How to Reduce Climate Change by Acting and Buying Green

On December 25, 2018March 12, 2021 By Lynzee LaiIn Finance, SustainabilityLeave a comment

How to reduce or eliminate your climate change impact by acting and buying green. Living a sustainable lifestyle means something slightly different to everyone. The end goal is that everyone becomes a little more conscious of how they are using the earth’s resources and takes small but meaningful steps to reduce their impact.

It doesn’t matter where you are in your sustainable living journey.

Start by taking a mental inventory of where you are currently. Then, make changes towards a more sustainable lifestyle so that we can move toward a greener future together 🙂

Even politicians are having to come around to the fact global warming and climate change are issues that we are going to have to deal with in the near future.

If we know that global warming and climate change is a major problem, then why not tackle it today…Rather than put it off, and let it grow into a larger issue that we still have to face tomorrow.

There are two ways for us to tackle this problem.

The answer is to act in ways that prevent global warming, and purchase products from companies that consciously manufacture goods with social and environmental integrity.

What Does it Mean to Live Sustainably?

Sustainable living is not just about reducing your carbon output. Here is a quick list of meanings that come to my mind when someone says the word sustainability:

Use fewer natural resources.
Water conservation (only 1% of the world’s water resources can be used by humans). Reduce your water waste with this low-flow water conversion kit and save up to 12,000 gallons of water.
Throw fewer things away by reusing, re-gifting, or donating them.
Buy green, eco-friendly, sustainable products.
Reduce your carbon output.
Start a carbon sequestering garden and grow your own food!
Using fewer harmful chemicals.
Eat food that has been sustainably grown.
Become a reducetarian- which can save you a ton of money too! To learn more read, “8 Ways to Save for a Down Payment on a Home and a Roth IRA.

Acting and Buying Green:

Acting green means to change your habits, whereas buying green means to consciously purchasing products that are manufactured in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

One way to both act and purchase green is to start your own carbon sequestering organic garden!

A Carbon Sequestering Organic Garden Helps Reverse Global Warming and Climate Change:

Planting a fruit, vegetable, and herb garden helps take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turns it back into clean oxygen!

Let’s take it a step further, and talk about why you should take the organic garden route.

Then later in the article, I’ll talk about how you can use an all natural pesticide and fertilizer (worm casting) to keep your garden from being eaten alive by bugs.

When I say all-natural, I really do mean 100% (no-chemicals involved) natural fertilizer that doubles as a pesticide!

Home gardening accounts for nearly 80 million pounds of pesticides used per year in North America.

Most of these chemicals are used to control those annoying insects that eat your fruits and vegetables.

Unfortunately, these chemicals find their way into streams or rivers as runoff, and from there into the oceans.

In sum, these pollutants and chemicals are not confined to our oceans and drinking water resources. We end up consuming them through the food web too.

Much of our food livestock eats pounds of grain that have soaked up these chemicals through the soil. This is called bioaccumulation.

Biomagnification is when we consume meat that has eaten lots of polluted corn meal or grain, and the pollutants travel up the food chain and into our bodies.

When you eat contaminated food, you absorb those chemicals and over time they build up in your body.

Starting an organic garden is a great way to:

Reverse climate change (when you carbon sequester, you turn carbon dioxide back into oxygen which reverses global warming)!!
Reduces your weekly grocery bill.
Be healthier (and the food tastes better!).

Worm Casting:

Worm casting is a natural fertilizer that is also a pesticide!

Instead of growing grass, grow edible organic fruits and vegetables!

Before you ask about the additional water costs, ill point you to this awesome rainwater collector!

Eco Economics is all about showing you how you can save money by going green and then reinvesting that money to gain your financial freedom!

Starting a carbon sequestering garden will save you money, your health, and the environment.

To read about the 14 benefits of starting your own carbon-sequestering organic garden click here! You will also learn more about the 8 benefits of worm casting and composting!

Now that we have covered ‘how to reduce the number of chemicals that you put into your body’, let’s take a look at how to reduce the number of chemicals inside of your home.

Buying Green Cleaners:

Another way that your body comes into contact with chemicals is through the many cleaning agents that you use to “sanitize” your home.

By using zero-waste or minimally packaged concentrated natural cleaners, you can cut down on your resource consumption and limit the toxins in your home.

I personally love the zero-waste Provence de Marseille Soap.

You can use it to remove tough stains on clothes, grease from dishes, or to shower off with at the end of the day.

This soap is primarily composed of Olive Oil and is made of 100% vegetable ingredients.

Of course, it is cruelty-free and does not contain colorants or artificial ingredients!

Buying Concentrates:

My favorite all-natural concentrate cleaner is by Branch Basics.

The concentrate is a powerful plant and mineral based cleaner.

The Benefits of Using a Concentrate are:

Less packaging means more eco-friendly (liquids condense into smaller bottles and fewer bottles need to be purchased on an annual basis).
Less transportation fuel (why ship diluted cleaners to the store or to your home? That’s just silly).
Save money (buying a cleaner in a concentrated formula is cheaper than purchasing a diluted version + save money on packaging).
Re-fill and reuse the plastic squirt bottles that you already own.

Moreover, you can save as much as half of your yearly cleaning budget by buying your cleaners in a concentrated formula!

The average cost of a 32 oz “green” cleaner is $6.18 (or $0.20 per ounce).

Instead, a 32 oz. bottle of Branch Basics Concentrate can make 16 All-Purpose bottles (24 oz), at $3.06 each ($0.12 per oz)!

This all-purpose cleaner is so natural and healthy that you can basically use it everywhere.

It may be harder to think of places where it can’t be used…

The Branch Basics Concentrate is great for:

All-Purpose: Appliances, Dishes, Granite, Grills, Highchairs, Jewelry, Marble, Natural Stone, Pacifiers, Pots & Pans, Stains, Stovetops, Sticky Spills, Yoga Mats
Bathroom: Tile, Grout, Countertops, Sinks, Showers, Tubs, Toilets, Fixtures, Shower Liners, Soap Scum
Streak-Free: Windows, Mirrors, Glass Surfaces, Computer Screens, Phones and Tablets, Fixtures, Aquariums, Shower Doors, and Picture Frames
Foaming Wash: Hands, Face, Body, Baby, Hair, Pets, Removing Make-Up, Shaving, Dishes, Fruits & Vegetables
Misc: Laundry (192 loads), Stainless Steel, Wood, and Vinyl Floors, Carpet

The money you save can be put toward any number of uses, but since Eco Economics is about sustainability and increasing your financial IQ…

I would say that the highest and best use of this money is to devoted it to a tax-advantaged account that helps you achieve financial freedom!

As a result, you receive the same service (a clean home) at a fraction of the cost and impact to the Earth!

The Take Away:

Yes, ideally we would love to live in a world where plastic doesn’t exist.

Especially since we now know all of the health and environmental problems that plastic causes.

Being aware of a problem is one thing, but doing something about that problem is a completely different scenario.

We may not be able to rid ourselves of plastic entirely, but we can do the following things to reduce our plastic usage:

Decline single-use plastic items
Buy zero-waste, biodegradable, and all-natural products
Re-use the plastic bottles you already own (use an empty sriracha bottle as a squirt bottle for your all-natural cleaning solutions. You hide your cleaning solutions in a cabinet where no one sees them anyway!)

Take action today, and remember to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Articles that may interest you:

I sincerely only hope to provide helpful information. If you are curious about a specific topic or have a question about anything that I have written, please feel free to comment or contact me.

Keep in mind, it only takes 25% of a population to start a major social movement.

Become a Sustainability Hero by helping me spread the word! Please re-pin and share, so that I can continue to provide you with free content.

How to Save for Retirement by Going Green: Insulation

On December 18, 2018March 12, 2021 By Lynzee LaiIn Finance, SustainabilityLeave a comment

Sometimes it may seem like it is impossible to find money at the end of the month to put towards your retirement account. This is why it is critical to making the most of every dollar! Insulating your home is one of the most effective ways to decrease your energy bill by going green. Another benefit is that many energy efficiency updates qualify for tax credits and utility company rebates!

You can double or even triple up on your savings! Consequently, you can put all of these savings towards your tax-advantaged retirement account!

How Much Can You Save by Properly Insulating Your Home?

In short, by adding insulation to your home you can reduce heating and cooling costs anywhere from 10% to 50%.

Of course, the amount you save depends on where you live and how much insulation you already have.

For instance, a homeowner in the Northeast with an uninsulated attic can save around $600 a year by adding about 15 inches of insulation (R-38- ill go over R-values later in this article).

In fact, just 6 inches can net annual savings of around $200.

According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, by simply reducing your home’s air leakage by 25%, you can lower your annual energy costs by around $300.

The money you save can be put toward any number of uses, but since Eco Economics is about sustainability and increasing your financial IQ…

I would say that the highest and best use of this money is to devoted it to a tax-advantaged account that helps you achieve financial freedom!

Depending on the type of materials you use, you will pay an average of $1,500 to insulate an 800-square-foot attic. If you do this, you can expect to have a payback period on your investment in three years.

You’ll spend about half that if you do the job yourself!

So if you are nifty and have a spare weekend, add it to your list of DIY projects and save a cool $800. This also means that your payback period is also cut in half!

The Nonbusiness Energy Property Tax Credit:

As of the 2018 tax year, the federal government offers the Nonbusiness Energy Property Tax Credit. These credits are good through 2019 and then are reduced each year through the end of 2021.

This means that if you are interested in taking advantage of the biggest federal renewable energy tax credit, you will need to take action within the next year!

The Nonbusiness Energy Property Tax Credit allows you to deduct 30% of the cost of installing a solar energy system from your federal taxes. On the same tax form, there is an area that allows you to deduct a portion of the cost to increase the insulation in your home.

The link to the tax form is included in a later portion of this article for your convenience.

If you are interested in learning how you can DIY your own solar panel system, visit Renewable Energy Tax Credit: How to Install DIY Solar Panels. You can build your own solar energy system for 60%-70% cheaper than if you were to get one installed!

The credit is equal to 30% of the cost, including installation. Moreover, there is no upper limit on the amount of the credit for solar, wind, and geothermal equipment.

To find utility company rebates offered in your zip code read, “Renewable Energy Tax Credits, Incentives, and Rebates“.

Equipment that Qualifies for the Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit:

The credit includes costs to install solar, wind, geothermal and fuel-cell technology updates to your home.

Solar panels for generating electricity
Solar-powered water heaters. The water heated by the system must be used inside the home, and at least half of the home’s water-heating capacity must be solar. (Solar heaters for swimming pools and hot tubs do not qualify.)
Wind turbines that generate up to 100 kilowatts of electricity that must also be used in the home.
Geothermal heat pumps that meet federal Energy Star guidelines.
Fuel cells that rely on a renewable resource (usually hydrogen) to generate power for a home. The equipment must generate at least 0.5 kilowatts of power.

For the average person, the solar panel and wind turbine options are going to be the easiest to install, with the fewest regulations to get past.

Nonbusiness Energy Property Tax Credit:

Equipment and materials must meet technical efficiency standards that have been set by the Department of Energy.

Manufacturers typically advertise that their item meets this standard. In short, if a product does not advertise that it meets the standard, be sure to ask prior to purchasing.

Turbo tax does a great job explaining the two kinds of energy efficiency improvements that you can write off. I have listed them here for your convenience…

For this credit, the IRS distinguishes between two kinds of upgrades:

1. Qualified Energy Efficiency Improvements:

Exterior windows and skylights
Home insulation (Just about all types: fiberglass, cellulose, mineral wool, spray foam, foam board, and cotton batting qualify for the energy tax credit)
Exterior doors
Certain roofing materials

2. Residential Energy Property Costs:

Electric heat pumps
Electric heat pump water heaters
Central air conditioning systems
Natural gas, propane or oil water heaters
Stoves that use biomass fuel
Natural gas, propane or oil furnaces
Natural gas, propane or oil hot water boilers
Advanced circulating fans for natural gas, propane or oil furnaces

There are a few credit restrictions, like a maximum of a $200 credit for windows. For a full list be sure to consult your tax accountant. You can review Turbo Tax’s exceptions list here.

Remember it is critically important to save your receipts and labels for Uncle Sam.

Which Tax Form to Use:

The form to use to claim your solar or wind credit is called The Residential Energy Credit Form 5695, which is filed with your tax return.

On this same form, you can add any write-offs you have made to insulate your home.

For insulation updates, you can write off 10% of expenditures, up to $500 for the year. This amount is for all energy improvements combined.

R-Value:

The R-value measures the home’s resistance to air flow, which means less heated or cooled air escapes. The higher the number value, the better the insulating power.

The Department of Energy (DOE) recommends an R-value between 30 to 60, depending on where you live.

According to the EnergyStar website, the recommended level for most attics is to insulate to R-38 or about 10 to 14 inches, depending on insulation type.

I have inserted a photo of a map of the US and a chart with the recommended values provided by the DOE.

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By sharing we can help others save money by going green, all the while saving the planet together! Remember, it is our own lives and futures at stake.

8 Ways to Save for a Down Payment on a Home and a Roth IRA

On December 12, 2018March 12, 2021 By Lynzee LaiIn FinanceLeave a comment

Saving for retirement and a down payment for a home may seem like it is an impossible task, especially with all of the other bills you have coming in. I am going to share 8 easy ways to save for a down payment on a home and a Roth IRA retirement account. Retirement and home ownership are possible, you just have to rework some of your daily habits.

To fully fund a Roth IRA account you must save $15 a day (that’s $458 per month or $5,500 per year).

To save $5,000 a year, you must save $13.50 a day. Over 4 years you will have saved $20,000 for a down payment on a house.

Thus, with $29 a day you can you can fully fund a Roth IRA (that will grow to over $1,000,000 in 40 years) and save for a down payment on a home.

If you want to know how I came up with these numbers, click here. In the article “How to Save for a Down Payment on a Home and Fund a Roth IRA” I break down the numbers and make it really simple to understand.

So now that you know that all you have to do is save $29 a day, let’s look at 8 ways to find this money.

If you already own a home, these saving principles can be used to save for an investment property. If you are in debt, then these same saving principles can help you pay off that debt.

There are a number of ways that you can use this information.

My goal is to break down the process of saving so that it does not seem like a task that is impossible to overcome.

Saving for retirement and a home can be easy. All it takes is a bit of re-working on your end to find $29 a day!

How To Save $29 a Day:

So how do we accomplish this $29 a day?

Visit the Sustainability Shop to find a ton of ways to save by Going Green! For many of the products, I break down how much you can save per year by making the switch!

1. Eat at Home:

I meal prep 95% of the food I eat.

You can read “Increase the Velocity at Which Your Money Grows: Ways to Save” to learn how you can save $500 to $600 every month by meal prepping.

If you want to learn how easy it is to meal prep and how much time it saves, you can read “How to Increase Efficiency: Time Management Hacks”.

Let’s do a bit of quick math:

Assume a breakfast would cost you $7, lunch costs $12, and dinner costs $16 (I am being conservative here. I am sure many of you have eaten a $20+ dinner).

Let’s add all of that up and then multiply by 30 days per month. That is $1,050 per month on eating out!

If you were to meal prep, you would end up spending around $100 per week on groceries or $400 per month.

That is less than half of what you would spend on eating out!!! Or $600 in savings!

Bang! You just found the $458 per month to fund your Roth IRA retirement account.

An added benefit is that you can portion control your meals, and eat healthier (you know exactly what is going in your food).

To help you with your meal prepping, eco-friendly glass Tupperware, bento boxes, and reusable food wrap are the go-to necessities:

You can find other reusable containers and silicon bags at the Sustainability Shop.

2. Cut Back on the $5 Cups of Coffee:

You will never see me with a Starbucks coffee. In fact, a small Starbucks coffee costs more than $5 a cup!

But, we will go with $5 for easy math.

If you buy a Starbucks coffee every morning before work, that would be $5 x 5 days x 4 weeks x 12 months=1,200 each year!

The point here is that you can save $1,200 per year, per $5 increment…

3. Carry a Bottle of Water:

Did you know that 50 billion water bottles are used every year?!?

Let’s save the planet, its animals, the oceans, and our money by using a reusable water bottle.

Soda and flavored drinks are terrible for you anyway… The bottles say “natural and artificial flavors”, but what does this really mean?

Most water bottle companies use regular municipal water in their products, so you are really paying for the packaging and the convenience.

It is the $2-$3 increments that we tend to overlook that add up over time.

Click here to check out this cool refillable gemstone water bottle!

If you believe in the power of crystals, this is a great way to give your water an awesome energy boost!

For thousands of years, ancient civilizations have utilized the power of crystals to release mental, physical and spiritual blockages, thus facilitating the free flow of energy throughout our bodies.

Click here to read more about the healing power of crystals.

4. Bring a Flask and Pre-Game!

The average mixed drink is probably between $10 and $12.

What really drove home the concept of how expensive drinks are, was that I lived in the land of $20 vodka Redbull‘s for 5 years (Vegas).

So I found that I could save a ton of money by bringing a flask and pre-gaming before I went out.

Yes, I have had a few friends give me a questioning look when I bust the flask out… But halfway through the night, they are asking for a swig…

Moreover, now that I am in my 30’s I find that I don’t really go to clubs and bars anymore. Instead, I find myself at friend’s houses having a cocktail or a glass of wine.

The point is that one cocktail is about the same price as the cost of a meal!

Plus, you tend to drink more than one cocktail when you are out.

5. Enjoy the Great Outdoors!

I love going outside to play. Outdoor activities (like hiking) are free or have a relatively small start-up equipment cost.

A really fun indoor activity is salsa dancing.

What’s really great is that many places offer free salsa lessons!

Another benefit is that salsa is an awesome cardio workout.

In fact, it is a great way to meet new people if you are single, and an even better way to work on non-verbal communication and team building skills if you have a significant other.

Not to mention, Latin dance is very sexy and can help spice up your romantic life.

I used to go to the gym quite often, but now I find that I do all of my exercises outdoors and for free. An added bonus is that you get to experience the outdoors, re-connect with nature, and breath fresh air.

I typically walk 2.5 miles a day, salsa 2x per week, and in the winter I go skiing.

When I worked in an office, I would eat at my desk and walk for my 1-hour lunch. I was able to walk 2.5 miles in that 1-hour lunch break.

6. Cut the Cable:

I haven’t owned a TV since high school. I do have Netflix, and it is so much cheaper!

Additionally, I don’t have to watch advertisements.

On the other hand, I love listening to audiobooks. I mostly read nonfiction, but for fun, I listen to high fantasy and sci-fi books.

I have found that most books take around 14 hours to listen to. That means that you can crush a book every 2 weeks by listening to an audible book for an hour a day!

7. DIY:

It is super easy to make your own lotions with shea butter, olive oil, almond oil, and coconut oil.

Instead of cleaning with harsh chemicals like Clorox, use vinegar.

Imagine all of the chemicals being put out into the environment to manufacture Clorox bleach (wipes, sprays, etc.). Now imagine that you are wiping your entire home down with these harsh chemicals.

8. Eat Less Meat:

Reducetarians are committed to eating less meat, regardless of the degree or motivation.

This concept is appealing because not everyone is willing to follow an “all-or-nothing” diet.

This way you can decide when and how much meat you eat. The nice thing about being a reductarian is that it allows for a flexible intake of meat.

A fantastic book that explains how this diet works can be found on Audibles and by clicking this link. The Reducetarian Solution: How the Surprisingly Simple Act of Reducing the Amount of Meat in Your Diet Can Transform Your Health and the Planet“.

Reasons to reduce your meat intake:

Meat, and especially beef is more expensive than eating fruits, grains, and vegetables.
There are a number of studies about how red meat increases inflammation in your body.
Animals are treated with antibiotics and hormones, which we ingest.
Biomagnification of pesticides. The grain and corn that cows are fed have tons of pesticides, and cows eat tons of it.
Increase in greenhouse gasses (cows produce a lot of methane)
Cruelty to animals

Cowspiracy is an environmental documentary that explains how animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption, pollution, and is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry.

Methane is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is far more devastating to the climate than carbon emissions.

The 10,000 Foot Over View:

There are many ways to go about finding $29 a day to accomplish this goal. Homeownership and retirement are within reach and can become a reality.

In an era marked by immediate gratification, saving for the future is a task that you must consciously work on.

Make it easy for yourself and make saving automatic by having your retirement account auto-deduct the $458 per month from your checking account.

Everyone has a financial report card. Make it a priority to constantly check and work on yours.

Take time and money to re-invest in yourself. Re-investing in your financial education is critical.

How are you going to master your financial report card, if you don’t know the rules of the game?

Every dollar has an opportunity cost.

Curious, throughout high school did you learn about how to navigate your personal finances? Or about the importance of living a sustainable lifestyle?

Did they teach you about FICO scores and how much to have in revolving debt? Or what goes into calculating your credit score?

It is up to you to teach yourself about all of these important topics!

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How to save for a down payment and a Roth IRA

How to Save for a Down Payment on a Home and Fund a Roth IRA

On December 7, 2018March 12, 2021 By Lynzee LaiIn FinanceLeave a comment

Saving for the future is something that you probably know that you need to do, but may not be sure how to go about or where to find the funds to invest. The good news is that I am going to show you exactly how you can save for a down payment on a home and fully fund a Roth IRA! It is as simple as finding and saving $29 a day!

One key thing to keep in mind is that every dollar has an opportunity cost.

An opportunity cost is the benefit that you miss out on when choosing one option over another.

Saving is the Core of Investing:

The government gives you incentives for reinvesting your money… because you have to sacrifice some of the things that you like today, in order to save so that you can have funds to invest with.

Saving money can be hard, but it can also be easy…

My personal goal is to achieve financial freedom. I’m not interested in a huge house with a lavish car.

That’s how you get stuck in the rat race.

If you are renting a large home, just remember that your rent payment is someone else’s investment cash flow and mortgage payment.

Remember, the more house you have, the more cleaning you have to do.

The larger the house, the more stuff can fit in it (and the more stuff you need to buy to furnish it).

The bigger the house, the bigger the mortgage. Which equates to fewer savings you can devote towards investing into an asset that actually provides you additional income.

My biggest recommendation for you is to live below your means.

If you earn $1 million and you spend $1 million, you’re still living month-to-month!

The Math: Why $29 Per Day?

In order to max out your Roth IRA, you need $5,500 to invest each year. If you break that down by 365 days a year, it comes out to $15 a day.

If you save $5,000 a year, over four years, you will have $20,000 for a down payment on a home.

$5,000 a day divided by 365 days is $13.50.

The average price of a home in the United States, as of this writing, is approximately $220,000 (photo provided by zillow.com).

You can get an FHA loan with 3.5% down.

$220,000 x 3.5%= $7,700

You will need closing costs, plus a cushion so that you aren’t sleeping on the floor of your new home. Thus, $20,000 is a safe number to have if you want to purchase a home.

You could get by with less, but I am a huge advocate of having a rainy day savings fund. We can’t predict the future and it is always good to have a cushion to fall back on.

So the moral of the story is, “if you can save $29 a day, every day, you can purchase a home and fund your retirement account.”

Starting as Soon as Possible and Consistently Saving:

The sooner you start the more time your account will have to grow. This is because you have compounded interest working on your side!

Compounded interest is the interest calculated on the initial principal and includes all of the accumulated interest of the previous periods.

The maximum amount that you can contribute to a Roth IRA account per year is $5,500, which is $458 per month.

Experts say that over any 40 year period, the stock market has an average return of 7%. This includes down years.

If you start with $5,500 and contribute $5,500 each year for 40 years (with a 7% average market increase), your total contribution will be $220,000.

That $220,000 over 40 years will grow to 1,257,212!!!

And Bang! You have over $1,000,000 for retirement!

You can play with the numbers on any retirement account calculator (I used Bankrate.com, which is where I sourced the image above).

I am originally from the Los Angeles area, and homes in more expensive parts of the country will require you to save much more than $29 per day.

The good news is that if you live in an area where home prices are higher, then you are likely making more money. If not, consider moving to a state with no state income tax. Currently, there are 9 states that don’t require their residents to pay state income tax!

The point is that you can save $5,000 each year by setting aside $13.50 every day.

Whether you use that money to pay off student debt, a credit card balance or accelerate paying off your mortgage is up to you.

The 10,000 Foot Overview:

There are many ways to go about finding $29 a day to accomplish this goal.

It is up to you to take charge of your free time and train your mind.

Articles that may interest you:

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Interested in a particular topic? Comment below!

Gardening Tips and Tricks to Prevent Global Warming

On December 3, 2018March 12, 2021 By Lynzee LaiIn Finance, SustainabilityLeave a comment

Growing your own garden has many health benefits, not to mention it reduces your carbon footprint. I have created this handy Gardening Tips and Tricks to Prevent Global Warming Starter Guide to encourage you to consider the benefits of growing your own organic fruits and vegetables. The goal of this article is to point out the main benefits of starting an organic garden, and how to plant a diverse vegetable mixture to give you a healthy and well-balanced diet.

Benefits of Planting Your Own Organic Garden:

Here is a list of benefits that gardening can bring to your life:

Reduces the amount that you spend at the grocery store each week. Consequently, the money you save can be used to fund your Roth IRA (Roth IRA: How to Become a Millionaire by the Time You Retire!)
Reduces the transportation fuel (carbon output) used to ship vegetables across oceans and highways to get to your local store.
UN scientists have released a warning stating that the world has less than 15 years to reduce the carbon output to nearly 0 or else face serious climate change consequences. Planting a garden is a way you can make a difference by helping sequester carbon from the atmosphere!
Organic food tastes better because it is fresher and is able to ripen on the vine (instead of a gas chamber).
It is an outdoor activity. Certainly, you can replace one of your indoor electricity using (TV, video games, social media time) hobbies with gardening. Keep in mind, Fossil fuels and coal make up nearly 62% of how we generate electricity in the U.S.
Many people live in cities, which are cement jungles surrounded by black asphalt (roads and parking lots). That being said, dark materials absorb heat which is why cities tend to be hotter than their surrounding areas. Adding vegetation provides shade and breaks up all off of that dark material.
Grow fresh vegetables forever! Fruits and vegetables have seeds that you can harvest at the end of the year. Meaning that you can use the seeds to start your garden next year!!!
A fun and family-friendly activity that can inspire you to take an interest in the origins of your food and make better choices about what you put on your plate.

Health Benefits of Gardening:

Eliminates the addition of chemical pesticides that you are currently putting into your body.
No chemical fertilizers. In short, worm casting is nature’s Miracle Grow and is an all natural organic fertilizer! Read on to learn about worm casting.
It helps you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
Adds a bit of exercise to your life.
Breath fresher air by being outside. People are often stuck inside an office all day. Taking the time to tend to your garden will give you an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors.
Plants increase oxygen production. The air around your home will be fresher (less carbon dioxide).

Help Prevent Global Warming by Starting an Organic Garden:

Now that I have your attention with this serious list of benefits. Let’s get you started on your money saving, healthy, better for the environment path to an organic garden!

I have put together a gardening kit that will get you started on your journey.

The Survival Garden Seed Kit by Open Seed Vault:

Inside the Survival Garden Seed Pack are carefully selected vegetables to provide a well balanced and healthy diet.

This seed pack comes with 32 varieties of all-natural vegetable seeds that are non-hybrid, non-GMO, 100% naturally grown, and open pollinated. Plus, a 14-page growing and seed saving guide.

Each pack contains the following 32 seed packets:

Kale Vates Blue Scotch
Eggplant Black Beauty
Green Bean Tendergreen Improved
Zucchini Dark Green
Lettuce Buttercrunch Butterhead
Brussels Sprouts Long Island
Lettuce Ruby Leaf
Lettuce Black Seeded Simpson
Bell Pepper California Wonder
Radish Cherry Belle
Okra Clemson Spineless
Beet Detroit Dark Red
Onion Evergreen Bunching
Cabbage Golden Acre
Corn Golden Bantam
Cantaloupe Hales Best Jumbo
Winter Squash Jumbo Pink Banana
Tomato Beef Steak
Lima Henderson
Swiss Chard Giant Fordhook
Cucumber Marketmore
Spinach Bloomsdale
Carrot Scarlet Nantes
Turnip Purple Top
Pumpkin Sugar Pie
Cauliflower Snowball
Pea Sugar Daddy
Broccoli Waltham
Winter Squash Waltham Butternut
Sunflower Mammoth
Parsnips Harris Model
Celery Tall Utah Improved

The packets are USA Seed Stored in an airtight and moisture proof resealable bag for safer, long-term storage. Plus, the seeds have been tested for maximum germination and vegetable yield.

The Survival Garden Seed Pack is the perfect seed starter kit to bringing fresh vegetables to your kitchen table!

Epica’s Stainless Steel Compost Bin:

You can reduce the amount of waste that is headed to a landfill by composting your food scraps.

Another benefit is that composting recycles nutrients, which can be used to start your own organic vegetable garden.

Nutrients from a compost pile is better for your health and cheaper than purchasing chemical fertilizers.

This stainless steel bin controls odors naturally with an airtight lid and a replaceable activated-charcoal filter.

It holds 1.3-gallons of compost. It is big enough to hold several days’ worth of kitchen waste like vegetable peels, fruits, and coffee grounds, yet still small enough to fit on your countertop.

Dimensions: 7.16” in diameter x 11” high.

The compost bin is molded from one piece of metal, so it resists rust and leaks. Moreover, it does not leak toxic chemicals into your compost pile.

Benefits of Worm Casting:

I am sure you are aware of how healthy bacteria (probiotics) help us digest food. Well, worm poop (worm casting) combines enzymes and positive bacteria to provide plants with optimal nutrition content.

Many of the nutrients that plants need to thrive can be found in large quantities within earthworm castings. Nutrients include magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, iron, cobalt, borax, manganese, nitrogen, and carbon.

High levels of microbial activity have the following benefits:

Helps plants grow faster.
Increases soil aeration, which helps plants absorb nutrients and allows their roots to breath properly.
Increases water retention, which makes it possible to use 50-75% less water in some situations. Money Saved!
Is all-natural! The consumption of fewer chemicals is vital to a healthier lifestyle. Worm casting allows you to grow “organic” vegetables!
No heavy metals. Worms actually have the ability to absorb heavy metals like copper, lead, and cadmium from the soil. This means that the castings are heavy metal-free. This reduces the likelihood that those metals will end up in your vegetables and on your plate!
Burn-proof. Often times fertilizers are too high in nitrogen, which burns your plants. Casting will never burn the roots of your plants 🙂
It is a natural pesticide! Save money on pesticides while avoiding the need to spray chemicals.
Increases your crop yield :). In 2014, Nature Research published a study that showed that crops grown in worm castings produce 25% more yield.

Worm Casting Kit:

The nice thing about producing your own casting is that you will continuously produce natural fertilizer for your garden every month.

Producing your own casting will save you money over time, as opposed to purchasing casting from the store (which is typically packaged in a plastic bag).

I have included a video to shows how the worm factory produces approximately 6 quarts of worm casting per month.

What’s more, the cost of worm casting bought from a store can be as much as $25 for 8 quarts.

In sum, if you are serious about wanting to grow organic vegetables, making the investment in a worm casting kit is totally worth it!

Moreover, you get to collect worm casting tea (to be clear, this is not the kind of tea you drink) that your plants love!! You should mix the tea with water and water your plants for an extra boost.

The Worm Factory comes with a bonus “What Can Red Wigglers Eat?” infographic refrigerator magnet.

This allows you to quickly determine which foods are perfect for your worms, and which you should avoid.

Plus, the Worm Factory is odor-free and included a 38-page instruction manual that is a step-by-step guide to managing your Worm Factory.

This worm casting kit has a built-in “worm tea” collector tray and spigot for easy draining.

I have included this instructional video to help you set up your worm casting kit by Growyourgreens.com.

Red Worms:

To get your organic garden rocking-and-rolling with the worm casting kit, grab 300 hundred live Red Worms and you will be all set!

These red worms turn organic waste into nutrient-rich soil!

The manufacturer even guarantees live delivery!

The 10,000 Foot Overview:

Often times we feel helpless because global warming can feel like such a big problem to tackle.

But, know that you can make a difference by making small changes to your daily actions. We all got ourselves into this climate change dilemma, and we all have to pitch in together to get ourselves out.

Let’s look to ourselves before we look to judge how others act. We can make a paradigm shift towards a sustainable planet if we make it the new “cool thing to do”.

Followers will always follow the trend, so be a leader and make sustainability the “new trend”.

Planting a garden is a way you can make a difference and help sequester carbon from the atmosphere!

I have listed a few of the benefits of planting your own organic garden. With some creativity, you can think of many other reasons how gardening can benefit your health and the planet.

Of course, I encourage you to add additional gardening benefits or tips to growing a successful garden by commenting at the bottom of this article.

Moreover, becoming a Sustainability Hero has health, environment, and budget benefits.

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If you have enjoyed this content, please remember to spread the word by sharing so that we can help others become Sustainability Heros too!

I encourage interaction, so please feel free to comment below!