GREEN LIVING

What is “Green Living”? 

Green living is “walking the ecological walk”, not just doing the talk!

It’s very easy to expound upon the benefits of organic farming. It’s even relatively simple to support your beliefs by purchasing products that are safer for your family and for the environment. However, there are those of us who want to do more to preserve the Earth’s natural resources.

But we know that balancing our respect for the environment with the pressures of our daily lives isn’t easy. 

So what can we do?

Green living is the merging of our ecological beliefs about the environment with our everyday reality as members of a modern society. 

ECOLOGICAL BELIEFS+ EVERYDAY REALITY = GREEN LIVING

Listed below are some realistic ideas and solutions to help all of us practice Green Living in our everyday lives. We use these methods at Terra Aeolica s.a. and in our own homes to be “green”.
A small daily effort on our parts will add up to big benefits for our planet. Please go to our News section for periodic updates on Green Living Practices.

Green Living Practices:

• Resist the urge to buy things you don’t really need.
• When you do buy something, look for quality, eco-friendliness and durability; not cheap prices when you buy things.
• When you go shopping, use reusable cloth bags for your groceries.
• Buy fruits & vegetables from local farmers to support your local community.
• Use olive oil for cosmetic purposes. See our OLOVE OIL section for ingenious ways to use olive oil.
• Walk or cycle to your destinations whenever possible.
• Recycle anything you can. Get creative! Recyling means to convert something for reuse. This can mean something as simple as using old newspapers to clean the windows.
• Use printer paper twice- print on both sides.
• Reduce the amount of junk mail you receive by notifying the appropriate organizations to take you off their mailing lists.
• Support your local economy by buying things from local businesses whenever possible.
• Clean your house with vinegar! A solution of 2 tablespoons of vinegar to ½ liter warm water cleans most surfaces, including glass. Brush on vinegar and water to freshen up rugs. Straight vinegar removes mineral deposits from sinks, teakettles and bathtubs.
• Bathe with olive oil soap- it’s gentle enough for babies and is safe for the environment.
• Use reusable products like cloth napkins, mechanical pencils & coffee mugs.
• Buy refills of products when available.
• Use rechargeable batteries if you must use batteries.
• Re-use plastic bags as trashcan liners etc.
• Purchase energy-efficient appliances (like washing machines). Their initial cost may be higher than regular appliances but you will save money & energy in the long run.
• Avoid buying products with excess packaging; i.e. toothpaste in a box.
• Maintain a compost pile in your backyards or a worm farm on your balcony for vegetable peelings etc. Use the composted soil in your garden or potted plants for beautiful results.
• Donate your old clothes to charity and what is not good enough to donate, use as rags to clean your house with.
• Use 1/2 less laundry detergent recommended by the manufacturer when washing normally soiled clothes. Also try to find an ecological detergent.
• Try to cut down on the number of beauty products you buy. Do you really need a separate cream for every part of the body?
• Use a mineral salt cube for under arm deoderant; they last for years and work naturally.
• Darn your socks and mend your clothes just like in the old days.
• Don’t get fooled by packaging! For example, use a lipbrush to get the last bit of lipstick out of the tube; use a pair of scissors to cut tubes of lotion, toothpaste, shampoo etc. in half to get the remaining product out. There is usually a lot left in there-you just have to get to it!
• Ask your parents and grandparents how they used to make do with fewer things in the “good old days”. Somehow they survived without so much stuff!
• Log onto www.greenpeace.ca  for even more ways to practice green living everyday.