Happy Earth Day

Here are some tips to make the world a better world:

First: Reduce
The critical first step of waste prevention has been overshadowed by a focus on recycling. Please help to promote a greater awareness of the importance of the "Reduce" part of the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle mantra. For a great overview of how raw materials and products move around the world, see the video The Story of Stuff.

⇒ Simplify: Simplify your life as much as possible. Only keep belongings that you use/enjoy on a regular basis. By making the effort to reduce what you own, you will naturally purchase less/create less waste in the future. For information on voluntary simplicity, check out Voluntary Simplicity Websites. Learn more through books on voluntary simplicity. The Compact blog (and Yahoo group accessed from blog) supports individuals committed to not buying products for a year.

⇒ Reduce Purchases: In general, think before you buy any product - do you really need it? How did the production of this product impact the environment and what further impacts will there be with the disposal of the product (and associated packaging materials)? When you are thinking about buying something, try the 30-Day Rule -- wait 30 days after the first time you decide you want a product to really make your decision. This will eliminate impulse buying.

⇒ Tree-Free Home: As much as possible, create a tree-free home:
* replace paper napkins with cloth napkins
* replace paper towels with a special set of cloth towels/napkins (or cut up old t-shirts for great towels) - store the used ones in a small container in your kitchen and just wash and reuse
* purchase bleach-free, toilet paper that is made from the highest post-consumer waste content you can find (80% minimum)
* if you print documents, print on once-used paper and/or bleach-free, recycled paper with the highest post-consumer waste content available (or hemp/alternative-source paper, if you can afford it)
* create and use note pads from once-used paper
* leave messages for family members/roommates on a reusable message board
* make your own cards/letters from once-used products or handmade paper
* if you will be doing construction on your house, search out alternatives to using newly cut wood (no endorsement of any company intended):

+ Eco-Friendly Flooring Guide
+ straw bale
+ bamboo -- two sites to check out: Plyboo and Teragren
+ true (natural) linoleum
+ previously used wood -- one site to check out: Vintage Timber Works
+ cob -- three sites to check out: Cob, Cob Cottage, and EcoBusiness-Cob Building


Second: Reuse
The media has done a wonderful job of selling us on the attractiveness and benefits of buying "new", "improved", "special", etc. products. However, we already collectively own so much that we could all survive for quite a while on the existing products - if we just reused them a few times!
* Garage Sales: Shop at and hold garage sales - this is a great way to reuse products.
* Reusables: Switch from disposable to reusable products: food and beverage containers, cups, plates, writing pens, razors, diapers, towels, shopping bags, etc.
* Donations: Donate your old:

+ household items - clothes, furniture, dishes, books, sports equipment, magazines, appliances, electronics, business attire, wedding attire, etc. (to charity)
+ computer equipment
+ building material (to companies who specialize in selling used material)
+ cell phones and ink cartridges (to Cure Recycling - profits from reuse of items support the CURE Childhood Cancer organization. Free postage. Another place to donate cell phones is Collective Good). If you would like to start your own recycling program, check out Wireless Recycling. Learn how to erase cell phone data with this free data eraser.
+ eyeglasses (to Lions Club, For-Eyes, Pearle, or Lenscrafters)
+ extra hangers (to your local dry cleaners)
+ art materials (to a school or cultural organization)
+ unwanted boxed/bagged/canned food (to homeless shelters, food banks, or soup kitchens)
+ etc.


Third: Recycle
* Recycle Bins: Create designated holding "bins" for each type of recycled product and place in convenient locations in your home/garage
* Recycling Fact Sheet: Create a local recycling fact sheet for yourself and interested neighbors. The local Yellow Pages, Internet Consumer Recycling Guide and Recycling Resources are great resources. Find out where you can recycle:

+ glass
+ paper products
+ o plastic grocery bags (better yet - use cloth bags)
+ o plastic - including 1 - 7 identification codes
+ aluminum
+ cardboard
+ tin cans
+ scrap metal
+ motor oil (one quart of oil can kill fish in thousands of gallons of water)
+ ink cartridges
+ household appliances such as refrigerators
+ computer equipment and other electronic devices
+ aseptic packaging (square boxes used for liquids)
+ styrofoam
+ tires
+ athletic shoes (contact a local sporting goods or athletic shoe store - some donate used shoes, others recycle them)
+ etc.


Your Food
Switching to a vegetarian diet is a powerful way to help protect our environment and help ensure everyone has enough to eat. The United Nations recently released Livestock's Long Shadow–Environmental Issues and Options, which concludes that the livestock sector (primarily cows, chickens, and pigs) emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to our most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases - responsible for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the climate change potential of CO2) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2). It also generates 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems. In addition, the enormous amounts of grain required to feed livestock reduces the amount of food available for the world's hungry. Buying organic, locally grown food also reduces climate change emissions and helps protect the environment.


Conserve Energy
Please do not wait to start conserving as much energy as you can to reduce your climate change emissions! And please ask your elected representatives to push for strong legislation to move toward overall reduced energy usage and increased alternative energy production.

* Quick & Easy Energy Tip: Take the Zero-Volt Challenge and reduce your energy bill today!
* Set Goals: To reduce your energy consumption:

+ Set specific energy reduction goals (for electricity, gas, and gallons of fuel consumed in your car(s)) -- for example, commit to using 20% less per month
+ Determine a baseline to start reducing from. Print the energy and water consumption chart and post in a visible spot in your home. Updates:

- for your car(s): chart the number of miles you drive each month
- for your home/office: chart the gas "therms" and/or electric kilowatts per hour (kWh) used in the last 12 months (for comparison to each month this year)

+ Make specific changes in products used and family member habits:

- buy energy saving products where needed
- read the Sustainable Solutions for Getting Around Town page for ideas on reducing mileage/increasing mileage efficiency
- get your family involved by asking for specific changes in everyone's habits (e.g., tape signs to light switches reminding family members to turn out lights when they leave a room, tape a sign to your car dashboard reminding the driver to check tire pressure during the first week of each month, assign someone to turn out all lights and cut power to unused appliances (to reduce standby power usage) each night)


Conserve Water
Freshwater degradation is a looming crisis that we must face head on with strong and effective actions. Please do your part to protect this precious resource and call upon your elected representatives to take action today to protect not just future generations but our own future by adopting sustainable water practices. Only 3% of the earth's water is freshwater - we must protect this critical resource. In addition, water-related energy consumes a large amount of energy. In California, for example, water use consumes 19% of the state's electricity, 30% of it's natural gas, and 88 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually.

Out in Nature
* Trash: When you are out hiking, pick up trash along the way.
* Hiking Tips: Leave No Trace, Outdoor Ethics - provides tips for campers, climbers, and hikers.
* Restoration: Organize a community group to clean up a local stream, highway, park, or beach. For opportunities to do restoration work for a local organization, check out VolunteerMatch.
* Tree-Planting: Form a tree-planting group with family and/or friends: commit to planting and maintaining an agreed-upon number of trees over your life times. Plan regular gatherings for tree-planting and watering. Log your commitments in the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign.
* Parks: Visit and help support local parks. In the U.S., reserve a campsite at a National Park through the U.S. National Park Service Reservation Center or Reserve America (includes some state parks).
* Frogs: In the USA, help to track frog and toad populations through Frogwatch USA.
* Birds: In North America, help to track bird populations through Citizen Science.
* Balloons: Never release balloons outdoors. They frequently find their way to open water (even from 100's of miles away) and can harm or kill turtles, whales, and other marine mammals.
* Stargazing: Stargazing schedule - provides current information about stargazing events.


Your Home and Finances
Create a non-toxic, safe home for your family and pets. Gather up all products in your house or garage that contain unsafe chemicals and drop off at your local hazardous waste facility. Switch to alternatives containing nontoxic and biodegradable ingredients (some products labeled 'green' aren't really safe - look for green certification labels).


Natural Body Products
* Natural Products: You can find nontoxic products at SkinDeep: Cosmetic Safety Database. Head over to your local natural products store to pick up natural, cruelty-free body products.
* Cruelty-Free: To learn about and find cruelty-free products, check out Animal Ingredients and Their Alternatives and Companies That Don't Test on Animals.
* Home-Made: Great book on safe, home-made personal care products.


Building or Remodeling Your Home
* Contractor: Find a building contractor who will follow the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Homes Program. You can locate a "green building" professional through the Green Building Professional Directory.
* Resources: Access the Sustainable Building Sourcebook and/or Green Building Concepts for information about building an environmentally-friendly home. Also, check out books on building green.
* New Home Location: If you are considering building a new home, seek out a location that has already been built on in the past (vs. building on "pristine" land).


Personal Finances
* Roadmap: The New Roadmap Foundation's Your Money or Your Life program offers a wonderful nine-step program for personal financial transformation.
* Investing: Information on environmentally and socially responsible investing can be found at:

+ Socially Responsible Investing (article/links)
+ Social Investment Forum
+ GreenMoney Online Guide
+ Ethical Investment Research Service

* Books: Books on socially responsible investing.


Your Garden Create a Backyard Wildlife Habitat
As people take over more and more of the land, we need to provide food, water, and shelter to the animals that are now relying on us for their survival.

* Backyard Wildlife Habitat: A backyard wildlife habitat or "naturescape" can be created in your own backyard. A miniature version can even be created on your patio or deck. Basic elements include fresh water (i.e., a bird bath and, if in a yard, water low to the ground); plants and feeders that provide nourishment for birds, insects, etc.; and rocks, trees, bushes and/or bird houses for shelter and nesting. Purchase plants that are native to your area. The National Wildlife Federation has an excellent program: The Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program which provides some helpful, detailed examples.


Gardening Tips
* Organic Gardening: Go organic!! - here are some basics. Also check out books on organic gardening.
* Native Plants Support Local Native WildlifeNative Garden: Learn about creating a Native Garden from eNature. Get to know the specific ecosystem your home is located in (e.g., Oak Woodland, Grasslands) and select plants native to this ecosystem.
* Xeriscape: Tips on how to grow an environmentally friendly lawn can be found at the Lawn care using Xeriscape (water conservation) concepts.
* Rain Garden: Create a rain garden on your property to reduce runoff into storm drains.
* Veggies in Containers: Tips on growing great vegetables in containers.
* Window Farms: Innovative way to grow food from recycled containers hanging in windows.
* Composting: Composting provides important nutrients for your organic garden. Learn more at Wikipedia's Compost page.
* Free Dirt Exchange: Find free soil in your area for your landscaping project or garden through Tons of Dirt.
* Worm Composting: Learn about worm composting (vermiculture) at Earthworm FAQ.
* Mulching: Mulching mowers are available which will convert cut grass into a natural fertilizer.
* Carbon Debt: Work off your carbon dioxide "debt" by planting trees! Find out how much you need to work off with the Climate Change Calculator.
* Pesticides: Learn about current toxicity and regulatory information for pesticides in the PAN Pesticide Database.
* Resources: Links to great sites on everything from worm composting (vermiculture) to organic farming can be found at Useful Links.


Your Work
* Recycling Program: If a recycling program has not already been started at your company, start one yourself (or improve the program already in place). Learn more at Recycling in the Workplace.
* Recycled Material: Encourage the office/purchasing manager to purchase products containing recycled material (paper, plastic, etc.). Learn more at Recycled Plastic Products (U.S. and Canada).
* Materials Exchange: You can find exchange programs at Recycler's World and State-specific Materials Exchange Programs (U.S.)
* Product Design: Better by Design helps in designing environmentally friendly products.


Online Newspaper and Magazine Sources
Consider switching to online news. If you enjoy reading newspapers and/or magazines offline better, consider reading them at a local library. If they don't carry a newspaper or magazine you like, find out if you can buy a subscription for the library (this is a great way to introduce sustainable/environmental magazines to people in your community).


Eco Gifts and Eco Gift Ideas
* Ideas: Offer/ask for gifts that don't involve buying anything. For example, time together, a back rub, babysitting, offer to teach something you know how to do, donation to charity, seeds from your garden, tickets to an event (musical, lecture series, play, concert, etc.), nontoxic house cleaning service, gift certificates for spas, music downloads, movie downloads, etc. More ideas at: 25 Great, Consumer-Less Gift Ideas.
* Other Eco Gift Ideas:

+ Consider purchasing gifts from companies focused on providing products which use renewable energy sources (i.e., solar powered radio or outdoor lighting).
+ Eco-Artware promotes gifts made from reused and natural materials.
+ Shop for gifts at antique stores, estate sales or flea markets.
+ Create environmentally friendly gift baskets filled with sustainable gift items (e.g., compact fluorescent or LED light bulbs, plastic bag dryer, organic cotton socks/scarfs/hats/etc., showerhead with mist setting for lowest flow showers, organic and/or vegan snack items, organic cotton towels, shade grown coffee, fair trade gifts, solar battery charger, solar radio/flashlight, a variety of nontoxic and biodegradeable cleaning products or a nontoxic cleaning kit, etc.)