LOVE THY MOTHER…

I’m sure many of you spent today celebrating Mother Earth, as today, April 22nd is Earth Day.  I spent the last week or so trying to figure out what I could do to help the environment today.  There were many different Earth Day festivals and few different volunteering events, but it seemed that everything I found conflicted with my work schedule today.

I really, really, really, wanted to plant a tree, as I thought that would be a nice gift to Mother Earth, but last week I hurt my shoulder and was told to “take it easy.”  I was in quite a pickle.  How to plant a tree with a limited schedule and a bum shoulder?

Introducing, Everywun.com.  Everywun is a grass-roots campaign that makes supporting great causes and changing the world hip, fun, easy, and possible for everyone!  On this site you can earn “credits” for doing different things like reading their newsletter, answering trivia questions about animals and the environment, having friends sign up on the site, etc.  Once you have earned enough “credits” (they are easy to earn) you can use them to help the world in different ways.  For example for 100 credits, you can plant a tree!!  And that’s exactly what I did today!  Six times!  That’s right, from the convenience of my own computer I planted SIX trees!  No manual labor involved except a couple clicks of a mouse!  If you would like to plant your own tree through Everywun.com click on the link below and  you are on your way!

http://www.everywun.com/signup?i=536762

Did you know that trees are like giant air filters?! Yep, it’s true! One

mature tree takes care of the pollution caused by 13 cars!

Today I realized there are many small things we can do to help our Mother (Earth that is.)

Here is a list of 10 small things we can do for our Planet that will make a BIG difference:

1. IF YOU DON’T ALREADY, USE REUSABLE BAGS WHENEVER POSSIBLE!: Let’s face it, plastic bags SUCK!  Each year the U.S. uses 84 billion plastic bags, a significant portion of the 500 billion used worldwide. They are not biodegradable, and are making their way into our oceans, and subsequently, the food chain. Stronger, reusable bags are an inexpensive and readily available option.

2. CHANGE YOUR LIGHT BULBS: If every household in the United State replaced one regular light bulb with one of those new compact fluorescent bulbs, the pollution reduction would be equivalent to removing one million cars from the road.

3. GO VEGETARIAN ONCE A WEEK:  One less meat-based meal a week helps the planet and your diet. For example: It requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. You will also also save some trees. For each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest have been destroyed.

4. USE ONE LESS PAPER NAPKIN: During an average year, an American uses approximately 2,200 napkins—around six each day. If everyone in the U.S. used one less napkin a day, more than a billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year.

5. USE BOTH SIDES OF PAPER:  American businesses throw away 21 million tons of paper every year, equal to 175 pounds per office worker. For a quick and easy way to halve this, set your printer’s default option to print double-sided (duplex printing). And when you’re finished with your documents, don’t forget to take them to the recycling bin.

6. BRUSH YOUR TEETH WITHOUT RUNNING THE WATER:  You’ve heard this one before, but maybe you still do it. You’ll conserve up to five gallons per day if you stop. Daily savings in the U.S. alone could add up to 1.5 billion gallons!

7. SHOWER WITH YOUR PARTNER:  Sneak in a shower with your loved one to start the day with some zest that doesn’t come in a bar. Not only have you made a wise choice for the environment, but you may notice some other added…um…benefits.

8. TURN OFF LIGHTS: Always turn off incandescent bulbs when you leave a room. Fluorescent bulbs are more affected by the number of times it is switched on and off, so turn them off when you leave a room for 15 minutes or more. You’ll save energy on the bulb itself, but also on cooling costs, as lights contribute heat to a room.

9. USE COTTON SWABS/ QTIPS WITH A PAPERBOARD SPINDLE:  Some brands of cotton swabs have a paperboard spindle while others are made of plastic. If 10% of U.S. households switched to a paperboard spindle, the petroleum energy saved per year would be equivalent to over 150,000 gallons of gasoline.

10. PAY BILLS ONLINE:  By some estimates, if all households in the U.S. paid their bills online and received electronic statements instead of paper, we’d save 18.5 million trees every year, 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste.

Happy Birthday Mother Earth!  Thanks for putting up with us for so long!  We promise to treat you better in the years to come!

Keep me posted on what you are doing to help our Mother!