Regardless of where you go, people across the globe are now focusing on going green since it positively impacts the planet. From plastic bag recycling to the treatment of chemical products, people are trying to come up with new and useful ways that are sustainable and help the world go green.
But why exactly should you go green? Well, if you are still unsure as to why you should embrace the movement, here are 25+ good reasons that will convince you otherwise.
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
~ Native American Proverb
1. Increase the Value of Your Home
You could significantly boost the value of your home by just making it eco-friendly. By installing solar panels on the rooftop or adding a water-saving toilet and shower, you will not only save money but create a perk for new buyers should you ever sell your home.
Moreover, green homes use sustainable materials that have a low environmental impact. Several governments also offer subsidies to individuals who go by the sustainable path. In the US, for instance, you are likely to receive attractive rebates on your energy bills should you choose to install solar energy panels in your homes.
2. Massive Savings in Energy Costs
The U.S. Department of Energy states that if buildings were all green, the U.S. would use $20 billion less energy every single year. You can also receive discounts by making your home a greener one.
These energy savings can come up as part of fixing small things in your home or office that can reduce your energy consumption. For example, just by running your washing machine full loads, you can reduce a significant amount of water and power during each cycle.
3. Save Money on Your Water Bill
You can potentially save hundreds of dollars on your current water bill by merely choosing to be sustainable. Purchasing Energy Star appliances, as well as water-saving plumbing systems, will consistently save you hundreds of dollars on your water bill annually.
4. Green Homes are More Durable
When you create an eco-friendly home, you are creating a more durable home. Recycled products tend to last over five times longer than traditional materials. This also means that you will save more money to maintain your home.
5. Improves Your Health
By purchasing an eco-friendly vehicle and home, you can decrease the number of pollutants emitted into the air. This gives both the indoors and outdoors cleaner air for you and others to breathe.
Ultimately, you will be breathing better air. Improved health means less spending on insurance products and hospital bills, which will also save your costs in the long run.
6. Improves Air Quality
Using all-natural products makes you a healthier person. When you are healthy, you are also naturally more productive in the workplace.
Note that the fewer chemicals the products you use have, the fewer toxins you and your family are breathing in. Everything from household to cosmetic products can be purchased as an eco-friendly variant.
Green homes have also been observed to have better indoor air quality, as paints and cleaners are low in volatile organic compounds. This low volatility alone makes it comfortable for homeowners to breathe.
7. Clean and Green Environment
When you go green, you are effectively reducing your carbon footprint. By reducing pollution, you are also minimizing the amount of energy consumed, thereby making way for a greener and cleaner environment.
8. Slowdown Climate Change
Human activities are the reasons behind the abrupt global warming, reports NASA. The Paris Agreement, a global initiative, came into effect in late 2016, with ratification from 145 countries, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, reports the UNFCCC. All the individual actions that reduce air pollution also help stop climate change.
Despite international efforts to protect forests and other habitats, a scientific study found that half of 825 natural ecosystems were still at a high risk of being destroyed, so more action is still necessary. Encourage green practices to impact the environment in several ways.
9. Effects on Human Health and Wildlife
Green living can save lives because air pollution has become “a major environmental health risk,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has led to the premature death of 3 million people.
Decreasing air pollutants would reduce water pollution by decreasing acid rain and eutrophication that can harm wildlife, especially in aquatic environments, and crops and trees, reports Massachusetts’ Department of Environmental Protection.
10. Ensures a Better Future for Your Kid
If you want to create a better environment for your child, it is high time you go green. By following the sustainable route, you are creating a cleaner and brighter future for your children and generations after.
11. Boosts Creativity
Recycling is a form of going green and poses numerous benefits to you and others. LessIsMore.org points out that valuable resources can be saved by recycling. Producing new goods always requires much more energy, while recycling needs only a fraction of it, adds the American Geoscience Institute.
First, it helps reduce waste, paving the way for a cleaner environment. Next, it also allows you to sell recycled products and make money from them.
Over time, this method helps you become more creative and lets you invent new ways of being energy and materially-efficient. Note that buying less and buying used products are also Green choices.
12. Smart Purchasing Stretches Our Resources
A 2015 scientific study found that 50-80% of the land, materials, and water is used for household consumption. There is much that people can do if they can buy wisely, cut down on consumerism, and waste production. This would ensure resources last longer.
13. More Self-Sufficiency
Going green will make you less reliant on fuels and other harmful toxins. You will become self-sufficient and be able to create new and innovative ways to get back and forth to work while also saving energy in your homes.
Living a sustainable life requires you to make use of renewable energies and other resources. For example, by installing solar panels, you will be unaffected by a power outage in your community.
14. Boost the Economy By Eating Green
Eating green means eating local, organic, and seasonal products, which can have global consequences.
When you buy and eat organic food and dairy products, you can boost the local economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions required to get that food on your plate. Eating organic food will also make you healthier as it does not contain harmful chemicals, pesticides, and added hormones, WebMD suggests.
Organic farming refers to the process of responsible land use and farming practices. You may also want to employ this method to embrace healthy living and eating.
15. Reduces Electricity Bills
By switching to renewable energy sources like solar panels, you can save a considerable amount of money every month on your electric bill.
Plus, green alternatives like CFLs, LEDs, and energy-saving door and window fixtures use less energy, and by replacing traditional bulbs with these, you can save energy and money in the long run.
16. Increases Productivity
Going green saves you from toxic products and environmental pollution. This helps you live a healthier lifestyle, eventually increasing your workplace and home productivity.
When you breathe polluted air, you inhale toxic chemicals in the atmosphere that could affect your body’s immune system to fight against infections.
17. Saves Rainforests
Every year, a large area of rainforests goes towards developing roads, highways, townships, and agriculture. In short, due to increased urbanization, people are using the areas covered by rainforests for their interests.
Similarly, several trees are axed to produce a ton of printing and writing paper. Rainforests act as air purifiers and lifelines for thousands of plants and animals.
When you go green, you actively take part in preventing Rainforest exploitation, which positively impacts the environment.
18. Reduces Carbon Emissions by Green Travel
When you choose a green mode of transportation, either by carpooling or public transportation, you reduce your carbon emissions, reducing your carbon footprint.
Using less number of vehicles on the road means less pollution in the air. So, at the end of the day, you end up spending less money spent on gasoline and car maintenance.
19. Reduces Carbon Footprint
Preparing stuff from scratch requires more energy and thus has an environmental impact. By choosing green products that are made up of recycled materials, you can reduce your carbon footprint, and that will also reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfills.
20. Prevent Water Pollution
Water pollution is caused by point sources where wastes are discharged into rivers and oceans, according to the National Ocean Atmospheric Administration.
Non-point pollution includes soil erosion, agricultural runoff loaded with fertilizers and pesticides, and urban runoff containing oil, pet, and garden wastes, explains the Environmental Protection Agency’s Non-Point Sources page (EPA Non-Point Sources).
Green living reduces waste, avoids unauthorized disposal, and prevents water pollution.
21. Green Products are Non-toxic, Skin- Friendly
Eco-friendly skin products do not contain toxic and harmful chemicals. With regular use, they result in healthy skin and body.
So, next time you choose to use conventional chemical-laden products, think of all those chemicals that enter your body and make a smarter and more sustainable choice.
22. Increase in Business if Products Are Eco-friendly
If you are running a business, going green can help you attract more customers. Consumers will jump on board if a company or product is eco-friendly. If you market your business as environment-friendly, people will buy your product, especially considering the increasing awareness on the need to go green.
23. Sets an Example For Others
If your business goes green, your employees will be significantly happier. Employees will grow to appreciate the gestures and truly witness the fact that you genuinely care about the environment.
24. Nature Took Care of Us; Its Time To Pay Back
The world is not going to be around forever. The longer you take care of it, the longer it will last. Taking small steps like recycling and saving energy will benefit the Earth for a much longer time.
25. Help the Local Economy
Due to the rise of supermarkets, farmers in your locality are struggling to run their business. You can provide support by shopping for local organic and seasonal products from local farmers for eating.
Visit the local market and buy fresh produce from people directly producing them ethically. By supporting local businesses, more money stays in your community, and you help your community to grow and develop in all respect.
26. Prevent POPS
By taking these measures, the health impacts like damage to nervous, immune, and reproductive systems and abnormalities in infant and child development can be prevented, which the Un Environmental Programme explains are caused by Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
The immune, enzyme, and reproductive system issues affecting mammals, reptiles, fish, and birds, as highlighted by the WHO (pg. 8 & 9) in relation to POPS, can be prevented.
Since POPS does not degrade soon and persist for centuries, it is necessary to be vigilant in their use. POP levels in the first decade of the 21st century have decreased globally compared to the 1980s and 1990s, as knowledge of their dangers became widespread, but new products that are not controlled still contribute to the POPs level.
27. More Satisfaction
Going green makes you a happier person. You will feel better about yourself and the people and environment around you. You will feel a sense of accomplishment for doing something positive for our earth.
In addition, by going green, you are teaching a valuable lesson to your children and their children. You are teaching them how important it is to be kind to nature and their environment.
Bottom Line
Going green can make a big difference in how you perceive the world around you. Taking a few small steps at a time can impact the people and the world around you. These are all viable and easy ways that you could go green. It does not take much time, just a little compassion and effort.
So, what are you waiting for? Embrace these sustainable and healthy habits to make the world a better place for you and your loved ones.
