Earth Day – Ways to Help our Environment

Happy Earth Day everyone! Chris and I are going away for the weekend to a bed and breakfast in the Catskills so we can unwind (and celebrate my birthday a week early!), so I asked Heather, another environmentally conscious blogger, to write a guest post for Earth Day. Thank you so much, Heather! Enjoy!

Hi Everyone – I’m Heather and I blog over at Running Leaner and Greener. I’m honored that Jen asked me to write a guest post for Earth Day. Here are some simple things you can do on Earth Day – and everyday – to make your life more environmentally friendly.

Save Energy:

• Save all your errands and run them in one trip.
• Talk to your employer and see if you can work from home 1-2 days a week (especially with gas prices as high as they are).
• Don’t idle in your car. Stop using the drive through windows. If you have children, talk to their schools to see if the buses can stop running when parked out front.
• Look at your electricity bill to see how much of your energy comes from green sources such as solar or wind. If green power is an option, try to switch to that.
• If possible, take public transportation, walk, bike or carpool to your destination.
• Take your old electronics to an e-cycle center. To find an e-cycle center in your area, visit the EPA’s E-Cycling site.
• Unplug cell phone chargers/ipod chargers when not in use.

Use Water Efficiently:

• Only run your dishwasher when full. Also, don’t pre-wash dishes – tests have shown that pre-washing doesn’t make dishes any cleaner and you will save almost 20 gallons of water per dishwashing load.
• Buy fixtures and products that are water efficient – there may seem like an abundant amount of water on Earth, but only 1% of the water on the planet is available for human use.
• Install a low-flow shower head and take the shortest shower you can. Also, avoid taking a bath if possible – baths use 10-25 more gallons of water than a 5 minute shower.
• If you see a leaky faucet, fix it immediately. A leaky faucet can waste thousands of gallons of water per year.
• Wash only full loads of laundry.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:

• Compost – allow grass clippings to stay on the lawn instead of bagging them.
• Keep your appliances in good working conditions by following manufacture directions for maintenance.
• Reuse it – save old cardboard tubes for a pet hamster or for a craft project. Plant seeds in an egg carton.
• Don’t fertilize your lawn before a rain storm – your fertilizer (and your money) will wash into the storm drain and pollute rivers, lakes and bays.
• Keep reusable bags and use them when you shop. I keep mine right by my front door so I don’t forget them.

Don’t forget to celebrate Earth Day every day!