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12 Simple Steps to Go Green in 2012
You've probably made the usual New Year's resolutions for 2012 – lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, quit smoking, etc. Looking beyond our personal lives, there are things we can do to make our world greener, reduce our environmental impacts, and address hunger, poverty and climate change, according to the Worldwatch Institute, an independent global environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C.
"The global community, and particularly people living in industrialized societies, have put unsustainable demands on our planet's limited resources," said Worldwatch Institute President Robert Engelman in a press release issued by the institute. "If we expect to be able to feed, shelter, and provide even basic living conditions to our growing population in years to come, we must act now to change."
Simple practices, such as recycling or riding a bike, can have great impact. Let's all resolve to make 2012 a healthier, happier, and greener year for all. Here are 12 simple steps provided by the Worldwide Institute that folks in Duluth and Gwinnett County can follow to go green in 2012:
(1) Recycle
Recycling programs exist in cities and towns across the United States, helping to save energy and protect the environment. In 2009, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to require all homes and businesses to use recycling and composting collection programs. As a result, more than 75 percent of all material collected is being recycled, diverting 1.6 million tons from the landfills annually– double the weight of the Golden Gate Bridge. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for each pound of aluminum recovered, Americans save the energy resources necessary to generate roughly 7.5 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough to power a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years!
What you can do:
- Put a separate container next to your trash can or printer, making it easier to recycle your bottles, cans, and paper.
(2) Turn off the lights
On the last Saturday in March — March 31 in 2012 — hundreds of people, businesses, and governments around the world turn off their lights for an hour as part of Earth Hour, a movement to address climate change.
What you can do:
- Earth Hour happens only once a year, but you can make an impact every day by turning off lights during bright daylight, or whenever you will be away for an extended period of time.
(3) Make the switch
