Here in Utah, Summer temperatures are still hot!! But the nights are starting to cool off, so instead of cranking your AC all ay, instead try opening windows at night, and using a fan to help bring in some of the cool night air! Then, in the morning, close your windows and the house will stay cool most of the day! You'll save energy, and $$!
As always, feel free to comment with questions or if you have anything to add!
This one is pretty obvious, but still you see some people who just dump out old oil, antifreeze, etc without thinking about it's impact on the earth.
Nearly every household has some kind of hazardous waste: old paint cans, used motor oil, unused pesticides and weed killers. If you dump these things down the drain, you'll end up polluting the water supply. Old Batteries, CFL Light bulbs, and other hazardous solids should be considered as well. They should be disposed of in a site specially designed for hazardous or toxic wastes. Some cities and counties have monthly or annual pickups. Other areas have special drop-off sites. Call your city or county government to find out the proper way to dispose of such trash in your area. Try organizing a hazardous-waste-collection day in your neighborhood or at your school, encouraging others to dispose of materials properly.
As always, feel free to comment with questions, or if you have anything to add
During this heated election season, this is a great one, and it can REALLY make a difference, especially at the local level! During election campaigns, ask candidates about their position on the environment. Try to ask specific questions that relate to situations in your community-- whether they support a mandatory recycling program, for example, or whether they plan to get tough on polluting companies.
A little can go a long ways here, if you have a little time, work as a volunteer on a "green" candidate's campaign. As a volunteer, you can canvas neighborhoods in your local community, make phone calls, and help with fund-raisers! This is also a great opportunity to meet some like-minded individuals to network with, perhaps you will even get some business!
As always, feel free to comment with any questions or if you have anything to add!
Today's tip is a very easy one! SKIP the fast food joint! Most fast food is overpackaged and most fast-food companies are responsible for producing mountains of trash. By avoiding fast food whenever possible, you'll help reduce this needless waste, AND help reduce your waist line!! Fast food is often made with unhealthy preservatives, from meat laced with hormones and drugs of all kinds! Ditching fast food for good will improve your overall health in addition to the other benefits I have listed!
As always, Please feel free to comment with questions, or if you have anything else to add!
This one is obvious to some people, and not so much to others! Did you know that a SINGLE polystyrene (styrofoam) cup conains ONE BILLION BILLION molecules of CFC's? That's 1,000,000,000,000,000,000. Once a CFC atom reaches the ozone layer, it can take over 100 years before it breaks up and becomes harmless!
Think about this when you're buying picnic supplies, and especially when you're at the restaurant! Most "to go" containers are made out of styrofoam! Consider taking your own re-usable plastic tupperware container instead of the one that will end up in the land fill, and likely even the atmosphere!
As always, please feel free to comment with questions, or if you have anything to add!
An animal, a stream, a whale, a highway, a child! There's almost no limit to the number of environmental causes to which you, your friends, or your family can turn.
If you're looking for a new pet, adopt one from the shelter, and give a chance to a pet that might otherwise not get one.
If you're looking for a community service project, adopt-a-highway litter control is a good one!
Adopting a child is an amazing way to add to your family WITHOUT addint additional impact to our earth!
As always, please feel free to comment if you have any questions, or anything to add!
Buy in bulk. One 32-ounce bottle will use less packaging than two 16-ounce ones, even though the total size is the same. Plus, the larger bottle will probably cost less per ounce than the other two combined! For an example, let's look at pop. A 2-liter bottle of pop costs $1, or about 1.5¢ per ounce (there's 67 ounces). The packaging comes to about 163 square inches. Opposing this is the 12-pack of cans. The cost is about $3 for 144 ounces, or 2.1¢ per ounce. The total packaging here comes to 600 square inches! The 2-liter is much better! Less cost per ounce, and a lot less garbage in the landfill!
As always, Please feel free to comment with any questions or anything to add!
This is an easy one - Spread the word about conservation!
Talk to friends, family, co-workers, and people you randomly meet! Any way you can, get people to think about the earth. There are more than 6,000,000,000 people on this earth, and every one of them needs to take care of it! Always look for environment-safe products and encourage others to do the same. From recycling to buying less packaging to planting trees to saving water to conserving energy, keep the environment in mind!
As always, please feel free to comment with questions, or anything to add!
With spring in full bloom many places around the country, and on it's way in others, this is a timely reminder! 'Tis the time for fresh, locally grown, organic produce! Many communities have Farmer's Markets, which are a GREAT summer resource for organic an all natural produce! Here in Park City, or local PARK CITY FARMER'S MARKET will start in June, and run through October! It's located at the Canyons resort, in their lower parking lot! If you have never been, it's a great thing to check out this year!
You can also now buy organically-grown foods at many grocery stores! Most now have organic sections where you can purchase all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and cereals that have had no chemical fertilizer, pesticides, or herbicides. Show the stores you care by buying these things! They'll be better for you and for the earth because no chemicals are going into the soil or water.
Is it better to drive or fly? Is it better to drive if there's one person, or only if there's a group of people driving? How well do you understand carbon emissions of the different forms of transportation?
CLICK HERE to take a quiz from the Sierra Club to find out! The results might surprise you...
As always, please feel free to comment with questions, or if you have anything to add!
This one will help your bottom line as well as the earth!!
Buy less stuff. New products require the destruction of trees, the use of petroleum for plastics, shipping, packaging…our incessant chain of production and consumption is one of the great threats to the sustainability of our planet. Can you use that sweater another year? Maybe you could swap some furniture items with a friend. Perhaps you can you get something on Craig’s List rather than at Toys-R-Us?
As always - Feel free to comment with any questions, or anything to add!
This tip is a fairly easy one, especially if you're one who takes several trips per year!
Fly one time less each year. Plane travel is one of the greatest sources of carbon emissions (and global warming). Maybe you could drive or take a train to your destination. Or consider planning a vacation closer to home. To learn more about the impact of travel: http://www.lowimpactliving.com/blog/2007/08/09/eco-travel-part-1-planes-trains-and-automobiles
As always, please feel free to comment with questions or anything to add!
Here's a good tip to help make your office more earth-friendly!
Use recycled/recyclable office papers and other office products. You can get paper, envelopes, folders, pads, post-it notes– everything comes in a recycled version now. You can find many of these options at the Staples, OfficeMax and Office Depot, and you can also find them online at Green Earth Office Supply or at The Green Office.
As always, please feel free to comment with any questions, or if you have anything to add!
Today's tip is obvious to some, and not so much to others.... But it's a simple one that can REALLY help!
Give up bottled water– for good. Drink from a glass at home, take your own reusable jug or bottle to the gym, and encourage your office to get a water filter or a water service. Americans throw out over 40 million plastic bottles each year and over 80% end up in landfills. If everyone on your block stopped using bottled water you could probably cut out 5000 bottles each year. Look for drinking fountains!!!! One last note on this subject, keep a Brita Water filter pitcher in your fridge! Your water will always be ice cold and eco-friendly!
As always, feel free to comment with any other questions, or anything to add!
Eat meat LESS!!! Try to eat meat (at least) one fewer day per week. Raising animals for meat (particularly beef) places an incredible strain on our natural resources. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, one pound of red meat is responsible for 20 times the land use, five times the water use, and three times the greenhouse gas pollution compared with a portion of beans or pasta.
This is a pretty simple way to help the planet - and if you're eating regular grocery-store meat on a regular basis, it will probably help save your body from ingesting some extra hormones, herbicides, pesticides, and other carcinogens!
As always, feel free to comment with questions or if you have anything to add!
With summer coming up, and the temperature in most places starting to rise, this one is a great reminder!
OPEN WINDOWS instead of using the air conditioning. Consider getting a few fans to help circulate the air a bit. This is obviously not practical in ALL areas, some places are JUST too hot, but for temperate climates where the temperature inside is close to the temperature outside, then save some money, electricity, and the EARTH by just opening windows at night! If you do this, then your house will cool down on it's own without costing you a cent! If your windows are energy efficient, all you have to do is close the windows in the AM before the temperature goes up, and your house will remain cool throughout the day!
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions, or if you have anything to add!
It's a very easy one today! USE BOTH SIDES of paper if you have note paper, or taking notes in a class. Don't just throw the paper away, make sure you RECYCLE when you're done completely! Get useless paperwork from classes, junk mail, etc? Don't just chuck them immediately, use them as scrap paper first. Keep a few around for the next time you need to jot a number down. Having a few around is a great way to keep yourself from wasting new sheets each time!
As always, feel free to comment with any questions or if you have anything to add!
I am very pleased that a local Salt Lake City car dealership has decided to take a huge step in the right direction toward Going "GREEN"! Mark Miller Toyota in Downtown SLC is Utah's only LEED certified dealership! For starters, they are a Toyota dealership! Toyotas are overall the 'cleanset' car company as far as emissions and gas mileage. Mark Miller's new state-of-the-art facility was built using a lot of recycled materials, natural lighting systems, water conservation systems, and much more. Please visit their website at http://www.markmillertoyota.com to see what they've done!
As always, feel free to comment with questions or anything to add!
