"HOW TO PREVENT NOISE POLLUTION"

PREVENTING NOISE POLLUTION:

Spend time away from noise. Sometimes it's simply impossible to truly get away from the noise. If you live on a busy street with lots of traffic, you know there's never really a respite from traffic sounds, sirens and honking horns. Getting away from it all is a good way to restore your emotional balance. Go to a quiet spot that's as free of sound as possible. Stay there and enjoy the silence for a few hours, until you feel renewed and ready to reenter the noise of daily life.

• See if you can go for a walk in a quiet natural spot away from busy roads.
• If you can't make it to a quiet outdoor space, try sitting in a library for a few hours. The librarians will make sure it stays nice and quiet.
• Churches and cemeteries are also good places to find some peace and quiet.

Learn to meditate. With more and more rural areas being developed, noisy engines and construction sounds aren't going away any time soon. Learning how to meditate can help you deal with noise and distress without needing to drop everything and leave.

• When you're feeling overwhelmed, sit very still, close your eyes and focus on taking deep, even breaths. Do 10 breaths and try to let your worries go and ignore the noise around you. No matter where you are, whether it's on a noisy subway car or in your own kitchen, you can try this technique to calm yourself down.

Use earplugs and noise-canceling headphones. These inventions help millions of people deal with everyday noise. Earplugs are a cheap drugstore purchase that buys you hours of sleep, once you get used to falling asleep with them in your ears. Noise-canceling headphones are a bit more expensive, but if getting peace and quiet is at the top of your priority list, they're probably worth the splurge.

Install noise-reducing insulation and glass. This is by far the most expensive method, but if nothing else is working for you, and you are serious about the peace and quiet, this is a most effective way to stop noise from getting in your home.