How many times can you be told to turn off your lights, only drink from reusable water bottles and compost this and recycle that before it’s all just white noise? Well, if you want different, you got it. Here are some of the most unusual, and sometimes downright disgusting, ways you can go green. (But if you don’t mind, please unplug your computer when you’re done, it just wastes energy and money...sorry.)

 

Do like Google and hire goats to mow your lawn. During the spring of 2009, Google rented a herd of goats to clear away brush from their Mountain View, California headquarters. Niki Fenwick of Google's Global Communications and Public Affairs office stated, "The goats cost about the same as lawnmowers, but are a more sustainable way of clearing weeds and grass." Go green and get a really cool pet? That’s definitely a win-win situation.

 

Going to bed is hard when you have every episode of The Wire queued up on Netflix, but shut off the electronics and the excuses, and stop burning the midnight fossil fuel. The longer you keep on the lights, the TV, the DVR, the computer and whatever other gadgets you have running, the more money you’re spending and the less rest you’re getting. If you just got to bed an hour earlier, your body and the environment would thank you for it.  

 

Every once in a while, skip the meat and potatoes and eat a good old PB&J. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, if every American replaced just one chicken-based meal per week with a vegetarian option like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off U.S. roads.

 

Well, stop using shampoo at least. Many every day shampoos and conditioners contain chemicals that can damage our hair and pollute our waterways. Plus, they come in those not so eco-friendly plastic bottles. You may be thinking that this sounds dirty or that you’ll end up with hippie dreads, but that simply isn’t true. In fact, not using shampoo is actually better for your hair. It might help to know that shampoo as we know it wasn’t even invented until the late 1930s. Surely, people weren’t walking around with dirty hair for their whole lives. Admittedly, there is typically a one-month adjustment period where your hair is a bit, let’s say, unruly, but after that, your hair will be healthier and shinier than ever. A web search for “shampoo substitutes” and/or “homemade shampoo” will yield plenty of alternate ideas for keeping your hair in shape. Do good and look good doing it!

 

These are just a handful of the more atypical ways to go green. Find what works for you and stand by it.