Tips for a Clean and Green North Haven
- Plant more trees in your neighborhood. Look for areas that need improvement and are excessively barren. Shrubs and bushes can instantly spruce up a dull space.
- Reduce your carbon footprint. Walk or ride the bike if you have to go a short distance. Buy locally grown fruits and vegetables – they’re easily high on taste, freshness, and nutrient content because they haven’t been transported from a city a thousand miles away. More importantly, it takes tons of gallons of gas for getting them to your town!
- Save energy by installing solar panels in your home. An expensive investment initially, it’ll pay off handsomely in the long run when you pay less and less for your energy bills!
- Another way to save energy is to unplug and turn off appliances and devices when not in use. Unplug the mobile phone charger, the microwave, and the lamps when you aren’t home. Turn off the fans, lights, air conditioning, and laptops if you aren’t using them.
- We’re prompt enough to recycle plastic, paper, and cardboard. Ever thought of metal scrap as a recyclable commodity? Bet you didn’t! Go down to the Sims Metal Management in North Haven and see for yourself! All kinds of metals are processed and recycled there and in other scrap yards all over the country, and that saves tons of energy as compared to mining them from ores. Look up if you’re really keen on knowing more!
- Other items we often don’t think of as recyclables are paints, batteries, and electronic devices. Find out from local authorities the correct way to dispose these items. You can also donate your old TVs and computers to those in need, or take them to a scrap yard. Although most scrap yards, such as Sims Metal Management accept electronics, it’s a good idea to call before you visit them.
- Avoid making trash and you won’t have to deal with it in the first place! Disposable dishes, foam cups, tons of cardboards that make up packaging materials all lands up in landfills as garbage. What’s the way out? Use silverware and dishes that are washable. Buy items in bulk. A number of individual items use up more packaging than items sold in bulk. Food scraps, a major component of landfills, can be used to make compost that yields rich manure for your garden plants.
Wasn’t that easy? It’ll take a while to develop some of these habits especially if you aren’t doing any of these things already. You may even wonder whether it’s making any difference. But believe me, it will, gradually. And doesn’t it bring a smile to your face when you know you have done something good for the city you call home?