Earth Day 2008

Today is Earth Day. I’ve written some articles about getting “green” in my ezine. USA Today has some tips to get greener:

Living Room:
-Use compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) that use 20% of the energy of the incandescent bulb and last 8 times longer
-Light emitting diode bulbs can last 100,000 hours
-Plug your DVD, TV and VCR into a power strip that you can turn off when not in use

Kitchen:
-Fill up your dishwater completely before using
-Run it late at night and early in the morning (at low cost energy times)
-Grill out in the summer to save air conditioning costs

Bathroom
-Take short showers to save on water use (get in and out quickly)
- Wrap your hot water tank in insulation to save greenhouse gases
- Switch to a low flow showerhead
- Switch to a high efficiency toilet
- Fix and leaky faucets or toilers

Bedroom
-Use fans to make it feel cooler
-Keep curtains/blinds closed during the day to keep heat out
-Use dimmer switches and light timers

Other rooms
-Turn temp lower and put on a sweater and socks when cold
- Look for furniture made from recycled materials

Laundry Room:
-Use cold water to wash clothes to save energy
-Save laundry up to wash full loads
-Skip dry cleaning and use home dry cleaning methods
-Hang clothes up to dry
-Look for clothing made with organic and chemical-free fibers

Outside:
-Just sweep your sidewalk instead of hosing it down
-Save rainwater or recycling shower water to water plants

Groceries:
-Bring your plastic bags back to the grocery store to be recycled
-Buy or use cloth bags to use for grocery shopping

Participate in your local area’s recycle.org by recycling clothing and materials you no longer want. Or donate items to charity. One person’s trash is another’s treasure.

Recycle, recycle and recycle.

Linda Blatchford
Etailer, Recycler, Jewelry Designer
www.LinorStore.com
http://lindab142.etsy.com