5 Resolutions for a greener Year of the Dragon

1. Start Recycling & Ditch Disposables
Cost: $0
Recycle as much as you can! Reduce the amount of waste you produce, buy products in returnable and recyclable containers, switch to cloth napkins and rags and even to cloth diapers. The energy saved from recycling one single aluminum can will operate a television for three hours! If your building or neighborhood doesn’t provide containers for recycling, designate a bin in your home for recyclables to make it easy for you and your family to recycle things like the newspaper, aluminum cans and plastic bottles.

2. STOP buying bottled water
Cost: $100-300 for aluminum water bottle
It takes 26 bottles of water to produce the plastic container for a one-liter bottle of water, and doing so pollutes 25 liters of groundwater. Stop buying bottled water! Use reusable water bottles instead made from materials like stainless steel or aluminum that are not likely to degrade over time. If you choose a plastic water bottle, check the number on the bottom first: Plastics numbered 3,6 and 7 could pose a health threat, so look for plastics numbered 1, 2, 4 or 5.

3. Green Your Cleaning
Cost: $100
Simply switching from conventional cleaners to eco-alternatives can save you lots of money and can dramatically improve your indoor air. The American Lung Association revealed that on cleaning day, the indoor air pollution – contaminated with gases such as acetone, camphor, benzaldehyde and diethylene glycol – can be hundreds, even thousands of times worse than outside, even in cities like Hong Kong. Fortunately, greener cleaning products are increasingly easy to find, but understanding labels can be tricky. Have the “Green Clean Team” at Baby Bloom come over and help you create simple homemade recipes that suit your specific needs!

4. Simplify Your Stuff
Cost: $0
How much stuff do you have in your home that you do not use? Simplifying your stuff may not really seem like a way to live a greener life, but buying less means saving money and earthly resources needed to produce and buy that stuff. An added plus: your family gets more space, time to enjoy the stuff they already have, and will value the new stuff you get next time much more, guaranteed!

5. Give Up 2 Degrees
Cost: $0
Electric power plants are the largest industrial source of the pollutants that cause global warming. By snuggling under a blanket on the couch on a cool winter night instead of turning up the heat, or enjoying the breeze from a fan in summer instead of turning up the air conditioning, you can save loads of pollution, as well as some money off your utility bills. Set your thermostat in winter to 20° C or less during the daytime and 15° C before going to sleep or when you are away for the day. And during the summer, set thermostats to 25° C or more.