In honor of earth day today, I have decided to post a few things we can all do right now to help take care of this precious earth that we have been given!
The first thing is to get...
A Cup of Your Own
Every year Americans throw away 25 billion polystyrene cups and 25 billion individual water bottles, most of which end up in landfills. Instead buy a reusable to-go mug and a bottle that you can refill with filtered tap water. Bring your own (to a coffee shop, a meeting), and you cut down on Styrofoam.
I learned today it takes over 100 years for a water bottle to decompose. 
Want a Lick?
A cone beats a cup. Why? "You're eating your silverware instead of using plastic," says Matthew Modine, a passionate promoter of earth-friendly policies. "It's all about consuming less, using fewer of the resources needed to make products and packaging."
Clean Without Chemicals
Natural cleansers like vinegar and baking soda do a great job without harming the planet. "And," Matthew says, "a little vegetable oil and lemon juice makes a great wood polish."
Bag It
Get reusable cloth bags for the grocery store and the dry cleaner. More than 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away every year.
Stop Junk Mail
Every year 100 million trees are chopped down for junk mail sent to American homes. Contact the direct marketing association at dmachoice.org/mps to remove your name from mailing lists of their members.
De-Lint the Dryer
Lint builds up after every dryer cycle, reducing the machine's efficiency. Removing it does a lot to decrease its usually massive energy use.
Shut Down
The average computer left on all day uses nearly 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, producing more than a ton of carbon emissions. So turn off your computer anytime you're not on it, and eliminate the screen saver function, which uses more energy than the sleep mode.
From What You Can Do Right Now to Help Save Your Planet in the February 2008 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.
Lets all try to incorporate at least one of these things this week! I think we could all empty the lint after each dryer load! :)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Go Earth, Go Earth, It's your day! Get Green!
Posted by Moreau's at 9:35 PM
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9 comments:
Seriously, what ever happened to using a cup. Thanks for more friendly reminders.
P.S. Happy Earth Day, or Earth Week!!
Good for you Karen for going more GREEN! You're awesome!! I thought it was common knowledge to remove the dryer lint after each load...??? Maybe I just had a mom who was always freaking out about it.? I challenge everyone in our neighborhood to get a recycling bin. It was AMAZED how much less full my garbage can is each week. Small steps.
Hey, about the reusable bag thing...Costco has a pack of 3 HUGE reusable bags for only $3.95 right now! I love them! I pretty much try and keep them in the car so if I ever decide to just stop and shop, then I always have them with me. They hold soooo much. Going green rocks! I have also been shutting the water off when I brush my teeth. That's a good one too.
washing your clothes on cold saves a ton of energy! and they come out just as clean, I promise.
I think I should save myself first!
thanks for the info... I am trying to become more green... I just need to recycle all those diet coke cans...
Speaking of green . . . I just made your YUMMY spinach shake!
It is SO SO tasty. Cristian downed it. Thanks for sharing!
I ALWAYS clean the lint trap on the dryer after every load. Whether it's GREEN or not, it's simply annoying when it's not done. Anywho, As I'm reading your list of GO GREEN suggestions, all I can think of is how many dirty diapers we consume. I'll just have to appologize to the Earth right now because I'm definitely NOT going to use cloth. Besides that would only increase my laundry. Does cutting down on loads of laundry balance this destruction out somehow???
Thanks for sharing! There were a few things I could definitely do better on.
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