How to Save Energy with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

To many people, using compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFL bulbs, is nothing new. These bulbs have really caught on in the past decade, and continue to grow in popularity. In fact, it's actually getting harder to find regular incandescent light bulbs, which is a good sign people are using CFL bulbs.

Simply put, CFL bulbs will help save energy. Compared to regular incandescent light bulbs, they use a fraction of the energy and last years longer. Once you install CFL bulbs, you'll also get to enjoy one other thing: not having to change light bulbs! Most last 5 years or longer, and if they don't, they probably are under warranty. To get started with your energy savings, buy some CFL bulbs. Have them on hand when your next incandescent bulbs burn out, and replace them one by one. You could also choose to replace all of them immediately to see the energy savings turn on immediately.

If you're still not convinced, read this page which features 7 reasons to use CFL bulbs in addition to the ones on this post.

The product to the left, the  GE 13-Watt Energy SmartTM - 8 Pack - 60 watt replacement , is also by far the best deal on CFL bulbs. They also qualify for super saver shipping, so if you order 4 packs of these bulbs (probably enough for your entire home), you'll qualify for free shipping. At a price of 6.99 for the 8 pack, that's only 87 cents per light bulb, which actually makes it cheaper than most incandescent light bulbs. It's no longer more expensive to buy these energy saving bulbs, so give them a try if you haven't already.

Related Posts:
* Using Less Plastic with Reusable Cups
* How to Decrease Energy Use While You Sleep
* Getting Your House Greener this Winter

25 Easy to Make Homemade Vegetarian Recipes that Won't Take Forever to Make (and Still Taste Delicious!)

We all know most of the benefits of leading a vegetarian lifestyle, but if you're used to eating meat, it can be tough to incorporate more vegetables into your diet in a way that still tastes good. Here you can find some hand picked homemade vegetarian recipes that won't take forever to make, and are a delicious alternative to your regular meat dishes!


1. You won't miss the eggs in these gooey vegan chocolate chip cookies! Try making them next time!

2. Stuffed bell pepper, lemon cauliflower, or veggie primavera sound appetizing? These veggie sides are the perfect way to boost your vegetable intake in a delicious way!


3. Eggplant parmesan is a great way to go meatless for an Italian meal. You can take it one step further and find yourself some soy based cheese, or local dairy.


4. Want to go dairy free, even with your ice cream? Try one of the many homemade soy ice cream recipes
featured on this page.


5. Emeril Lagasse has cooked up a winning hot, nutritious vegetarian chili recipe that even meat lovers will love!


6. Peas and mushrooms add extra veggies to this traditional fettucine alfredo recipe. Great winter meal.




7. They're fancy enough for dinner, and tasty enough to have at anytime of day. These veggie paninis will give you some creative ways to spice up your dinner.


8. An easy, fresh tasting homemade tomato soup tastes far better than anything you've ever had in the can. Just replace the chicken broth with instant (chicken-free) broth.


9. Sweet potato pie, zucchini brownies, cheddar broccoli soup and other veggie favorites can be found on these easy to make veggie recipes page.


10. Craving some meat? Have that beefy taste without the meat in this vegetarian beef stew
recipe.


11. Fried Zucchini is really simple to make, and goes great with many Italian recipes. Especially good when it's in season, in the peak summer.
12. Another great summer recipe is blueberry rhubarb pie. A good (albeit slightly sugary) way to boost your fruit intake a little.


13. Spinach is a pretty versatile vegetable, full of Vitamin K. Try out these healthy spinach recipes listed here.


14. Mushroom, pesto, sundried tomato... there are hundreds of way to go vegetarian with your pizza.


15. Authentic chinese food already has many vegetables in the recipes. Try out these vegetarian chinese food recipes next time instead of ordering out!


16. Sometimes, the appetizer is the best part of the meal. That's why these vegetarian appetizers are such a great choice. They're healthy, yet still have that delicious hour d'oeuvres taste.


17. Ahh, meatballs. It's tough to get a meat-free version right, but this recipe manages to make a great version of vegetarian meatballs.


18. Love a BBQ, but just don't eat meat? This vegan BBQ video will teach you that you don't need beef to have a smokin' barbeque!

19. There are a few dozen tasty vegan slower cooker recipes you can make at home in a snap on this page. Slower cookers reduce fat, and have loads of taste!


20. Lacking on fruits? These healthy fruit smoothie recipes are one of the best ways to squeeze more fruit into your diet.


21. Mexican food is one of the toughest things to try and make healthy. Try these vegetarian enchiladas next time you're craving some authentic Mexican food and cut some calories.


22. If you're in more of a Chinese mood, check out this page for some simple vegetarian fried rice recipes.


22. Back to Mexican! You can find a few dozen tasty vegetarian Mexican
recipes on this page. The veggie quesadillas sound delicious!



23. Start your day the right way! Tofu and soymilk make excellent replacements for eggs in this vegan omelette.


24. When everyone else is eating their hamburger, you can be eating your vegetarian hamburger. These versions are more "meaty" than "tofu-ey".


25. Stuffed bell peppers can easily be made vegetarian. They're usually meat-free anyways!

Using Less Plastic with Reusable Cups

Is there anything better than a nice plastic cup? Chances are, you've never once thought that. Your favorite cups are probably reusable ones that are ceramic, stainless steel, or glass. Despite that, millions of people use billions of plastic cups every year. A reasonable solution to the world's landfill and pollution problems are smack dab in front of our faces, but we persist and still keep using disposable plastic cups.

There are five core reasons why you should be using reusable cups instead of disposable plastic cups.

1. Plastic cups never biodegrade. They might break down, but they never truly biodegrade. Instead, they wind up in the environment, breaking down into tiny, toxic plastic bits.

2. Drinks taste better in a reusable cup. No one ever called them reusable cups before disposable cups existed, but it's true, the plastic affects the taste of water and other drinks.

3. There simply aren't enough resources available for everyone on the planet to get a new cup every time they're thirsty, then throw it away. The idea seems kind of silly when you think about it, doesn't it?

4. The production of plastic has a highly destructive process to the environment. Not only is the plastic itself bad, but the emissions and by product produced are also negative consequences of the process. Even recycling plastic takes more energy and resources that could otherwise be saved by simply using a reusable cup.

5. Plastic contains trace elements of potentially harmful chemicals like BPA and phthalates. These are especially harmful to children, but have also been linked to cancer. In Europe, more aggressive measures to avoid BPA and phthalates are being taken than in the USA as the result of many scientific studies.

Besides these five core elements, you'll also see a benefit of cost savings if you bring a reusable cup to the store. It might also encourage others to go reusable with their cups just by watching you use yours.

You can read more about the eco friendly reusable Eco Cup on this page, or shop for reusable stainless steel water bottles, kids stainless steel bottles, and BPA free drinkware at TheGreenerEarth.com today!

Aromatherapy Reed Diffusers - Scent Your Home with Essential Oils

Essential oils have been used for thousands of years to fragrance homes. Only in the past century have other ways of spreading scent become popular. Scent is a big business. There are scientists dedicated to replicating natural scents and getting that scent into the products you spray into your home, office, and cars. Why not just use the natural scent instead? Unsurpringly, if you follow the money trail, you'll find the answer. Cheap ingredients mean bigger profits, and scientifically formulated scent is far cheaper than natural scents, in most instances.

Synthetic scents have their downsides for us. They can give us headaches, cause dizziness, and contain plenty of hormone disruptors. From products like plugs ins, spray can air fresheners, and even scented candles, they all contain artificial fragrance and propellants. The worst part is that fragrance isn't regulated by the government, so they are free to use virtually anything they want in their spray cans, including kerosene, butane, and formaldehyde.

Luckily, not everyone has abandoned creating natural scents. Essential oils provide a natural way to fragrance your home, without any chemicals involved. The smell is also a world of difference. Once you've been exposed to essential oils, you'll notice a major difference in the scent, and you'll be able to point out a fake scent. You may also get less headaches, nausea, and dizziness associated with synthetic fragrances.

The natural aromatherapy reed diffusers offered at TheGreenerEarth.com are the ideal way to scent your home, chemical free. Five impressive scents have been released that contain essential oils of sandalwood, bergamot, neroli, rose, jasmine, and lemon. They're also vegan friendly, pthalate free, cruelty free, and made in the USA.

Related Posts:
* Certified Organic Perfume
* Chemical Free Aromatherapy Air Fresheners

How to Use Up Food in Your Cabinet: Easy Recipe Generators

We've all bought a thing or two at the local grocery store that we thought we'd use, only to have it sit in the cabinet for months, sometimes years. If the food is still within the expiration date, you can of course donate the food to a local food pantry. If you'd rather make a meal out of your current cabinet inventory, there's an easy way to generate recipe ideas using Recipe Matcher.

RecipeMatcher.com is an easy to use website that lets you plug in the ingredients you have on hand, and suggested recipes will pull up based on those ingredients. The results can be surprising! It's also a great way to waste less food, and clean out the cabinets to make room for new food. You can also enter fresh ingredients into the ingredients list.

If you have plenty of canned or bagged pet food around that may expire before you use it up, donate it to a local animal shelter. They certainly will put it to good use!

How to stop buying wasteful food (for your next grocery shopping trip):

• Don't buy in bulk if you don't need it. Costco and BJ's might be a good deal, but if you don't need the surplus and you can't go through it, you may wasting more money than you're saving.
• If you haven't tried something before, buy a small pack of the item or a smaller size.
• Buy individual size containers for things you haven't tried before. That way, if it's a multi pack and you don't like it, you've only used one, and you can give the rest away (for example, a 6 pack of Spicy V8 vegetable juice).
• If the item has dust on the cover at the store, don't buy it. Chances are that product is sitting on the shelf unpurchased for a reason!
• Shop for foods with less packaging. Buying fresh is an alternative at many grocery stores, including nuts and produce. Bring your own reusable bags or reusable containers and fill it up with the grains, nuts, or fresh products you're looking for (these are usually located in the produce aisle, or sometimes one aisle or two over).

Intro photo of grocery cart by zoovroo on flickr.

The author of this page writes on this green blog, and sells eco friendly products like reusable paper towels, organic body products, and biodegradable trash bags. Stop by the TheGreenerEarth.com today to view the entire product catalog!

How to Reduce the Effects of Climate Change

Climate change is one of the biggest reasons so many people are trying to think of progressive green ideas. Research has shown that stopping climate change dead in its tracks is nearly impossible, but we can try to slow it down. That way, we'll feel less of the effects of climate change down the road, whether those are high temperatures, rising sea levels, or rapid water evaporation (and a dwindling water supply).

The things that effect climate change the most are the actions of man, but events like volcanic eruptions can contribute to global warming. While we can't plug all of the volcanoes on the planet, we can try to reduce our own emissions that are building up in the atmosphere. As you may already know, the more greenhouse gases that enter our atmosphere, the warmer the air is, and the more damage it causes to our ozone layer.

There are two main factors that influence climate change, and those are the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. There are several other factors that contribute to global warming, but these two factors alone cause most of the greenhouse gases.

How do we reduce the effects of climate change?

Almost everything we purchase and use expels greenhouse gases. Much of the greenhouse gases we emit are from our food and transportation. Even the produce at the supermarket and a small lawnmower cause some emissions. Now, those bunches of grapes aren't sitting there expelling greenhouse gases themselves, but the process used to grow the grapes, transport them to the supermarket, and keep them cool does cause greenhouse gas emissions. The water that is pumped to the farm, the workers that drive to the farm, the tractors that maintain the land, and the delivery of materials to the farm all contribute small bits of emissions and energy use (and cattle farms use far more than plant farms). When the grapes are picked, they're transported to a facility using trucks, which use gas and oil. Once the grapes arrive in the supermarket, you'll drive to the market to go get them, burning more fossil fuels.

So how can we use less energy with our food?

First, we can avoid packaged foods. The fact that grapes are usually unpackaged is better for the environment and our atmosphere. The production of packaging is one extra step that will cause more emissions. Second, we can buy locally. Buying locally means fresher foods that use less transport energy to get to you. Third, we can grow our own food.

How can we use less transportation energy?

Buying your food locally is a big step in using less transportation energy. Second, you can reduce the amount of time you drive and carpool when possible. Public transportation is another option that uses far less energy than a single car.

There are many more ways to reduce climate change, from switching to reusable bags to taking cooler showers, which you can read about at the above link.

Buy Certified Organic Plush Animals (and Know What You're Getting)

When someone puts the time into a product you buy and it's apparent that there's fine workmanship involved, you're usually happy with that product. Mass produced pieces that come off an assembly line that don't have as much attention to detail... well, those are often tossed aside. The same logic can even be applied to kids toys and plush animals. When they're well made, we notice. When they're cheap and poorly constructed, we also take notice (and vow to never purchase them again, not to mention tell the entire neighborhood, along with all of your Facebook friends).

Stuffed animals are a dime a dozen, but finding plush animals that aren't made with cheap, chemically treated filler is a little more extraordinary. From the buttons to the outside fabric, manufacturers can tend to skimp and use cheaper materials to offer a lower price. With that lower cost to you comes a certain cost to everyone, and those are:

• The effects on the environment
• The adverse health effects on workers (working in chemically treated cotton plantations)
• Cheaper materials that may be treated with hazardous chemicals, unbeknownst to you

Unlike food products, manufacturers do not have to disclose what is in the teddy bear that you're giving your child. What could be in it? Pesticide treated cotton, synthetics with traces of lead, who knows?

Buying a certified organic plush animal is a much better option for your child. Not only will it be safer, but you'll know what you're getting. There are also many customer reviews out there of these organic stuffed animals, so you can read before buying whether you think the product would be a good fit for your child.

Read more about buying organic for your child on these other resource pages:

• Why Should You Go Organic in Your Baby Nursery?
• Pros and Cons of Organic Baby Toys
• How to Avoid Toxic Toys
• Organic Baby Bath Products
• Find more organic plush animals on Amazon.com here