Every year when Earth Day comes around there is an influx of beach/park/neighborhood clean ups, tree planting, and outdoor activities all of which are fun and helpful to our environment. It’s great to see so many people participating and taking time to give back. But, sometimes life gets in the way and time disappears before the thought of a community clean up even gets penciled in to the calendar. For those with little time, I propose an Earth Day Reflection… take a couple of minutes to reflect on your green habits you’ve started this past year…

ok go….

And take a couple of minutes to think about future green habits you could pick up, maybe even do a couple minutes web research on easy green living tips. Here’s a head start, check out 10 Simple Steps to Being Green

1. Banish Junk Mail!

Reduce unwanted mail and waste! Check Out Opt Out website where you can opt in or out of credit card and insurance offers.

2. Vampire Electronics

Yes, I said vampire electronics – they suck not blood, but electricity. Anything that has a LED light or glows after it is turned off still uses electricity; this includes cell phone chargers, DVD players, and TVs. Eco-friendly advice is to unplug everything after you are done using it. Using a power strip can save you from unplugging each device, instead just click off the power strip.

3. Recycle your electronics!

Our landfills are piling high with our old cell phones and computer equipment. It used to be hard to recycle these handy items but now we have some great resources.

• This site allows you to find the nearest recycling center to you for almost anything!
  http://www.earth911.org
• A community based website that allows one person’s junk to be another’s treasure

  http://www.freecycle.org

4. Adjust your Thermostat

Take the two-degree challenge by adjusting your thermostat two degrees higher in the summer and two degrees lower in the winter. The simple adjustment will save you money on your heating bill and conserve valuable resources!

5. Tote your own bag

These plastic bags end up everywhere and cause so much pollution that major cities are banning them completely! Yes, it may be a tad bit difficult to remember to bring your own grocery bag, but you can totally do it. Keep a couple at the house and a couple in your car or a bag you carry. Some grocery totes are so compact they fold into themselves. Here are some ideas:

• For the any bag will do person – pick one up at your local grocery store for $.99 to $4
• For the person who wants a bag in style – check out http://www.envirosax.com

6. Pay Attention to Packaging

Let the power of consumerism work for us! Choosing products with less packaging sends a message to the companies and creates less trash for you!

7. Buy Local

Allowing food to travel over shorter distances supports our neighboring communities and allows us to use less gas in transport, not to mention the food tastes better!

8. A Veggie-ful Meal

Try incorporating an all-vegetable meal once a week. For you meat lovers this may be scary, but again, it’s totally possible. The energy we use to raise vegetables is far less than meats and healthier for the earth. Check out some of my favorite recipes and you may not know you’re even missing meat!

9. Use Paper Twice

Trees are a valuable resource and so is paper. Let’s make the most out of it and use both sides. Cut used paper into fours and then you have your own scratch pad!

10. BYOWB

Bring Your Own Water Bottle. Plastics are made using oil. Look around you and see how many things are made of plastic. Scary Statistics from the EPA:

• Americans threw more than 22 billion water bottles in the trash in 2006.
• 70 million bottles of water are consumed in the U.S. each day.
• In 2006, only 7% of plastic waste produced in the U.S. was recycled.

All these simple steps focus on using our valuable resources more wisely. Following these 10 Simple Green Steps not only helps preserve this Earth for many years to come but also re-evaluates the way we consume goods and energy. There are many other things you can do to “green” your lifestyle, but I challenge you to try to get as many on the 10 Simple Green Steps as you can!