Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. It is hard to ignore the signs, with wildfires ravaging the Western United States, multiple hurricanes a year barrelling into the Gulf Coast and summers that are too hot to spend time outside. Green energy companies around the world are working hard to develop ways to help us live our lives in a more environmentally friendly way. As we wait for these technologies to be developed, there are a few things that we can do at home. Below are three ways that you can go green and do your part to help the planet.

Buy Locally Grown Food

Food is a big source of pollution, whether it is from food waste or importing food from around the world. One thing you can do to offset the pollution created in the food industry is to buy local. There are several good reasons to buy local food. You are supporting local businesses, which will help them grow and offer more food to local buyers, including supermarkets. Food doesn't have to travel as far, which reduces the fuel used to transport it. Since locally grown food doesn't need to travel far to markets, it is fresher and therefore tastier and more nutritious. Buying locally grown food is an easy, inexpensive way to help your planet and your community at the same time.

Use Solar Energy

Using solar energy in your home is both an environmentally friendly and financially smart move to make. Buying solar panels is a great way to add value to your property as well as a way to save money on your electricity bills each month. Depending on where you live, you can either use solar panels to completely power your home or you can use it to supplement the electricity you buy from the power company. Some companies will even buy extra electricity you generate from you, further reducing your monthly electrical bill.

Solar panels also add value to your house. Buyers today are looking for the newest home technology and solar panels are an attractive feature. If you're not sure if you can afford them, do your research. Many local governments offer grants to offset the cost of the panels to encourage more people to install them.

Use Energy Efficient Appliances

Big appliances are a major energy consumer in your home. Many of them, like your water heater or your refrigerator, run all the time. Others use a lot of energy at the times they are running. When it comes time to replace an appliance, part of the research you should do is investigating how much energy an appliance uses. An easy way to see if a new appliance is energy efficient is if it has an Energy Star tag. Appliances that are Energy Star certified use advanced technology and functionality to save energy.

For example, an Energy Star certified washing machine use about 25% of the energy and 33% of the water that a regular washing machine uses. An energy-efficient dishwasher can save almost 4,000 gallons of water a year. Using energy-efficient appliances can make a real difference in resource use without changing the way you do things, making it an easy change to implement.

Going green may seem overwhelming and a financial burden, but it doesn't have to be. You don't need to go out and buy all new appliances right now. But if your dryer needs to be replaced soon, replace it with an energy-efficient model. You have to buy groceries anyway, so why not make the effort to buy from local farms and producers? Make the trip to the local farmer's market a family activity and have fun with your shopping. Get to know who's growing your food. Solar panels may seem like something that is beyond your reach, but it doesn't have to be. It can be financially prudent to pay upfront to save money later. People around you are already taking these steps to go green and you can join them today.