Join us on a journey to sustainable living and reducing your environmental impact. We believe everyone can make a difference in their daily actions at home, school, workplace or place of worship. Green Living is designed to help those who are environmentally-concerned get a great start on caring for our community. Here you will find information about sustainable living practices to help you make informed, local, green lifestyle choices. By going green, our community will be more prosperous and enjoy a better quality of life. Together, we can make Carmel, and the Earth, a more beautiful and healthier place to live. And besides, it’s cheaper being green. Save energy, save the planet and save some money.

For a solid foundation to going green, we recommend The Low Carbon Diet, A 30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds, by David Gershon. This illustrated workbook offers much more than a list of eco-friendly actions. It walks you through every step of the process, from calculating your current CO₂ "footprint" to tracking your progress. The Low Carbon Diet is grounded in over two decades of environmental behavior change research. David Gershon, founder and CEO of the Empowerment Institute , is one of the world's leading authorities on behavior change and large-scale transformation.

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Compost

The amount of trash produced by the average American is about 4.5 lbs every day. You can begin to lower your carbon footprint through these simple actions: Recycle, Reduce&Reuse, Compost.

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Carmel Utilities offers an economic and energy-efficient citywide Trash and Recycling Program for homes and townhomes. .
For folks who live in an apartment complex, visit Drop-Off Sites.for places to recycle around Carmel.
No matter how big or small, we're happy to provide you with portable recycling collection bins for your next event: School Social/Carnival, Church Bazaar, Sports Event, Graduation Party, Neighborhood Party! Anywhere you have lots to recycle!

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Reduce & Reuse
The key to real, long-term sustainability are the first two R's: Reduce and Reuse.

• Learn about the Story of Stuff
• Cancel Phone Books you don't want and select the ones you do
• Learn clever and safe alternatives to common household chemicals
  

Composting        
The size of your weekly trash will shrink considerably when you recycle paper, plastics, glass and metals. After you've mastered that, it's time to take the next step in recycling. According to the EPA, yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 27 percent of the US municipal solid waste stream. That’s a lot of waste to send to landfills when it could become useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead!

• Kitchen scraps can be composted to create rich organic compost. For ideas, read  A Guide to Simple Composting Techniques
• Fall leaves can be mowed over to return nutrients into the soil or they can be composted over the winter to form rich organic fertilizer in the spring.
• Grass clipping can be mulched back into the soil or used as mulch cover in the garden as long as it is less than 1/2" thick. Grass clippings can also be added to your compost pile

Household Hazardous Waste, Ewaste & Unwanted Medicines
There are some things you can't recycle, compost or put in the trash! Household hazardous waste, electronic waste and unwanted medicines contain elements that are toxic to plants, animals and people. So, after you've tried to Reduce and Reuse where appropriate, these materials must be disposed of properly:

• Household Hazardous Waste Centers are located in Carmel and Noblesville.  After you dump your hazardous waste, start looking for ways to Reduce your use of hazardous chemicals in the first place.  Check out these videos on Substitutions for Hazardous Household Products
• Electronic Waste Indiana law bans electronics in trash.
• Unwanted Medicines

Energy Conservation and Efficiency

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FREE Home Energy Assessment
Schedule a FREE Home Energy Assessment to find ways to save energy and save money. A home energy assessment is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to go green. Plus, you'll receive a detailed report as well as a FREE green gift worth about $50. Read more.

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Make the Switch!
Another easy and cost effective way to save energy and save money is to switch out your incandescent bulbs to CFLs or LEDs. If you have any questions or concerns about CFLs, please contact Leslie at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Read more.
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Green Gifts

Nature's Karma located at Carmel City Center offers a wide selection of unique gifts and goods made fom recycled materials.