Top Ways to Convert to a Greener Lifestyle

Do you aim to live greener, healthier, and happier every day of the year? Do you want to experience success, love, and find more meaning in your life?

Updated 3/28/2022

This first blog of the New Year at Colors 4 Health suggests top ways to fulfill this vision. 

It provides examples of practical green lifestyle changes that produce big returns, but involve little time and effort to carry through. 

First off. Be more mindful of natural resources and reuse, recycle, conserve, and respect what you put in or take out of the air, soil, water, trees, and planet.

Thinking green will save you money in the long run, and develops an eco-friendly blueprint for living. 

I encourage you to do your share to take positive actions, and see how great you feel. 

Each thing you do creates good karma and positive energy spreads to every living creature on earth.

Ponder the kinds of foods you eat and what type of transportation you use to go from place to place, to what you recycle or throw out. 

Notice what you do and recognize that it directly relates to how large or small your carbon footprint will be.

Here are Small Steps That Help you Convert to a Greener Lifestyle

Reflect about the Color Green. 

Green is the color of renewal and fresh starts, and signifies Environmental Change. Blue is a symbol of pure water and clean air and is a popular eco-friendly color too. Visualize these colors often and keep reading to discover How Many of Your Behaviors you can...

Clean greener with products that are safe for lungs, skin, and health. 



If you use bleach and other toxic household cleaners, switch over to those that are kind to you and your loved ones.

Protect the water supply, air, and soil, and see Green America's post, Ten Eco-friendly Ways to Clean Green. It describes how to use non-toxic ingredients you may already have in your pantry as cleaning supplies.

Here's Homemade Cleaners, a post written by yours truly that includes researched information and my personal experience using DIY, eco-friendly cleaning products. 

Handle batteries in an eco-friendly way. 




Batteries pose a possible safety hazard to people and equipment, because they corrode. Consider the following: 

Although Duracell and Energizer say single use alkaline batteries are safe to dispose of in the trash, rise above this. Check out this Website. It will help you locate a business location that will recycle alkaline batteries for you for free. How to Recycle Single Use Batteries.

Always take old car batteries to a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility or an auto supply or service center that accepts them.

Collect and bring rechargeable batteries, button batteries or others used in electronic devices to a HHW Facility or check out the link above for business establishments that recycle them.

Conserve water to reduce your water bill and protect this non-renewable natural resource. 

EPA statistics indicate, “Private homes use more than half of the publicly supplied water in the US.” Half the pie is a big chunk. YOU WILL make a big difference, whatever you decide to do. 

Here are simple ways to think and act greener :

Cut your showers by two minutes.

Before you use your washing machine or dishwasher, make sure it’s filled to capacity. 

Operate appliances on the eco-setting.

Convert to a water efficient shower head.

If you need to replace your water heater, switch to a solar heated one.

Sweep your driveway instead of washing it with water from a hose.

When your dishwasher and washing machine are no longer working, upgrade to water efficient ones. Make arrangements to take the old appliance to a facility that recycles parts.

Replace toilets when necessary with dual flush toilets. Recycle parts.

Use drip irrigation instead of sprinklers in the garden. Plant rocks not grass.

Participate in planning for water’s future, by expressing your views to public officials and voting for candidates that support water safety and conservation.

Store food, water, and other beverages in glass, stainless, and other natural materials to reduce the amount of plastic you buy and use. 

Plastic doesn't biodegrade for thousands of years, and the toxic chemicals they are made from can get into groundwater and soil. 

That’s a perfect reason to carry a reusable stainless steel or glass water bottle, instead of reaching for a one-use plastic bottle. 

Landfills overflow with stuff that won’t break down until long after you, your kids, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are gone. Garbage often is laced with toxic additives that are emitted from plastic materials too. 

Making bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year. That figure doesn't include the oil needed for bringing those bottles to market and the gas you use to get it to your home or office. 

If you drink the recommended eight glasses of water a day from the tap, it costs about 49 cents per year. The same amount of bottled water costs about $1,400, and creates tons and tons of pollution. 

Remember every product made, used, and/or discarded by man has an environmental footprint.

Think of the tons and tons of material used to create computers, tablets, cell phones, and party dresses. Imagine the pollution emitted during manufacturing of plastic furniture, plastic bags, cars, houses, and shipping materials. Figure in the fuel used to transport products to the store and then to your home or office.


Cut down on the heaps of Styrofoam, electronic scraps, and bubble wrap that ends up in landfills. Before you buy anything, ask yourself if you really need it. If you do, consider buying gently used instead of new, and look for minimal packaging and shipping. PC Magazine's article discusses reasons why it makes economic sense to consider buying a refurbished computer.

Nix meat consumption and save animals, the planet, and your health. 

When we choose to eat whole food plant-based foods, it impacts our health, happiness, and saves the lives of animals. 

Farmers that plant veggies, fruits, grains, and legumes for food instead of raising cattle, increase per acre yields. 

Plant kingdom crops use less natural resources like water, soil, and feed, and increases the nutritional benefits of the food supply growing on our planet.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) official position on a vegan eating plan advises that an appropriately planned vegan diet is best for reducing the risk and treating illness such as heart disease, hypertension, some forms of cancer, and type 2 diabetes. 

Their research shows that vegan diets were found effective at promoting a lower body mass index, are more environmentally friendly than other diets, and safe for people in all stages of life-including athletes, pregnant women, children, and older athletes. 

Health pros know it's best to shop local, eat in-season crops, and eat a variety of colorful fruits and veggies. This food plan conserves natural resources, is flavorful, and healthy for you. See  4 Key Reasons to Eat a Variety of Colorful Fruits and Veggies. 


Walk more, drive less. Take public transportation and carpool when you can. If you must drive your own auto, make it a hybrid or electric car and bunch errands together.


You and the planet can benefit by taking time to exercise in an eco-friendly way. 

Select a form of exercise  that gets you walking out your door and traveling on foot to a park, pool, nature area, tree lined street, or hiking or biking trail. 

Take a walk, jog, or go to the market on foot, instead of hopping in your car to run an errand. Your body and the environment will thank you for it. 

Begin the New Year with a rousing green start. 

Take Simple Green Steps to Save Bucks, Protect Your Health, and Enhance the Quality of Life for All Creatures on Earth. 

Celebrate this blogs' First Anniversary by reading the first post published here and Envision a Healthy, Colorful Year. 

Sending Colorful Blessings to You and Yours. Happy New Year!

What ideas can help you live greener this year? Please explain in the comments section below. 

In what ways have you converted to a greener lifestyle in the past?

Do not put links in your comment, as we can't publish it that way. Thanks for that.

If you like what you see please re-share or follow on social media. Spread the love by conserving, reusing, repurposing, recycling, and walking lightly on our planet. 🌲🌿🌾💗

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