instead of all at once.

Kitchen

• Hit the farmer’s market. Buying local allows you to know where your food and goods come from, supports the local economy, and cuts down on greenhouse emissions because local and in-season food doesn’t have to travel from far-flung destinations.
• Buy products without packaging, such as bulk staples such as flour or loose produce such as apples.
• Make your own food. Requiring no large-scale manufacturing resources, homemade breads, jams, jellies, preserves, applesauce, and baked goods taste better anyway!
• When possible, consider using smaller and more efficient toaster ovens, pressure cookers, crock-pots, microwaves, and electric grills instead of an oven or stove.
• A well-stocked freezer and fridge will use less electricity. Try filling extra space with water pitchers.

Efficient lighting has come a long way since the days of flickering, unflattering fluorescent tubes. New Compact Florescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) look warm and natural and use significantly less energy than incandescent bulbs. While the up-front cost may be higher, you may go years before needing to replace one, saving lots on your power bill in the meantime.

• Place lids on your pots when preboiling water for cooking to trap heat.
• Recycle as much disposable material as possible, including paper, plastics, Styrofoam, and glass. Recycling centers in some areas will even pay you for recyclable materials!

In the Yard

Grow your own fruits and veggies. Not only do you get to enjoy the extra nutrients, but gardening is also a fun, fulfilling hobby for the whole family!

• Grow organic! The use of chemical fertilizers on your lawn can lead to the degradation of natural aquatic ecosystems in your area.
• Compost all green waste, including plants and kitchen scraps.
• Landscape with native plants. They require less water and maintenance.

At Work

• Go paperless. Print only what you need and keep the rest electronic.
• Take the stairs! By avoiding the elevator, you will stay fit and help your building conserve energy.
• Bring a reusable water bottle to help you stay hydrated. Reusable bottles create less waste than disposable ones. When you use your own metal or glass bottle, you can even add your favorite essential oils!
• Bring your lunch to work in reusable containers, and use your own silverware and cloth napkins. The packaging associated with fast food, take-out, and disposable flatware has a significant environmental impact.

On the Road

Get a little exercise and cut your carbon emissions when you walk instead of drive.

• Enjoy some extra free time when you take public transit. You can read, meditate, socialize, or catch up on the morning news on your mobile device when you’re not behind the wheel!
• Purchase a hybrid vehicle, and account potential fuel savings into the purchase price.
• Combine errand trips. Hit the post office on the way to pick up your kids from school instead of making separate trips.
• When you carpool, you can save on gas, build friendships with coworkers, and cut your carbon emissions!

What are your top tips for minimizing your environmental impact? Let us know how you like to go green in the comments.

Article source: https://www.youngliving.com/blog/love-your-mother-green-living-tips/