10 Little Ways to Reduce Your Oil Consumption, Go Green and Make a Big Difference


I am certain you have heard it before but it is worth repeating...little changes can make a big difference. If a lot of people do a bunch of little things, the world will really become a better, greener place. So here is your green living lesson for today, you may not be able to think of one big way to reduce our dependence on oil, but you can certainly do a bunch of little things.  If we all try to help by doing something really small, we really will be helping to accomplish something really big.  Collectively, all of our small changes will have a tremendously positive affect on our health and our environmental health.

There are health, environmental, and political reasons to reduce petroleum consumption from fertility concerns to cancer. Please read the following tips, take action to live greener with less dependence on oil and share what you are learning with those around you.

   1. Avoid buying plastic toys and goods when an alternative is available.
   2. Don’t use plastic bags; stick to  reusable bags that can be washed frequently.  According to CNN, China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year because of their ban on plastic bags.  My kids and I love these Mothering Mother mini bags for Eco-friendly lunches too!  They are just big enough to carry a sandwich or snack and a great wholesale price at just $10 for 5 bags. And brands, businesses and retailers can get into the saving too by not offering single use plastic bags and instead, creating their own, custom, eco-friendly reusable bags.
   3. Try not to buy nylon and polyester clothing and accessories and buy natural fibers instead.  You can even buy the coolest eco-friendly, BPA and petroleum free recycled and recyclable toothbrushes made by Preserve at more than half off at the Green Polka Dot Box.  The handle is made from recycled yogurt cups and the package doubles as a postage-paid mailer. Simply pop your used Preserve Toothbrush in the package, and drop it in the mail for recycling.  You can also search for tons of other items that are petroleum free as well as get the petroleum free toothbrushes at over 50% off at our GPDB shop.
   4. Stay away from perfumes made with petrochemicals; look for or make all-natural or organic scents made with essential oils.
   5. Aspirin contains oil byproducts so try aromatherapy for your head-aches.  I love petroleum free Badger Balms for everything from headaches to stress relief.  You can buy Badger Balm aromatherapy at over 40% off here.
   6. Most lipstick and glosses are made with petroleum products so make a point to purchase all-natural face care.
   7. The next time you or your little one has a cold, don't reach for the Vicks vapor rub as it is a petroleum based product.  Use an herbal remedy instead like Badger Balm Winter Wonderland with Eucalyptus.  Check out the Organic Buying Club to buy all of the Badger Balm petroleum free remedies at a discount. 
   8. Have each member of your family use a stainless steel water bottle. Ditch the single use plastic water bottles.  It is estimated that Americans  use of water bottles equals 1.5 million barrels of oil, which is enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year. 
  9. Just say, "NO" to Vaseline which is a petroleum based product that does nothing to nourish your skin.  Instead, use an organic shea butter or organic cream.
 10. Use natural pest control for your home and slather natural insect repellent on yourself and your family as many pesticides contain petroleum based chemicals.

Do not begin to think that what you do as one person in making these little changes is insignificant.  Do not get sucked into that abyss of apathy.  These little green changes you make right now to reduce your personal oil consumption will benefit your health and the health of our environment.  The green information you share and the small reductions we make collectively in oil consumption, will be the big difference between our survival and the end of life as we know it. 





P.S.- People always ask me where I get my organic food and personal care products and I love to tell them about The Green PolkaDot Box! Backed by the Organic Consumer's Association and EnvironmentalBooty.com, you can easily buy NonGMO organic groceries, including Harvest Fresh Organic produce, at wholesale pricing online.  It's like a Sam's club but focused on products for green, healthy living! You can even shop by dietary restrictions like gluten free, vegan or diabetic and it all comes right to your front door. Enjoy!

21 comments:

  1. I am follow your blog. I like this post.

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  2. Balufeb2, I am glad you liked the post. Thanks for following.

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  4. I will have to check it out. Glad to be of service!

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  5. Two things to say. One, most oil is used when driving so if you want to reduce your oil use you should, if possible, live close to where you operate and/or operate close to where you live. Drive as little as possible. Two, although helping the environment is great, the more immediate result of using all this foreign oil are the wars some people think are justifiable, including the great cost of weapons and troops which could be spent on better things like education or lowering taxes. Something to think about.

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  6. John, you raise an interesting point with the wars. I actually just read an article about a navy ship (a little one) that runs on algae! I know they are working on ways to become less reliant on oil. There will always be groups of people who want to harm others so there will always be war. We just have to find ways to become less reliant on oil in fighting those wars.

    Thanks very much for the comment!

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  7. Thought businesses that are well-established don't need to worry much about the security of their company. But then, it is always better to be prepared than not, these companies should certainly think of other ways to secure their businesses.

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  8. Good thing the people in our society nowadays are starting to come up with better alternatives rather than the fuel-operated vehicles. It's good to hear there are now products that chooses to be more environmental friendly.

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  9. Going green will be costly but in the long run all of us will benefit from that. If only every individual on this planet thinks this way, we can help in the cause of global warming.

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  10. Commitment and assurance coming from the public is the key to make this kind of proposition effective. If this pushes through, surely the whole society will get a whole lot of benefit from it.

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  11. I think it's about time that we use eco-frienldy vehicles. I mean, we all know that oil will not be there forever, so we should come up with something that will last long and will be less destructive to our environment.

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  12. Hi Toby and thank you for stopping by.

    Eco-friendly vehicles are certainly an option and in the future will be for all but that is only part of the problem. I wrote this article initially because I wanted people to start thinking about all of the ways petroleum is used in commerce and how we have many options to reduce our usage.

    :)

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  13. Nice points here. I still have my head going over the shampoo thing; I've cut time on my driving thinking I'm keeping the petrol use low, but I didn't think I'd keep it high with aspirin...

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  14. Hey Travis, thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to share your feedback. The point is that we are talking about actions that if everyone made, we would collectively make an impact. :)

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  15. I guess these are the kinds of things we need to do at a larger scale these days, in addition to using less fossil fuel and switching over to EV's for a change.

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  16. Yeah, we ought to do more to get keep our fuel consumption low. I guess that also counts for those products that have a bit of oil in them.

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  17. You see, if each and everyone of us shed up some concern and lessen the oil consumption in our everyday usage then, the problem in environment would not become this alarming. I think before getting something or running your car we must pause for a moment and think of a something that would help us out in keeping our surroundings clean and green cause after all it's for own sake too.

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  18. That's right! Everybody should go green. I am delighted that in our area, there is a concerted effort to diminish the use of plastic. I hope that in coming months, no one in our town would use this material.

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  19. Great insights for how to reduce you oil!

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead