Over the past few years, most people I’ve spoken to have become (or already were) environmentally conscious to some degree. What often begins simply as saving money - such as reducing the amount of electricity you use - turns out to have quite a positive impact. If, however, you want to do even more; there are several things you can do. Here are just 7 lifestyle changes which will help the environment.

1. Use the car less. This is perhaps the simplest change in this list - reduce the time you spend behind the wheel. In addition to the environmental benefits of doing this, you’ll probably find that you become slightly fitter; and have more money in your pocket at the end of the week. In short, there’s no downside. How do you do this? Here are a few suggestions :

* for short journeys, walk
* if possible, work from home (at least some of the time)
* create a car pool with workmates
* make use of public transport occasionally
* bike to work

2. Reduce your intake of red meat. Common sources of red meat such as cows and bulls produce an enormous quantity of climate-changing gases such as methane. Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that you should become vegetarian - I enjoy a good steak as much as any other omnivore - simply that a slight reduction can have a dramatic effect. As a bonus, there are a number of well-documented health benefits of a diet containing only a small amount of red meat.

3. Become a ‘green consumer‘. When shopping for any sort of product - anything from groceries to a new television - take a moment to weigh up the options. If there are alternatives, consider which product has the lowest impact on the environment. Things to look out for :

* does the item come in easily-recyclable packaging?
* have the goods been recently produced? Locally?
* is the item energy or water efficient?

By favoring the products which answer ‘yes‘ to these questions, producers and manufacturers will gradually take up ‘green‘ practices in order to remain competitive.

4. Become ‘carbon neutral‘ using offsets as necessary. This is something that nearly everyone can take advantage of. Become as close to ‘carbon neutral‘ as possible; purchasing carbon offsets as necessary. In effect, you’ll be investing in a number of sustainable energy and water schemes.

5. Invest in companies researching and producing renewable energy. Want to make some serious money, and help the environment at the same time? Invest in companies which are researching, producing and selling energy-efficient and water-efficient goods. Think wind farms, solar panels and electric cars. This is one area in which financial reward and environmental impact can have an enormous overlap.

6. Share your ‘green’ ideas with others. Over the past century or so, global communications has grown in many, many ways. This has made it possible to share ideas and discoveries at an incredible rate. Here are just a few of the ways in which you can share your thoughts with others :

* create a blog which documents the energy-conserving changes you make in your own home
* establish a not-for-profit group which teaches others how to live sustainably
* create a recycling collective with your neighbors, where each person is responsible for the collection and recycling of a particular material or product

NB : naturally there are a great many others. If you’ve developed or are aware of a scheme which is working well, be sure to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear about it.

7. Become politically active. If you’ve ever heard someone say ‘the government should do this‘ then this one’s for you. By becoming involved in politics - at any level with which you feel comfortable - you are able to help guide people to an incredible goal. Rather than sitting back and waiting for someone else to take action, make your own voice heard.
Final thoughts on lifestyle changes which will help the environment

Want more? Well, there’s one change you can make which will incorporate many of the items noted above - support those who are already making a difference. When your neighbor approaches you to discuss their own ideas for a recycling collective, or a workmate suggests a car pool; dive in. It really will make an impact.

   在過(guò)去的幾年里，大部分和我說(shuō)過(guò)話的人都在一定程度上變成（或者本來(lái)就是）有環(huán)境意識(shí)的。通常我們會(huì)從簡(jiǎn)單的開(kāi)始，比如省錢(qián)，比如減少你使用的電量 -就會(huì)變成有比較積極的影響。然而，如果你想做的更多，那就還有一些你可以做的事情。以下的7種生活方式的改變將有助于改善環(huán)境。

1. 少用車。這也許是這份單子上最簡(jiǎn)單的改變 - 減少你花在輪子后面的時(shí)間。這樣做除了對(duì)環(huán)境有利外，

你可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己也變得更健康了。并且周末的時(shí)候，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)口袋里多了些零錢(qián)。簡(jiǎn)而言之，這有百利而無(wú)一害。那具體該怎么做呢？這里有一些建議：

·對(duì)短途而言，請(qǐng)步行
·如果可能的話，在家工作（至少偶爾）
·和同事拼車
·偶爾乘坐公共交通
·騎車去工作

2. 少吃紅色肉類。通常的紅肉源比如奶牛和公牛會(huì)排出大量改變氣候的氣體，比如甲烷。現(xiàn)在，我絕對(duì)不是建議你變成素食者 - 我同任何不偏食的人一樣喜歡吃好的牛排 - 只是稍微的減少一點(diǎn)食用量，就會(huì)帶來(lái)巨大的效果。并且還有額外的好處，少吃紅肉對(duì)健康的好處已經(jīng)得到充分證實(shí)。

3. 成為一個(gè)"綠色的消費(fèi)者"。買任何一類產(chǎn)品的時(shí)候 - 從日用百貨到新式電視機(jī) - 花一些時(shí)間來(lái)權(quán)衡你的選擇。如果有其他的選擇，請(qǐng)考慮那些對(duì)環(huán)境有最低影響的產(chǎn)品。值得留意的東西：

·這樣?xùn)|西有容易回收的包裝嗎？
·這些貨物是最近生產(chǎn)的嗎？是當(dāng)?shù)氐拿矗?br />·這樣?xùn)|西節(jié)能或者節(jié)水嗎？

人們傾向于對(duì)以上問(wèn)題說(shuō)“是”的產(chǎn)品，那么生產(chǎn)商和制造商就會(huì)漸漸開(kāi)始從事綠色生產(chǎn)從而保持他們的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。

4. 成為盡可能使用‘自然碳(碳中和)’產(chǎn)品。這是幾乎所有人都能利用的東西。盡可能變得靠近‘自然碳（碳中和）’：必須買碳產(chǎn)品。事實(shí)上，你將會(huì)投資很大數(shù)量的可持續(xù)發(fā)展的能源和水模式。

5. 投資研究和生產(chǎn)可持續(xù)使用的能源的公司。想在賺錢(qián)的同時(shí)改善環(huán)境嗎？投資那些正在研究，生產(chǎn)，銷售節(jié)省能源，省水的貨物的公司。考慮下風(fēng)力農(nóng)業(yè)，太陽(yáng)能面板和電子汽車。這是一個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)回報(bào)和環(huán)境影響相交的領(lǐng)域。

6. 與他人分享你的“綠色”想法。在過(guò)去的幾個(gè)世紀(jì)里，全球化交流新增了許多途徑。這使人們能以不可思議的速度分享想法與發(fā)現(xiàn)。下面僅是一部分你可以同他人分享想法的方式。

·建立一個(gè)關(guān)于你家鄉(xiāng)能源存儲(chǔ)變化的博客
·建立一個(gè)非盈利的團(tuán)體，教導(dǎo)他人如何可持續(xù)發(fā)展地生活
·和鄰居一起建立一個(gè)回收?qǐng)F(tuán)體，其中的每一個(gè)成員負(fù)責(zé)收集和回收一種特殊的材料或產(chǎn)品。

注：自然還有很多其他的方法。如果你已經(jīng)養(yǎng)成了或者意識(shí)到了一種也可以生效的模式，請(qǐng)一定在下面留下評(píng)論，我很樂(lè)意看到它們。

7. 潛意識(shí)里變地積極。如果你曾經(jīng)聽(tīng)到有人說(shuō)“政府需要做這個(gè)”那么這個(gè)人就是對(duì)你有用。以任何你覺(jué)得合適的程度參與到政策中，就能夠幫助引導(dǎo)人們達(dá)成一個(gè)不可思議的目標(biāo)。與其坐在后面等待別人采取行動(dòng)，不如讓別人看到你的行動(dòng)。

最后一些有助于環(huán)保的生活方式。

想要更多？好，這里有個(gè)和以上提到的都不一樣的改變 - 支持那些已經(jīng)有變化的人們。當(dāng)你的鄰居呼吁你來(lái)討論他們自己有關(guān)回收的主意，或者一個(gè)同事建議搭車；加入他們。這些真的會(huì)有效果。