Go Green!

With Earth day right around the corner (April 22nd) I thought it'd be nice to list some things we all can do to protect/help our environment:

1. Energy saving light bulbs. Saves you money on your electric bill as well ;)

2. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, and take one from the Fockers, lol, who said: "when it's brown, flush it down. When it's yellow, let it mellow." Within reason, of course. This is also another good money saver, as well as water saver.

3. Energy star appliances - my city gives rebates when you buy them. I just got my $150 rebate check in the mail for my sexy stainless steel fridge. <----another $$$ saver

4. Bike, walk, carpool, train, metro/bus IT!! Gas is expensive and costly to the environment.

5. Be water smart! Water your lawn once a week and less during rainy season. Don't hose down sidewalks or pavements. The very real threat of global warming makes conserving water most imperative. California, for one, has been experiencing droughts and water shortages for YEARS.

6. Weatherstrip your house to keep cool air in when it's hot and warm air in when it's cold. This'll keep your heating and cooling bills low as well. Double win ;)

7. RECYCLE - plastic bottles, cans, glass (just about anything really. Don't believe me? Google it and see. I even recycle all those sales papers I get in the mail) and then use the money to go buy slurpies or something. Three medium bags of plastic should net you about $6, glass and aluminum cans will get you even more. Every little bit adds up to a lot. And recycling one ton of aluminum saves as much electricity as a typical household uses over a 10-year period. If you don't want to save these items to recycle yourself, your city might offer bins for you to dump them in to be recylcled. But if you like slurpies and extra lunch money, like me, there should be a recycling center on your grocery store parking lot.

8. Shop at your local farmers' market! Saves on transportation (CO2 emissions from trucks) from farms to markets because you're buying directly from the farmers and cutting out all of the middle men. Every 'hood has one, just Google to find yours. Turns out, mines is right down the street from me, within walking distance, and takes place every Saturday morning until noon. I just spent $5 on 3 bunches of delicious strawberries and we're having strawberry shortcake for dessert :).

9. Reuse those plastic grocery/shopping bags OR, better yet, don't accept them at all. Buy reusable grocery bags from Rite Aid, hardware stores, Trader Joe's, IKEA, or nap sacks from just about anywhere. Keep them in the trunk of your car and take them out whenever you go grocery shopping.
10. Plant a tree.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!~~~~~~~