Eco-Friendly Ways to Go Green Online
As the internet becomes more popular and more people connect online there is great potential for going green. Below are some tips for becoming green in an electronic age. On a side note before we dive into tips on Going Green in Cyberspace I would like to mentioned that the Ipad is a great tool for going green and we will be featuring an article in a future post on the Ipad and some great benefits of using an Ipad.
Going Green in Cyberspace
The Internet gives us many opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint by using technology to replace not-so-eco-friendly things we do. The Internet not only can help you to streamline your life, but it can reduce clutter and eliminate some of the piles of stuff we are accumulating. Let’s look at a few examples:
Your Mail – The clutter on your desk.
There was a time when we loved to run to the mailbox and see letters and packages. Now we get excited when our email pops up or we hear “You’ve got mail.” Reducing your “snail mail” by using your email contact as often as possible accomplishes a couple things:
- Quicker response time
- No paper accumulation
- Junk mail easily disposed of
Here are two of the easiest ways to reduce your “snail mail” paper clutter and keep it out of the landfill:
1. Paying bills – Are you receiving your bills in the mail? What happens when you open them? Most of us just want to see the amount and we pay the bill online anyway. How about getting your bills delivered to your email inbox? Many utility companies and credit card companies have the option of paperless billing. You will get an email reminder each month that your bill is due and a link to the site to pay your bill. The landfills don’t need your bills to fill them up.
2. Banking online – Sign up for electronic statements. This works best for two reasons. One, you avoid having to shred statements each month; and two, you can store them on your hard drive, USB drive, or back them up online for security reasons. You eliminate the paper clutter and you avoid the dangers of identity theft from someone sifting through your garbage.