Small contributions = BIG impacts

I recently watched an Academy Award wining documentary called Racing Extinction. It was an inspiring film about the ways in which we are harming our earth, and how we can make important changes to save it. What impacted me greatly was knowing that I can personally make small contributions in my day to day life toward helping our beautiful earth and the animals that are fighting extinction.

This leads me to the questions I've been asking myself:  How do I currently live "green"? What future changes can I make to live "greener"?

I had to take some time to contemplate how I currently live a green existence. I was pleasantly surprised with how many ways I already make an impact! It's a great feeling to know I am contributing and an even greater feeling to know I can make more substantial changes in the future.

Ok, here are my lists:

Current GREEN living:

• Only use refillable aluminum water bottle (we try to avoid plastic bottles as much as possible).
• We have an Energy Efficient washer and dryer.
• We try to consume less meat (which is the fastest way to curb carbon emissions). Meatless Monday's anybody??
• Sharing one vehicle for our household.
• Try to limit food waste by eating leftovers and using everything we can in our fridge.
• Buying organic, free range eggs and poultry, grass-fed beef.
• Buying fair trade, organic coffee.
• Water our plants in the mornings or evenings (this method uses less water evaporation from the suns heat meaning the plants will need less water overall).
• Use power strips to plug in our electronics.
• We use a carwash to clean our vehicle(they use much less water than washing at home).
• We shop with reusable bags when doing our groceries or at farmers markets. 
• We don't eat frozen dinners/meals(those boxes they come in add to the greenhouse gases in the air). 
• Only use soy candles(we avoid "wax" candles and all the chemicals they release into the air). 
• Keep the food in our fridge in glass instead of plastic which contains BPA(it's a big "no, no" to warm up food in plastic containers which breaks it down and can lead to possible leaching). 

Future GREEN living:

• Switch to energy efficient light bulbs(until we can run on solar power).
• Grow our own fruits, vegetables organically.
• Make our home solar energy powered.
• Reduce food waste by composting.
• Recycling.
• Consume even less meat, by having more "meatless" days.
• Having an electric car.
• Shop from local farmers markets in support of the small farmers in our community.
• Get a ficus house plant(they help remove pollution, chemicals from the air). 

 The most important take away for me is recognizing that there is no such thing as doing "too little". Every SMALL contribution we as individuals make will then generate a powerful, much LARGER impact!