Recent news about the impact of global warming has many of us wondering how we can do our part to live “greener” in our homes. One of the ways we’ve learned how to do this, of course, is to simply conserve and recycle when we can, but it’s also very easy to go green in other ways. If you have a green home, you’re helping the environment, and it’s also a way to save money. With just a few changes to your lifestyle, everyone can go green — yes, you too.

One of the big ways you can save energy costs and go green relates to the energy it takes to heat your home. If you set your thermostat to 20 degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and to 25 degrees Celsius or 78 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, you’ll conserve energy and save money on your energy bills simultaneously.

You can also save energy costs if you can create shade in the summer at the west and east ends of your home. This can keep your indoor temperature several degrees cooler while the sun is at its hottest in the morning and afternoon. If you cook early in the day before the temperature is at its hottest or late in the day after it has cooled down, this will also reduce your energy needs because heat won’t be trapped inside your home, thus reducing your dependence on air conditioning. You can also use ceiling fans to circulate the air and help keep it from becoming too hot.

Reducing our use of plastic bags is another way we can have a positive impact on the environment and go green. Polyethylene plastic bags like those that are commonly offered by grocery stores are made with petroleum. 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away every year, and their disposal creates a significant hardship on the environment. Buying reusable cloth grocery bags for just a few dollars each can have a very positive impact on the environment because you reducing your use of plastic bags and therefore their impact on global warming.

Plastic water bottles increase the level of greenhouse gases as they languish in landfills. To reduce this impact, every member of the family should have their own re-usable water bottle to carry with them when they are away from home. Filling bottles before leaving home also saves money.

Another negative impact on the environment is the carbon emissions caused by so many cars on the road and the resulting air pollution. Here, again, you can do your part to reduce those carbon emissions and your own expenditures on fuel costs by using public transportation or carpooling whenever you can, if you must take motorized transportation someplace. This will save you hundreds to thousands of dollars every year. For short distances, instead of taking the car, consider riding a bicycle or walking to get where you need to go. This is a very good form of exercise and again, is a great way to cut fuel emissions and fuel costs, too. As the demand for fossil fuels decreases, fuel prices themselves will drop and save you money even during those times you must drive.

When remodeling a home, opt for bamboo flooring instead of hardwood floors. Bamboo is an environmentally friendly, high yielding, self-replenishing flooring material. It only takes bamboo between 6 and 8 years to mature, compared to the 50 to100 long years needed for hardwoods. When installing bamboo flooring, only use glues that do not contain toxic formaldehyde.

Finally, opt out of paper bills and opt in to electronic bill payments instead. Many companies even encourage this by offering discounts to customers who receive and pay their bills electronically. To further help keep paper waste products out of landfills, purchase recycled paper products and make sure they are unbleached since the bleaching process is environmentally toxic.

It’s true that some people believe in going green can be difficult, but it’s actually not difficult to do so once you know how. If you go green, you can rest easy knowing that you’ve done your part to help the environment, and you’ll save some money at the same time.