Environmental Tip of the Day

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Unplug it! When you leave the house or when you stop using electronics, make sure to unplug them from the wall. Unplugging them will not only be easier on the environment but will also save you money on your electricity bill. Believe it or not, you are still using electricity when your items are plugged even if they are not turned on. Hence the reason your laptop batter is hot even thought the computer is off. This is because electricity is still flowing through.

The ENERGY STAR program, 40% of the electricity that home electronics use is consumed while the products are turned off. One Berkeley study suggests the savings would be 6 to 26% off your total bill.

The Main culprits;

• Cell phone chargers
• Lamps
• Small kitchen appliances
• Sound systems
• VCRs and DVD players
• Computers
• Computer printers
• Cable modems/DSL
• TVs

Environmental Tip of the Day

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Say NO to Plastic Water Bottles.

Instead of wasting money buying numerous water bottles, purchase a reusable water bottle for the same price as a pack of wasteful plastic water bottles. Make sure the water bottle is BPA free. BPA is a cancer causing agent in plastic water bottle. Hence the reason why we should not leave our plastic water bottles in the car on hot summer days. The heat from the sun can cause chemicals from the bottle to seep into the water we digest. So be careful! Reusable water bottles are no more than $5 but of course you can purchase the "fancy" ones. Try this reusable water bottle that tracks how many plastic bottles you save from landfills!


The Facts;

• According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, store-bought bottled water is a rip off. Tap water is often subject to more stringent regulation and testing than bottled water. It costs a fraction of the cost from the tap. It is cleaner, cheaper, and thus healthier.
• Ten percent of the plastic produced every year worldwide winds up in the ocean. 70% of which finds its way to the ocean floor, where it will likely never degrade.
• Every square mile of the ocean has 46,000 pieces of floating plastic in it. (UN, 2006)
• 2,480,000 tons of plastic bottles and jars were thrown away in one year (2008). Tap water is cleaner, cheaper and healthier than store-bought water.
• 60 billion single-use drink containers were purchased in 2006, and 3 out of 4 were thrown out directly after use.
• Plastic bottles are among the most prevalent source of pollution found on our beaches.

Also, go a step further and invest in a water filter for your sink. You can purchase a detachable water filter for your faucet for about $20. Or you can purchase a water filter pitcher. Either way, these two options are a lot more cheaper than buying packs of water bottles every week. This is easier on the environment and also on your pockets!

Environmental Tip of the Day

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Make it a full load!

Run your dishwasher only when it's full. Don't pre-rinse dishes - tests show pre-rinsing doesn't improve dishwasher cleaning, and you'll save as much as 20 gallons of water per load. When you buy a new dishwasher, look for one that saves water. Water-efficient models use only about only about 4 gallons per wash.

Environmental Tip of the Day

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Opt for E-Books.

Instead of buying new books in paper form, try purchasing the e-book version online. That way there will be less trees cut down to supply the demand for paper form books. Also, e-books are easily accessed whenever and whereever without having to tote along a heavy book.

Students, opt for the e-book version of your textbooks for class. Trust me when I say this is much more efficient. Not only will you have less to carry but e-books are easily accessible with great features! You can highlight lines and also leave notes in the e-book. As long as you have your computer, you have your textbook. You can also borrow and/or rent textbooks.

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Use less paper and/or use recycled paper.

When buying products such as toilet paper and regular writing paper, make sure that it is made with "post-consumer recycled fiber".

Post Consumer means that the product was made with recycled materials. The higher the percentage of recycled fiber, the better. The U.S. alone is responsible for the chopping of 1 million trees.

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Bring your laptop to class.

By bringing your laptop to class, you are limiting your paper usage from taking notes. Think of all the notes that are taken during class. Tons of notebooks are being used for taking down notes. Instead, use notepad, microsoft word or any other program you have on your computer to take notes in class. This way you will always have your notes with you and you will not have to scramble for your notes. You can even organize your notes better on the computer than on paper and keep them forever with less clutter.

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Try eating a more vegetarian diet.

Vegetarians leave less of a carbon footprint than meat eaters. Forests are suffering from deforestion due to the trees being cleared for livestock grazing. Farms used to house the animals are not only slaughter houses but also horrible on the environment. Try to include more fruits and vegetables into your diet.

Think of it this way-the more beef we eat, the more forests we lose.

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Stop recieving junk mail.

Always opt for the "Green Choice" when signing up for services such as your cell phone bill and bank statements. Instead, sign up to have your bill/statments emailed to you. That way there will be less paper used and less gas used for actually shipping them to you.

Also, some stores are starting to email reciepts such as Urban Outfitters. Having your reciept email to you is definitely more convienient being that you wont have worry about losing the reciept.

According to DoNotMail.org, it takes 100 million trees to produce the junk mail delivered every year to U.S. mailboxes, including the roughly 800 pieces that arrive in your mailbox, if yours is a typical household.

If you register for the Mail Preference Service on the Direct Marketing Association, your name and address will be removed from mailing lists within 90 days.

You can also opt out of home phone book delievery if you do not need it (which most of us does not). Try usings Yellow Pages Goes Green.

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Drink shade-grown coffee!

Coffee lovers! Be environmentally aware of what you are drinking and the effects that it has on the environment. Be sure to drink shade-grown coffee.

What is shade-grown coffee?
Shade-grown coffee are grown on plantations which preserve the native rain forests rather than open fields that have been cleared of all native trees.

Here are a couple shade-grown coffee sellers:
Arbor Day Foundation coffee
Audubon Shade Grown Coffee
Birds & Beans

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Plant a tree!

Planting trees provide many benefits for the environment and home. Trees absorb CO2 emissions which are pollutants we put into the air. This function helps to combat greenhouse gases/global warming.

Not only are trees good for the environment but they are also good for your home. Planting trees in your yard can keep your home cool in the hot summer days which reduces your energy bill. Trees also increase the property value of a home as well.

You can buy tree seeds online. Also, Home Depot sells trees that you can actually plant without the seeds.