Being green, going green, living green. Whatever your name for it is, “green” isn’t just a buzz word, it is the way of the future. In five or ten years we won’t know how else to live, but right now being green still seems a little extreme. Living green, or having a greener home is as much about doing the planet a favor as it is about doing yourself a favor.

Take a look at the current crisis: the rising cost of gas is on everyone’s radar and affecting everyone’s budget, those people that already had a fuel efficient car, even going back as little as a year ago, are looking pretty smart right about now. You can’t give away a truck or SUV right now, let alone sell one. A year ago, gas prices hovered between $3 and $3.50 and as little as four short years ago is when it first surpassed the $2 a gallon mark. I remember 10 years ago we had a summer of gas prices under $1 a gallon. I could place a safe bet that that would never happen again.

So back to our current discussion about making green decisions a part of our daily life, think about it like making an investment in your own future. Little changes now, will go a long way down the road. If you get ahead of the game with making your home greener now, you won’t get caught scrambling later competing with everyone else, and therefore paying more, when efficiency is no longer an option, but a necessity.

Those little things that you can do right now with little to no cost to you?

Change all your lightbulbs to the new energy efficient style. What you spend now, you will save this year in your electric bill.
Wash your clothes in cold or warm water. Consider setting up a clothes line to cut down on dryer use.
Install ceiling fans and turn up the A/C a couple of degrees.
Plant something that will provide shade to your windows during the hottest parts of the day, or put up awnings. Eventually replace all windows, as they are the greatest source of temperature loss in a house.
Replace carpet with tile, laminate, or wood flooring that doesn’t require vacuuming.

The list goes on, this is just a start… for more information, check out The Green Home Guide.