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Sustainability conferences today are more or less geared towards enlightening the general public on going green. However, it is not everyone who understands the meaning of going green as many people always think that greening up should be a corporate social responsibility and not an individual responsibility. Sustainability conferences have however demystified the way people should go green even in the slightest ways possible.

Going green can mean a lot of different things to different people. It can mean tiny baby steps taken where one slowly replaces a few things here and there that they might be doing on a regular basis, with other things thought to be more eco-friendly.  On the other hand, going green can mean large scale transformation whereby an individual or an organization can replace various systems and change some behaviors with those that will either be beneficial, or at least safe to the planet.

First things first, it is quite easy to try to green up on a small scale whereby as they say, charity begins at home, before starting to work towards community sustainability, or even global sustainability, you can implement the little changes in your household – thank goodness there are plenty of ways to do this. To save energy, you can start by replacing all your luminescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. Bottles, paper, and cans recycling can be easily done too. Using the heating and air conditioning system less, as well as planting drought resistant crops and plantings equally make a huge difference.

Further, by walking, cycling, or carpooling to work, you can save a great deal of gas. Investing in alternative fuel or an electric automobile is equally effective as it will contribute to the common good of attaining community sustainability. When you really decide to go green, you can even re-structure your home say by building airtight buildings using only ‘green materials’ and wholly or largely relying on power generated by natural sunlight or geothermal sources.

As companies have a much greater impact on the global economy than individuals, they can seek to promote global sustainability by equally greening up their acts and deeds. For example, a company can decide to demolish its current structure and recycle all the materials used on the building to create a new building with a green roof on top that will give better insulation. By the same token, the same company can install new and improved heating, cooling as well as lighting systems that will use little power.

Because not everyone has the money required to invest in completely remodeling a business or a home as suggested in the sustainability conferences so that one can truly go green, you can make do with what you already have and make the small baby steps choices of greening up. Such baby steps include turning off power appliances when not in use, turning the water taps off when brushing your teeth, and only investing in biodegradable cleaning products among other measures.