I grew up with reduce, reuse and recycle (so much for "Christians destroy the environment," right?) and Ian, as a landscape architecture student, has learned so much about the big picture. This has made me care about the environment even more and so I'm excited at the response to Earth Day this year. Disney and Discovery took the Planet Earth series and turned it into the movie Earth, coming out today! For every ticket purchased the first week, they will plant a tree. I've seen lots of store ads highlighting their eco-friendly products (like the Target weekly ad). I opened Quantum of Solace and the dvd case is a new eco-friendly version using less plastic. Bloggers are doing tree-planting and giveaways (Comment here to plant a tree). Google has a beautiful Earth Day image. People care more!
In honor of Earth Day, I'd like to re-post the Earth Labs link — if you haven't already, see your carbon footprint and pledge to change your lifestyle for the better! Some of my favorite ways to help the environment?
- Remember it's REDUCE, REUSE, recycle. Recycling is great, but the first two are even better. Buy less (save money!). I wash and reuse plastic ziplock bags — thick ones last forever! Shop with reusable bags. Get rechargeable batteries for items you use often (Wii remotes, anyone?). I have a Sigg water bottle and pack lunches in reusable items. Use newspaper to wrap gifts. What creative ways do you reduce and reuse?
- Use eco-friendly cleaning products. (I like Method!)
- Don't pre-boil pasta. (eco-friendly pasta post.)
- Walk, don't drive. (it's warmer now, no excuses... I need to do this more, too)
- When you do buy things, pick the one in recyclable packaging: i.e. pasta in a box, not a plastic bag. You vote with your money, so vote for the environment.
- Meal plan to limit wasted food/waste from fast-food packaging you end up getting.
- Grow things. There's NO packaging when it comes straight from the ground (or, in our case, soil in pots).
- Electronic bill pay — it's faster, reliable and uses less paper.
- Stick a filled water bottle in your toilet tank.
- Use the kill switch on power strips or unplug items (like your TV and phone charger) when not in use. They use power even when they're off.
