April 22: Earth Day? Or Everyday: Earth Day, right?

10 things to do to make our earth smile:

1. Buy less stuff. According to Jeffrey Hollender (co-founder of Seventh Generation), if we commit to buy less stuff rather than green stuff the earth will benefit. He says we consume way too much and it’s way too difficult for the earth. He challenges us to abstain from purchasing anything new for 30 days, except for food and gasoline. Care to try?

2. Set your timer for 15 minutes and clean out a closet. Clothes that take up space, that are too big, out of fashion or no longer worn should be tossed into a pile.

3. Once you have a pile of items find a way to recycle them. Goodwill takes your items and resells them to benefit the community by offering programs and resources.

4. Want to clean up your garage? The Salvation Army takes clothing and household items, tools and vehicles as well.

5. Help someone during a crisis. Donate your unused United and Delta miles to the Salvation Army to help move personnel quickly during a disaster and provide travel for people in need of emergency medical care.

6. Sell your gently loved electronics on gazelle.com. This service helps people sell and recycle their iPads, cell phones, camera lenses, hard drives, LCD monitors, eReaders (Kindles & Nooks), computer desktops, PDAs, movies, and all those wonderful electronic gadgets that are bought today and obsolete tomorrow.

7. Wonder where all those store plastic bags end up? Watch this video “How Plastic Bags Get Recycled.” Reduce your use, use your canvas bags and be sure to recycle any plastic bags you’ve collected.  But do your recycled bag efforts really matter? Some studies show that it isn’t cost effective to recycle plastic bags so instead they get shipped to other countries that end up burning them. Not what you intended? Pull out the canvas bag and help eliminate the production of plastic bags.

8. Not sure where to take your ‘stuff’? Earth911.com is a search engine type website that directs you to recycling centers near your home that take the item you need to dispose. Whether you need to recycle paint, oil, glass, paper or electronics, this site will guide you to a center near you.

9. Another small way to make a big difference is to refill and reuse your water bottles. Instead of a new bottle each time you’re thirsty, rinse the first bottle and fill it with tap water. If you have several empty bottles, fill them up and chill them for later use.

10. Find a way to use public transportation, ride your bike, carpool or walk. Combining your resources with others’ will allow for a sense of community, invite a healthy lifestyle and encourage people interaction. Smart trips and Ride Share create an environment where you can meet up with others who want to drive less by sharing a ride.

Taking care of the earth is a lifelong process, not just one day a year on Earth Day.
Each earth friendly action we take leads to a better world. Taking less time in the shower, using a power lawn mower, composting our table waste, walking, taking the bus, recycling magazines and newspapers, repairing instead of trashing, refusing to purchase items that are wrapped with wasteful paper, demanding healthy food and meat, choosing products that do not harm the body and much, much more. It’s a daily process which will help keep the planet a healthy place for many generations.

It takes work, action, focus and attention but the end result is SO WORTH IT!

Resources:

• Seventh Generation
• Goodwill.com
• SalvationArmy.com
• Gazelle.com
• Earth911.com
• Smarttrips.org
• Rideshareonline.com
• eRideshare.com
• Rideshare.org
• Craigslist.org/ Look under Community for Rideshare

Related Articles

• Earth Day deals 2011 (cnn.com)
• Earth Day is Passe…Or is It? (treehugger.com)
• Earth Day 2011 offers (localfreeloader.wordpress.com)
• An Ol’ Hippy Looks Back at the First Earth Day (uncommonsensecal.wordpress.com)