Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Earth Day!


Happy Earth Day, people. Everybody is "going green" it seems like, and I'll admit: I'm a little tired of hearing how "every day should be Earth Day" and we have to "save the planet," because it all seems very obscure and remote. As in: "What can I do about this?"


I've never really done anything about Earth Day besides planting a tree in 6th grade, but I do remember my junior year of high school, a group of friends uprooted a tree and put it on my front porch with a note from "Captain Planet." The height of high-school maturity. Good thing it wasn't one of my dad's yard trees, or else there would have been some serious trouble. I don't think that's the way environmentalists would have us celebrating our planet.


So I thought I would impart 10 of the reasonable and creative ways I've heard to celebrate and honor our planet NOW. Here we go!

1. Recycle - We've heard this all our lives, but it turns out that recycling 1 aluminum can saves enough power to run your TV for three hours, and recycling one 4-foot stack of newspaper can save a fully grown fir tree.

2. Plant deciduous trees in your yard - their leaves shade your home in the summer and the bare branches let sunlight through in the winter - all which saves on your heating/air conditioning bill. Think of raking leaves as "good exercise." :)

3. Cancel unwanted magazine/catalogue subscriptions.

4. Unplug chargers when not in use. The average cell phone charger is only used for 2 hours per day, but plugged in for 24. Consider all that wasted electricity. Did you know that 30-40% of energy used is from household appliances that are plugged in but not in use?

5. GRILL! Grilling is a much more energy-efficient method of cooking, and doesn't heat up your house in the middle of summertime (saves on air conditioning).

6. Use a water-filtration system (like Brita) versus bottled water, and use your Nalgene (you know you have one!)

7. Replace your light bulbs with compact flourescent bulbs.

8. Go to the farmer's market - that way, you'll buy local, save money, and get some fresh air.

9. If, like me, you're too lazy to get reusable grocery bags (the best way to go), reuse your plastic bags in productive ways - like to bring your lunch to work or pick up after your dog.

10. Last, but not least, replace old doors, windows, and appliances with Energy Star ones. This will lower your energy bill and help on your tax refund as well!


Ok, now start thinking green thoughts!

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