Going green may seem intimidating at first – using earth-friendly cleaners in your home, environmentally friendly energy usage choices, cars with lower emissions … the list goes on!

Live & Work Green, a San Diego-based consulting firm founded by Michael McKibben and Meaghan Hundley, was established to empower people to live environmentally sustainable lives. The company is committed to green living and reducing humanity’s negative impacts on our local and global environment.

“There is a lot of buzz these days about going green and the information out there can be overwhelming,” McKibben said. “What going green really means is reducing the negative impact one has on our environment. Live & Work Green is available to consult with businesses to make a positive impact on our environment. The benefits to a greening consultation include reduced operating costs, a reduced carbon footprint, increased social awareness and an improved environment for employee retention and recruitment.

“Specializing in small to medium businesses, we strive to make our services affordable and to quickly pay for themselves in the savings made by the implementation of our recommendations. There are varying tiers for different sized businesses and we can work with just about anyone. We also have special pricing for schools, religious organizations and nonprofits for consulting, presentations and workshops.”

This firm has helped hundreds of individuals and businesses make the environmentally responsible change to a more earth-friendly way of life and business practice. McKibben and Hundley provided easily applied tips for starting down the green path.

• Switch all of your light bulbs (not on dimmers) to compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. They use one-quarter the electricity and can last up to 10 times as long. You can toss the old incandescent bulbs in the trash as they are not recyclable; however CFL’s must be properly disposed of if they burn out or break. IKEA is a great place to take your old bulbs and household batteries for recycling.

• Wash all of your clothes in cold water. Heating water is extremely energy intensive. Detergents today are formulated to work very well in cold water and it will make your clothes last longer.

• Instead of drying clothes in a clothes dryer, line-dry them. It’s much better for the fabric and makes more sense in warm, dry San Diego than just about any other place. The sunlight will help kill bacteria and your clothes will smell fresh and clean.

• If you are a homeowner and have a yard of grass, switching to a yard of native plants will look gorgeous, reduce water consumption drastically, invite birds and other species, and save you time toiling away with a lawnmower. Also, there is a big movement called “Food Not Lawns” that encourages people to replace grass with edible gardens of food, such as vegetables and herbs. Finally, consider adding a simple compost bin. It’s a great way to get rid of all your organic scraps (coffee grounds, banana peels, etc.) and create your own nutrient-rich compost without adding to the landfill.

• Ride your bike! Nothing is sexier than a person on a bike! Leave the tired old SUVs and cars in the suburbs. Hillcrest was named one of the most walkable cities in the country and we should take advantage of that. You save money spent on foreign oil, emit no air or noise pollution, get some great cardio exercise, and never have to worry about finding parking. Consider stopping at a local bike shop for a tune-up if your bike has been collecting dust or needs a shiny new set of wheels.

• Businesses can offer employees reimbursable transit passes in lieu of parking passes. It’s a great incentive for existing employees and for attracting young eco-minded talent. It reduces pollution, congestion and allows employees to arrive at work relaxed instead of stressed from the traffic nightmares of San Diego.

• Make sure all of your supplies are earth-friendly. Is that fair-trade organic coffee you are buying? How about considering printer paper, paper towels and napkins all made of recycled paper? Or better yet, print to PDF files and eliminate paper waste all together.

• Make sure your employees can recycle their paper, plastic, cans, bottles, batteries, etc. Have a recycling coordinator volunteer to manage these. Make sure that if you have a cleaning crew they are aware of proper procedure of handling the recyclables and don’t just pitch them.

• Make sure your employees are sleeping or shutting down their computers at the end of the day. Screen savers use just as much, if not more, energy than using your computer. Set the energy management setting to sleep mode for your monitor when you are away from your computer for more than seven to 10 minutes.

• Ditch the water-delivery service and consider a reverse osmosis water filter. Delivered water is transported by polluting diesel trucks and will cost you more over time then having your own water filtration system. Plus, no one has to lift big heavy jugs of water up onto the cooler anymore! –Michelle Fletcher