1.
Guide to Living Green
365 ways you can make a difference!

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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green January
1. Start the New Year off right—resolve to lower your carbon footprint.
Do you know what yours is? Online calculators make it easy. A good site
to check out is carbonfootprint.com.
2. Recycle away your carbon footprint. Recycling all of your newsprint,
A breath of fresh air cardboard, glass, and metal can cut CO2 emissions by 850 pounds a year.
in dry cleaning 3. Change a light, change the world. Switching to those funny looking
compact fluorescent bulbs produces the same amount of light with ¼
the electricity. In addition, they last 8-15 times longer!
4. Why are compact fluorescent bulbs so much more efficient? The
wow comes from the how. Instead of using electricity to heat and light up a filament, they use
it to convert gas into UV light, which requires 75% less electricity.
5. Wintertime Fan Plan: in the winter, run your ceiling fan in a clockwise direction to push
warm air to the ceiling. You can lower your heating bills by 10%.
6. Remember to recycle your compact fluorescent bulbs. CFL bulbs can last up to 10 times
longer than normal bulbs, but they contain mercury; so when they do run out, be sure to
recycle them to prevent the mercury from ending up in a landfill.
7. You CAN earn couch potato time! One recycled aluminum
can saves enough electricity to operate a TV for three hours.
8. Run a tight ship! Loose-fitting windows lose up to five times
more heat than windows with a normal fit. Weather strip!
9. If your showerhead was made before 1992, look into a low
flow showerhead. Quality, low-flow fixtures cost about $10 to
$20 and can help you reduce water expenses by 25–60%.
You’ve never worn anything like it.®
10. Take the low-flow showerhead test: place a bucket in the
shower and time how long it takes to fill to one gallon. If it’s less
than 20 seconds, you’re sending too much water and money
down the drain.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green January
11. Make a greener tomorrow with yesterday’s news. 18. Hot tip! For cooking small quantities, use
Every day, Americans buy approximately 62 million an electric skillet or toaster oven instead of a
newspapers and throw out about 44 million of them. regular oven. You’ll use half as much energy.
If we recycled just half of our newsprint every year, we
19. Get in the mood for dimmer switches.
could take 3,200 garbage trucks off the road.
Change the mood of a room and your energy
12. Don’t toss that pop can in the trash—recycle it. bill! Dimming and brightening by just 10%
To make a ton of aluminum from raw materials, we more than doubles the bulb life.
have to treat and dispose of 3,290 lbs. of red mud,
20. Want to reduce your water heating costs? Lower the setting on your water
2,900 lbs. of carbon dioxide, 81 lbs. of air pollutants
heater. Each 10ºF reduction in water temperature saves 3–5% in energy costs.
and 789 lbs. of solid wastes.
21. Green up your living space with a home energy audit. You’ll be amazed at the
13. If you are going to be out of a room for more than five minutes, remember to shut
savings. Utility companies often offer free audit services, or you can do it yourself
off the light. Using compact fluorescent bulbs? The rule of thumb for CFL bulbs is to
with the help of www.energysavers.gov.
turn them off if you’ll be away for 15 minutes or longer.
14. Should you turn your computer off or not? 22. Don’t let your hot water pipes get cold—insulate your hot water heater! You’ll
The rule of thumb is to turn monitors off for peri- reduce heat loss, raise temperature 2–4ºF and save time and water by wasting less
ods over 20 minutes and turn off the CPU if you’ll time waiting for it to get hot.
be away more than two hours.
23. Low is the way to go. About 75% of the water we use in our homes is used
15. Do you recycle your motor oil? About 62% in the bathroom. Unless you have a low flush toilet, you use about five to seven
of all oil-related pollution in the U.S. is caused by gallons of water with every flush!
improper disposal of used motor oil. It’s the single
24. Be sure to always wash and dry full loads. If you must wash a small load, make
largest source of oil pollution (over 40%) in our
sure to change the water-level setting.
nation’s waterways. Find a recycling center near
you at earth911.com. 25. On again, off again! Leaving the tap
on while you are brushing your teeth can
16. If you have a fireplace, close the damper when there’s no fire burning. An open
send more than five gallons of water down
fireplace damper can let 8% of heat from your furnace escape through the chimney!
the drain. Try turning the water on and off
17. Save energy and money by using less hot water. One easy option? Prevent leaks. when you are brushing your teeth, it uses
A leak of one drip per second can cost $1 per month. only one half of a gallon!
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green January
26. Don’t heat the neighborhood! Invest in some caulking and 29. Think before you toss. Of the garbage Americans throw out,
weather stripping, two simple air sealing techniques. They will half could be recycled. That’s enough to fill a football stadium
pay for themselves in energy savings within the first year. from top to bottom every day.
27. Just say no to ironing! You can save loads of energy and 30. Take a second to cut your computer’s energy consumption
time, and still look good. Just 5-10 minutes in the dryer can by 80%, forever. Just enable the energy efficiency settings in the
remove wrinkles on most clothes; finish drying on hangers. control panel under “power options” (usually labeled “hibernate”,
“sleep” or “standby” mode).
28. Read electronically and feed the world. Tropical rain forests,
which are home to about half of all the Earth’s plant and animal 31. Recycling glass has clear benefits. A ton of glass produced
species, are being destroyed at the rate of 100 acres per minute. from raw materials creates 384 pounds of mining waste, using
The more you read online, the more you help. 50% recycled glass cuts it by about 75%.
February
1. Do you wash dishes with the tap running? Try filling the basin instead; you’ll save about 25 gallons of water every time you do dishes.
2. If you think the economic and environmental cost of bottled water is justified by how much “healthier” it is, think again. Federal
standards are actually higher for tap water than they are for bottled water.
3. Is your toilet running? Better catch it! Leaks are costly. A leaky toilet can waste more than 100 gallons of water every single day!
4. Recycle One Get One Free. Recycled glass can be made with 50% less energy than virgin glass.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green February
5. Even small 6. Take shorter 7. Inspect 8. Eat local. From field 9. Make pasta tonight! 10. Grandmother knows 11. Beware of dry cleaners
leaks are costly. showers! You your dryer vent to fork, the average din- Did you know it takes best; draft snakes are cheap, claiming to be organic! The
A faucet that won’t just save often to make ner travels more than 100 times more water to easy and green. Whether you term “organic” actually means
leaks enough water; you’ll sure it’s not 1,500 miles. Locally produce a pound of meat buy a draft snake at a local something very different
water to fill a save energy blocked. A lint grown foods are fresher than a pound of wheat? hardware store or make your when describes chemicals.
soda bottle too. Water free vent will and a more sustainable own, reducing drafts can cut Gasoline is organic, because
every half hour heaters account save energy and choice that benefits down energy bills 5-30%. it has a chain of carbon in it—
will waste 2,192 for nearly ¼ of could just help your community too! but that doesn’t mean you
gallons of water your home’s prevent a fire. want to wash your clothes
a year. energy use. in it!
12. Wash in cold water! 13. Energy saving tip: 14. Be my funny (green) 15. Buy recycled paper. 16. Hot is not 17. Change the 18. Set it and
When you wash clothes, dry towels and heavier valentine! How? Send an Every ton of recycled cool. Washing setting on your forget it! Change
95% of the energy goes to cottons in a separate e-card instead of paper. paper keeps almost 60 clothes in hot washer from hot the setting on
heating the water. Unless load from lighter-weight You can also give fair pounds of pollutants water instead of to cold. It saves your printer to
you have an oily stain, clothes. Be sure not to trade chocolates, make out of the atmosphere cold uses up more big bucks and print two-sided.
your clothes will come over-dry your clothes. If a home-cooked meal that would have been electricity in one your clothes. Hot Without having to
perfectly clean in cold your machine drier has using locally grown food produced had the paper year than if leaving water can shrink ever think about it
water and you can cut a moisture sensor, use it, or locate a certified green had been manufactured the refrigerator fabrics, fade colors again, you’ll save
your cost per load from you will save money. restaurant near you. using virgin resources. door open 24 and wear clothes twice as many
58¢ to 3¢. hours a day. out much quicker. trees.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green February
19. Rethink 20. For oily 21. Recycle 22. Landscaping can 23. Here’s a glass cut 24. Thinking about a new 25. Clean the lint filter in
your take out stains that your aluminum actually reduce your that won’t hurt: recycled cell phone? You can save the dryer after every load.
habit. Takeout require warm cans! Every heating and cooling glass generates 20% less the earth and help our You will improve the air
uses plastic and water, just use a three months, costs. Landscaping for air pollution and 50% troops by donating your circulation and dry your
and containers warm pre-soak. Americans throw energy efficiency can less water pollution. One old cell phone to a soldier. clothes faster.
that are usually Soaking in warm away enough save enough in energy ton of glass made from Cellphonesforsoldiers.com
not recyclable. water is just as aluminum cans costs to return an initial 50% recycled materials has all the information
Plastic doesn’t good or better to rebuild our investment in less than can save 250 pounds of you need to donate your
decompose in than washing in nation’s entire eight years. Now is a mining waste. phone.
a landfill for at hot water with commercial air good time to plan your
least 1,000 years. no pre-soak. fleet! spring projects!
March
1. Sign up for renewable energy! Most utility providers offer a green power program.
2. More is less. Each pound of you aluminum recycle eliminates the need to strip mine four pounds of bauxite ore.
26. Do you shut 27. Run around 28. Drips can
3. Why do they call the Amazon Rainforest the “Lungs of our Planet?” Because more than 20% of the world’s oxygen is
your computer the house naked. be a drain! The
produced in the Amazon Rainforest.
off at night when You’ll have fewer smallest drip
you leave work? clothes to wash! from a leaky 4. Bright idea: go fluorescent! Replacing just one 50-watt light bulb with an 11-watt
If we all did, we faucet can waste compact fluorescent bulb saves more than 685 pounds of CO2 per year! Over the life of
could get by with over 50 gallons the bulb, you’ll also save $30 or more in energy costs.
eight less large of water every
5. If every US household replaced six 60-watt incandescent light bulbs with 13-watt
power stations in single day.
compact fluorescent light bulbs, it would be equivalent to taking 3,188,894 cars off the
the U.S. alone.
road, for good.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green March
6. Red Bull isn’t the only 7. Send your aluminum 8. Early spring 9. CAN you 10. Are you 11. Leave the shoes at the 12. Eat up those leftovers.
way to get energy from can to be recycled and is a good time believe it? an Energy Star? door! No need to pollute Americans throw away about
a can. When you recycle you could be drinking to plant a tree. Every three Energy Efficient your home with all the oil, 10% of the food they buy
cans to produce new from it again in as little A single tree seconds a baby Mortgages antifreeze, animal waste, at the grocery store. This
ones, you enable the as 60 days. That’s how can absorb one is born. In that (EEMs) are pollution from particulates, dumps the equivalent of 21
production of up to 20 long it takes to return it ton of carbon time, 140 cans conventional, pollen and other toxins you million shopping bags of
times more cans for the to the grocer’s shelf as dioxide over its are born. FHA and VA pick up on your shoes. Less food into landfills every year.
same amount of energy. a new, filled can after lifetime! mortgages that dirt tracked in means less
collection, re-melting, give credit for work, water, energy, and
rolling, manufacturing home energy fewer chemicals too!
and distribution. efficiency.
13. Want to hang laundry outdoors but your city or homeowners association has rules against it? The pro-line
drying movement, headed up by Right to Dry, offers good resources for securing your right to solar drying.
14. Get audited! Many utility providers offer energy audits to help you identify ways to save energy and money.
17. Cover your 18. Use cloth 19. Choose
If your utility company doesn’t offer this service, ask them to help you find a professional (it should cost between
pots when you napkins! When concentrated
$50-200). Or, do your own energy audit (eere.energy.gov offers online help).
boil water. The you replace your laundry detergent.
15. When it comes to glass, the advantages of recycling are clear. Using recy- water will heat paper napkins Concentrated
cled glass to make new glass cuts related air pollution by up to 20%. Recycling faster and you’ll with cloth you detergents save
one ton of glass saves the equivalent in energy of 10 gallons of oil. save energy. save trees, and it’s packaging, CO2
nicer too. and money.
16. Make it your job to recycle. Recycling has created about 1.1 million jobs
plus an additional 1.4 million jobs indirectly supported by recycling and reuse.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green March
20. Wait to run your 21. Don’t take it to the 22. Recycle what you 23. Reign in paper 24. Start a compost pile. 25. Composting also offers
dishwasher with a full limit! Driving at 75 mph read! We dump most of waste on behalf of the Composting does more than you rich rewards. Recycling
load. You can save up to instead of 65 mph will the magazines printed rainforest. Rainforests reduce our landfill burden. an average-size family’s yard
200 pounds of carbon lower your miles per in the U.S. each year into that once covered 14% of Fallen leaves contain 50-80% waste can make about 300-
dioxide and $40 per year! gallon by about 10%, and landfills. If we recycled the Earth’s land surface of the nutrients that a tree 400 pounds of rich, finished
help lessen your tailpipe just half of them, we now cover less than 6%. extracts from the Earth. By compost, or humus, in just
pollution too. could save more than Experts estimate that the composting them, we’re also one year.
12 million cubic yards of remaining rainforests helping the earth replenish
landfill space. could be consumed in itself.
just 40 years.
26. Composting? Be 27. Bag bagging! Start 28. Now is a good time 29. We need to change 30. More than1/2 of landfill 31. Check your oven timer
sure to use red worms. composting or mulching to plant landscaping that the way we change material is degradable. But it instead of opening the door,
They can consume up tp leaves and grass clippings will help to shade your air our oil. A quart of used doesn’t break down because your food will cook faster
½ pound of food waste instead. It’s easier than conditioner condensing motor oil can pollute landfills are kept dry to help without letting heat and
every single day. How bagging, better for the unit. You could save up 250,000 gallons of water prevent contamination from energy escape.
many worms do you planet and better for your to 10% in electricity costs. and one acre of land one runoff. Newspapers are
need? Figure on a worm lawn and garden’s health. inch deep. Americans still readable after 20 years.
to daily food ratio of 2:1. throw away enough used Some foods—like T-bone
motor oil every year to fill steaks and hot dogs—don’t
120 supertankers. break down for 10 years.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green April
1. April is National 2. Do your part to lower 3. Convert your office 4. Photocopy on both 5. Do you let the faucet 6. Try to buy less
Volunteer Month. This our dependence on foreign and home to recycled sides. If every office run while you’re shaving? packaging. Packaging is
year, consider a volunteer oil—recycle your motor paper. It saves 60% on throughout the country Don’t! You’re using 15-20 one third of our waste and
vacation. Many volunteer oil. If all used motor oil in energy over virgin paper increased the rate of two- gallons of water each accounts for one out of
vacation options allow the U.S. were recycled, it and generates 95% less sided photocopying from time. Try filling the basin. every 10 dollars we spend
you to choose your cause, would result in a saving of air pollution. Each ton of the 1991 figure of 20% to It uses only one gallon of at the store. Look for
organization and location. 1.3 million barrels of oil per recycled paper saves 60 60%, we could save the water—saving up to 19 concentrated and/or bulk,
Check out Charity Guide, day. Find a recycling center pounds of air pollution, 17 equivalent of about 15 gallons with every shave! avoid single servings and
Habitat for Humanity, and near you at earth911.com. trees and 7,000 gallons of million trees. carry reusable cloth bags.
Earth Watch. water.
7. Recycle that cardboard 8. Recycle those old 9. Recycling 10. Toss it in 11. Plant a 12. Want to break your 13. Beware of “energy
box. Americans use about phone books too. If news: each the recycle bin tree. Just one bottled water habit, but vampires”! The average
30 billion cardboard boxes Americans recycled every average family instead of the tree can filter up don’t like the taste of tap? home has 40 products
a year. If we recycled just phone book each year, an of three creates trash. Every to 60 pounds of Install a water filter on constantly plugged in and
one box a month, more estimated 650,000 tons of about five year, enough pollutants from your faucet. You can check drawing power. Unplug
than a billion boxes a paper could be saved. pounds a week, paper is thrown the air each year. out how different brands small charges and use
year could be kept out of or 250 pounds away to make perform before you buy at power strips to turn off
landfills. a year, of used a 12-foot wall waterfilters.com. groups of products (like
newspaper. from New York computer equipment).
to California.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green April
14. Every one 15. Toss into 16. Toss less 17. Set a personal goal 18. Styrofoam belongs 19. To reduce the most air 20. Avoid buying anything
degree you the recycling and lighten to be below average. in the recycle bin! If you and water pollution, buy packaged in plastic whenever
lower your bin three times your load. In If you are an average lined up all the foam recycled paper made with you can. Most plastic does
thermostat as often as the a lifetime, we American, it’s going polystyrene cups made “post-consumer” content. not biodegrade. Every
saves you 1% trash. About throw out 600 to take over 465 trees in just one day, they Recycled paper means any American uses almost 200
on your energy 80% of what we times our adult to provide you with a would circle the earth. percentage is recycled, so pounds of plastic in a year—
bill when the throw away is weight in trash. lifetime of paper. Cutting Polystyrene foam is not look for how much “post- and 30%, or 60 pounds of it,
setback period recyclable, yet That’s about your paper consumption biodegradable, so it is a consumer” content it has (e.g. is packaging.
is at least eight our recycling 90,000 pounds by just one-third will save real problem in a landfill, from recycling centers).
hours long. rate is just 28%. of garbage! 150 trees! but it is recyclable.
21. Put plastics in the 22. Happy Earth Day! 23. Make some room 24. You can make a ton 25. Think of recycling as 26. Go ahead, sacrifice your
recycling bin not the Make everyday Earth Day for recycling. Cardboard of difference by recycling “re-gifting” the environment. virginity! Making a ton of
trash. When buried, by making a resolution to and paper make up 73% all the paper you use. One ton of paper made virgin paper takes 3,688 lbs.
some plastic materials take at least one postive of our landfills. We tend Every ton of recycled completely from recycled of wood, 24,000 gallons of
may last for 700 years. green action each and to throw it away because paper saves about four scrap saves 7,000 gallons water, 216 lbs. of lime, 360
If the Pilgrims had six every day. the recycling bin is not barrels of oil, 4,200-kw of water, 4100-kw hours of lbs. of salt cake and 76 lbs.
packs, we’d still have the as conveniently located. hours of energy and energy, three cubic yards of of soda ash, plus treatment
plastic rings from them Put a recycling box next enough energy to heat landfill space and 17 trees. and disposal of 84 lbs. of air
today. to your trash and see and air-condition the pollutants, 36 lbs. of water
how much more you can average American home pollutants and 176 lbs. of
recycle. for at least six months. solid waste.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green May
1. Put a cap on your bottle habits. Americans use four million plastic bottles
every hour, yet only one bottle out of four is recycled. If we recycled every
plastic bottle we used, we would keep two billion tons of plastic out of landfills.
2. Rainy springs are a great time to start collecting rainwater for watering
27. Weigh your options 28. Don’t buy into the plants. It’s an easy way to cut down on water usage and plants love it because
to eliminate waste. Each myth of virgin paper. rainwater is chemical-free, highly oxygenated and has a neutral PH.
of us generates about Recycled paper is more
3. Shrink your shrink-wrap footprint. America makes enough low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic every year to
4.4 pounds of waste per opaque, dense, and
shrink-wrap the state of Texas. Most of it ends up in landfills.
day per person. Cut back flexible than paper made
by just 25% and you can from virgin materials; it’s 4. Drink milk—you can build strong bones and park benches. A six-foot plastic park
personally eliminate more better for the earth and bench can be built with 1,050 recycled milk jugs.
than 400 pounds of waste better for you.
in just one year. 5. Recycle every can you can. Americans use 100 million tin and steel cans every day.
Make it a point to put all your cans in the recycling bin—not just drink cans. Food cans,
deodorant sprays, hairsprays, cleaning and polishing sprays all add up!
6. Make a tin bin. Americans throw away enough steel every year to build all the new cars made in America. To make
recycling easier and more top of mind, add a can container to your recycling system.
7. Get energized about tin recycling. Making tin from recycled steel takes only ¼ of the energy to make them from
new steel and cut awater and air pollution by 75%.
29. Make a job out of re- 30. Print not. Waste
cycling. For every 15,000 not. Americans discard 8. Searching for a new way to go green? Search on Blackle instead of Google. Blackle is a search engine powered by
tons of old newspaper four million tons of office Google that uses a black background instead of white, helping save big on greenhouse gases.
recycled annually, 30 jobs paper a year, enough to
are created to collect the build a 12 foot-high wall
paper, 40 jobs are cre- all the way from New York
ated to process the paper, to California. One easy
and 75 jobs are required solution: add a “please
to manufacture the consider the environment
newsprint. before printing” signature
to your email.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green May
9. When you buy new tires, be sure the tire shop recycles your old ones. Americans discard
more than 290 million tires a year. Eight of every ten tires wind up in landfills or “stockpiles”.
10. Recycled tires offer real mileage. Recycled tires have many uses from basketball courts to
shoe products to playground material.
11. Give old tires new uses. Use them for boat bumpers, make a sand box, a hanging table, a
tire swing or garden planter. You can even make sandals out of old tires!
12. Visualize this: the average baby generates a ton of garbage every year they are in
disposable diapers! Using cloth diapers and washing them at home isn’t the easiest choice to
make, but it certainly is the greenest.
13. Help the planet, and your budget, by switching to cloth diapers. Not only will you feel
better about not adding to our nation’s landfill burden, you will feel good watching the savings
add up!
14. Tune up your neighborhood’s recycling habits—organize a drop off box for used motor
oil. One gallon of used oil can produce the same amount of motor oil as 42 gallons of crude while requiring about one-third of the energy.
15. Try not to do your fair share. Americans represent only 5% of the world’s population, but we generate 30% of the world’s garbage.
16. Weigh your options before you throw it out. Can it be recycled? Donated? Reused? In a lifetime, the average American throws away
600 times thier adult weight in garbage. Adding it up, a 150-pound adult will leave a legacy of 90,000 pounds of trash for thier children.
17. Cutting back on fast food cuts calories and trash. Did you know that every $1,000 of fast food sales creates 200 pounds of trash?
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green May
18. Don’t 19. Don’t 20. Don’t 21. Make recycling a 22. Buying second hand 23. Everyone knows biking 24. Next time your paint
throw away throw away that throw away second job! Recycling gives people a second is the green way to go. But your house, choose a lighter
that aluminum glass—recycle that plastic— generates on an average chance. Most textile did you also know that biking color. Any light color is a
can—recycle it instead! It remember to one job for every 465 recycling firms purchase can make you happy? Go shade of green, since light
it! It takes takes glass recycle it! It tons of materials handled a large percentage of raw out for a bike ride and boost reflects (heat dark colors
aluminum cans 1,000,000 years takes plastic each year. That’s about materials from charitable your euphoria producing absorb it), which can increase
80-200 years to to decompose 500-1000 years 43,000 recycling jobs a institutions, who in turn hormones! cooling costs by 20%.
decompose in a in a landfill. to decompose year. use these funds to house,
landfill. in a landfill. feed, and train the less
fortunate.
25. Think twice about 26. Try to be a better 27. Do your best to 28. Don’t put old shoes 29. Save that 30. Nylon doesn’t 31. Don’t go
putting your baby in eco-citizen. The average live a paperless life. The in the trash—donate spider! Spiders belong in the overboard with
disposable diapers! It American uses eight times world’s forests are being them to charity! It takes eat insects, so trash! Material trash. We toss 2.5
takes disposable diapers the natural resources of destroyed at the rate rubber boot soles 50-80 they provide us made of nylon can million pieces of
550 years to decompose the average world citizen of one acre per second. years to decompose in a with natural pest take 30-40 years debris into the
in a landfill. And we and produces five times Every 16 minutes, a forest landfill. control service. to decompose in a ocean every hour.
throw 18 billion of them the air pollution of the the size of New York’s landfill. Every square mile
away every year. average world citizen. Central Park is destroyed. of ocean has over
46,000 pieces
of plastic debris
floating on it.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green June
1. Don’t air 2. Walk or bike 3. Two degrees 4. Father’s Day is just 5. Keep your grass 3-4 6. Get a mulching blade for 7. Mulch out methane.
condition an instead. Cars cooler in winter around the corner. Think inches long. Keeping your mower. Grass makes up Leave mulched grass
empty room. produce over or warmer in outside the tie with green grass longer in the hot 70% of all yard waste. But if clippings on your lawn.
If you have 20% of CO2 summer can Father’s Day gift ideas summer months helps clippings are short enough, When yard waste is buried in
central air, close emissions in reduce your CO2 that show him how well keep it greener, and they quickly decompose and landfills, where there’s little
the registers the U.S. Walk or load by 2,000 he taught you the lesson requires less water. When supply the soil with nitrogen oxygen, it releases methane,
in rooms you bike and you’ll pounds per of giving back. you mow, leaving lawn and carbon, leading to a lawn a greenhouse gas with 27
aren’t using. save one pound year. clippings on the grass that requires less watering. times the negative environ-
of CO2 for every reduces evaporation. mental impact of CO2.
mile you travel.
8. Stay cool, switch to 9. When it’s hot, fans are 10. Keeping the air 11. Turn off lights and 12. Install a low- 13. Lemon juice, 14. Save up your
CFL bulbs. Your home will cool. If you have ceiling moving also keeps your appliances when you flow showerhead dishwasher deter- errands and run
stay cooler in the summer fans or other fans, turn energy costs down. Air aren’t using! The total and lower your gent and regular them all at once.
with fluorescent lighting. them on. The blowing air movement creates a wind electricity generated by carbon footprint vinegar make The fewer trips
CFL bulbs generate 70% can make you feel up to chill effect. A two mph fossil fuels for a single by 350 pounds of terrific natural you make, the
less heat than a regular eight degrees cooler and wind will make you an home puts more carbon carbon dioxide. whiteners for your more time, CO2
bulb. reduce air conditioning 82°F day feel like it is 78°F. dioxide into the air than laundry. and gas you save!
bills by up to 40%! Ceiling fans and even two cars of average size.
portable oscillating fans
make a big difference.
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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green June
15. Average 16. Don’t pop 17. Pre-heat 18. Less is more. You 19. Make one day a 20. Act globally, eat 21. Check your tires
adults spend frozen dishes the oven only can encourage deeper week a “no-car” day. locally. The groceries monthly. Tires properly
eight minutes into the oven. for baking. If plant roots by watering Forty percent of all the sold in the store down inflated get better gas
in the shower, Thaw them you’re heating your grass less often, but car trips we make are the street were probably mileage. At $3 a gallon,
which uses before cooking a casserole or slowly and for longer less than two miles. flown from the other side the average car owner
40-80 gallons and you will cooking a roast, periods. You’ll use less Every mile you don’t of the world, burning spends $432 a year for
of water. How save 30-50% on pre-heating water and your lawn will drive can help reduce fossil fuels the entire gas they don’t need to.
long does your energy costs. isn’t necessary. be healthier too! gas consumption and trip. Locally grown food And each gallon saved
teenager spend Your food will one pound of carbon is fresher, healthier and means 20 pounds of CO2
in the shower? cook faster too. dioxide! better for our climate. aren’t produced2.
22. When you’re out 23. Drive smarter. Get 24. Try to avoid buying 25. Tune up your mpg 26. Reducing 27. Wash in 28. Maximize
cutting grass, make sure higher mpg with less products with excessive and your carbon footprint. your garbage cold water. your hot water.
the condenser unit on greenhouse gas by going packaging. When you Fixing an out of tune car by 10% reduces Your clothes Insulate your
your air conditioner is not easy on the brakes and check the price, make it can boost gas mileage carbon dioxide will get just as tank, keep it at
blocked. Grasses or other gas pedal, avoiding hard a point to also evaluate by an average of four emissions by clean and you or below 120°F
landscaping and/or debris accelerations, reducing the packaging. Not only percent. Fixing a serious 1,200 pounds. will reduce and install a
restrict airflow and drain how much time you let will you save money, you’ maintenance problem, your carbon timer to turn
electricity. your car idle and taking will also help out the such as a faulty oxygen footprint by 500 it off at night
unnecessary weight out environment. sensor, can boost mileage pounds a year. when you aren’t
of your trunk. by as much as 40%. using it.
14

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GreenEarth Guide to Living Green July
1. More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year 6. Clear out Clearinghouse junk mail. You can stop
to produce junk mail, the equivalent of clear-cutting the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes from clogging
entire Rocky Mountain National Park every four months. your mailbox by calling 1-800-645-9242 (8:30 am to
8:30 EST), sending a fax to 1-800-453-0272, or writing
2. Pre-cycle! Eliminate junk mail by calling
to Christopher L. Irving, Senior Director of Consumer &
1-888-5-OPTOUT, or fill out an online form on their web
Privacy Affairs, 382 Channel Drive, Port Washington, New
site. OptOut is a joint venture of the four major credit
York, 11050.
bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and TransUnion).
7. Enter to Win your freedom from American Family
29. Grow your recycling footprint. You can save 3. De-list yourself! About 28 billion gallons of water
Sweepstakes by calling 1-800-237-2400 and telling them
up to 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide each year just are wasted to produce and recycle junk mail each year.
to stop bothering you.
by recycling half of your household waste. Also try One big culprit is the Direct Marketing Association’s
to buy products with recycled content, which saves mailing list. You can de-list yourself by 8.. Call off the lists. All that mail with
energy, resources and landfill space. writing to them to request deletion of pictures of missing children can be
your name and address from all mail- stopped by calling 1-860-285-6100.
ing lists. Provide all possible ways of You can also send a postcard to “ADVO Consumer
spelling your name, as well as the names of anyone else Assistance, PO Box 249, Windsor, CT 06095-4176.
at your address wanting to opt out of junk mail. Sign
9. Hate those envelopes full of coupons? So does
and date your letter. They will retain your information
the recycling center. Next time you get one, save the
in their database for five years and mail it to business
mailing label and go to Valpak’s website to removal your
subscribers four times a year. Send your letter to:
name from their mailing list.
Mail Preference Service / DMA
ATTN: Dept. 9407644 10.. Think those Carol Wright junk mailings are just
P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512 wrong? Call 1-800-67-TARGET to get off their list.
Tel. No.: 212-768-7277
30. In the United States, approximately 6.6 tons of 11. Sign up permanently to halt catalog mailings from
greenhouse gases are emitted per person every year.
4. Call off the catalogs. The average American wastes association members. Email abacusoptout@epsilon.com
about 70 hours a year dealing with junk mail. You can with your full name and current address.
Most of emissions, about 82%, are from burning fossil
stop unsolicited catalogues in the mail simply by calling
fuels to generate electricity and power our cars.
the 800 number on the label of the company’s mailing. 12. Don’t have the time to go through all the individual
steps required to stop all that junk mail from littering
5. Go AWOL on AOL (America On-Line): Stop those your mailbox? You can pay $41 to a junk mail removal
pesky discs from littering your mailbox by calling service that will eliminate most all of your junk mail (for
1-800-605-4297 (24 hours a day). Tell them your first five years) at www.41pounds.org. A nice plus…they
name is “current”, last name “resident”. donate one-third of their fee to environmental causes.
15

17.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green July
13. Send the kids outside to play! Video game consoles the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil can 28. Outdoor lights are a great use of compact fluorescent
consume about 16 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity improve gas mileage by 1-2%. Look for motor oil that says light bulbs because CFLs last 10 times longer. Live in a cold
annually—about four times the output of Hoover Dam. “Energy Conserving” on the API performance symbol to be climate? Buy a lamp with a cold weather ballast—standard
sure it contains friction-reducing additives. CFLs don’t work well below 40°F.
14. Put a lid on it! Putting a lid on the pot whenever you
boil water saves time, energy and money. If every U.S. 22. Counterintuitive but true: car washes use less water 29. Blue light special: save energy and turn off the pilot
household did this just once, we’d save up to $2,212,175. than driveway washes. Yep. You’ll save 35-95 gallons per
light on your gas furnace over the summer.
wash. And if you go to a car wash that uses recycled water,
15. Don’t air condition an empty house. In summer, 30. Don’t dump trash, lawn clippings or chemicals into
you can conserve even more.
when no one is home, program your thermostat to go up
storm drains. Storm drains empty into rivers and streams
to 85 degrees. You’ll save air conditioning and energy! 23. Bottled water like Fiji or Evian, can cost up to 10,000
that eventually flow to the oceans. Whatever is in there
times as much as tap water. Even purified water, like
16. Unplug cell phone chargers. Only 5% of the power a will be carried untreated to water bodies that people and
Aquafina, is nearly 2,500 times more expensive to drink.
cell phone charger drains actually performs the charge. If wildlife depend on.
you’re not using it, unplug it! 24. Hot tip: water your yard in the coolest part of the
31. Did you know it’s more efficient to keep your freezer
day. It’s better for your plants and you can get away with
17. Switch to tap water. You can make a big impact by and refrigerator full than half full? It takes less energy to
watering less, because less is lost to evaporation from the
breaking the bottle-a-day habit. How much? Drinking one keep the air cold when there’s more filling the space; it
16-ounce bottle a day, 365 days a year, adds 68 lbs of CO2 sun’s heat.
doesn’t have to be food; water and ice will do the trick.
to the atmosphere, wastes 37 mega joules of energy, and 25. Summertime Fan Plan: In the summer, reverse your
requires nine gallons of oil to manufacture, process, fill, ceiling fan to run coutner clockwise. This will push cool
transport to market and process the waste.
air down and help lower your air conditioning bills by as
18. Buy a reusable water bottle. You’ll not only save much as 40%.
energy, oil and CO2, you’ll save a lot of money. Drinking
26. Cool hot foods before putting them in the fridge.
the recommended amount of water (8-12 cups a day) out
Cooling hot foods down first will save your refrigerator a
of the tap costs just a dollar a year.
lot of work. The USDA rule of thumb on food safety is to
19. In summer, plan your laundry, dishwashing and other refrigerate food that has been at room temperature more
moisture producing activities for early morning or late than two hours.
evening when it’s cooler.
27. Do you use decorative outdoor natural gas lamps?
20. Is the damper on your fireplace closed? In the hot
Just eight natural gas lamps burning year-round use as
summer, an open fireplace damper can let cool air escape.
much natural gas as it takes to heat an average size home
It’s like having a window open!
during an entire winter. Replace them with high-intensity
21. Make sure your motor oil makes the grade. Using discharge (HID) or low-pressure sodium outdoor lights.
16

18.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green August
11. Check your insulation. If you have six inches or
1. Take your pedal off the metal. The more you
less on your walls, floors, attic or ceiling, adding in-
anticipate stops and coast down, the more you
sulation will save you significant energy and money.
can eliminate pollution, wasted gas and all that
One inch of insulation has the “heat stopping” ability
unnecessary wear and tear on your brakes.
of 46 inches of concrete.
2. Avoid rush hour. Stop-and-go driving is not
12. Reset the temperature in your refrigerator and
only frustrating; it burns more gas and creates
freezer. Your settings only need to be 36-40°F for the
more smog-forming pollutants.
fridge and 0-5°F for the freezer. Fridges set 10° lower
3. Turn your car air conditioner off or down. Operating the air conditioner on “Max” than necessary (or freezers set 5° lower) can require
can reduce energy usage by roughly 5-25% compared to not using it. as much 20-25% more energy.
4. Combine errands. Warmed-up engines generate a lot less air pollution, so when 13. Take the water meter challenge. Read your
you’re out doing one errand, see what else you can accomplish nearby. meter at the beginning and the end of your typical day. Then challenge yourself to
cut your water consumption drastically and read it again. Compare the two totals
5. If you have a manual transmission, shift up as soon as possible. Running in a higher
and see how much water and money you can save!
gear decreases the rpm and decreases fuel use and engine wear.
6. Open car windows and vents before you 14. Unload your load. An extra 100
resort to the air conditioner. It increases fuel pounds can reduce your car’s fuel economy
consumption, increases NOX emissions in some by about one percent. Take those golf clubs
cars and uses environmentally damaging fluids. out of your trunk!
7. Stop the top off. Don’t overfill the gas tank 15. Parking in the shade in summer doesn’t
or try to fill after the automatic nozzle clicks off. just keep your car cool; it minimizes how
Spilled gasoline evaporates to aggravate smog much f fuel evaporates.
formation and can leak into groundwater.
16. Gauge your savings. Buy a tire gauge and check your tires monthly to make sure
8. Be nozzle-wise. Look for gas stations that have vapor-recovery nozzles (those black, they are properly inflated. You can improve gas mileage by about 3.3%, which comes
accordion-looking plastic devices attached to the nozzle) whenever you can. out to about eight cents a gallon (assuming gas is $2.67 a gallon).
9. Trade in your gas-guzzler. Increasing your fuel economy will increase your saving and 17. Keep your air ducts airtight. Ducts that move air to-and-from a furnace, central air
lower your carbon footprint. If gas is $2.60 a gallon and you drive 15,000 miles a year, conditioner, or heat pump can be huge energy wasters. Sealing and insulating ducts
increasing your mpg from 22 to 37 will save $719 per year. can improve efficiency by as much as 20% or more.
10. Want to buy a hybrid but don’t want sticker shock? Buy it used. 18. Adding a storm window to a single-pane can cut heat loss by as much as 50%.
17

19.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green August
19. Improve your health and the health of our 25. Back to School shopping tip #1: Take
planet with Meatless Mondays. Cutting back meat inventory and avoid duplicates. How
consumption by 15%, just one day a week, can make many pencils, notebooks, etc do you
a big difference in the amount of gasoline and water already have on hand? Is a new backpack
consumed, not to mention your cholesterol. or lunch bag really necessary? Make a list
of what you need and stick to it.
20. Don’t buy new toys for your kids, rent them
instead! Kids outgrow their toys faster than their 26. Back to School shopping tip #2:
clothes. Save energy and money by renting them Green up your school gear with refillable
instead! BabyPlays is one service, but there are pens, biodegradable pencils and recycled versions of both.
probably similar options in your community; check 27. Back to School shopping tip #3: Buy used textbooks online (both Amazon and
out the International Toy Lending Association. eCampus are very popular) or rent your textbooks.
21. Recycle your aluminum cans. It is the ultimate sustainable choice, because 28. Back to School shopping tip #4: Resist buying things like glue sticks in bulk if you
aluminum never wears out. It can be recycled forever. know you’ll only need one or two between now and next spring.
22. Install a water heater timer. If you have an electric water heater, you can save 29. Every fall kids go back to school and pests come back into the house. Chemical
an6additional 5–12% of energy with a timer that turns off your water heater off at pesticides are poisons and can be dangerous. Check out non-chemical pest control
night when you don’t need hot water and/or during peak demand times. options and make sure you are practicing safe pest control.
23. Clean your refrigerator coils. Dust on your coils prevents your refrigerator from 30. Think outside the brown bag. Pack lunches in a washable, reusable PVC-free
running efficiently, costing energy and money. tote. Bag the baggies and plastic wrap in favor of reusable containers. Pass on plastic
bottles containing Bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone-disrupting chemical. Metal is a
24. As your current supply runs out,
greener choice.
try to clean out your cleaning chemicals.
Before modern technology gave us an 31. Don’t stand idly by! School buses
entire aisle of products to choose from, lined up in front of the school with their
grandma got most jobs done with the running engines waste fuel, pollute the
original green cleaners: vinegar and air and endanger children, who are more
baking soda. Mix in a little warm water sensitive to diesel exhaust (it can cause
with either one and you’ve got yourself respiratory problems and worsen asthma
an all-purpose cleaner. and allergies). Convince your school
officials to adopt a no-idling policy.
18

20.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green September
1. Give your dry
cleaner the sniff test.
If there is any odor
on your clothes or in
their shop, it is a sure
3. Cans can make a 4. Thaw frozen foods in 6. Install motion sensor 7. Check your furnace
sign they use harmful
difference. Recycling the refrigerator instead outdoor lights. Outdoor filter once a month and
industrial solvent made
aluminum uses 95% of on the counter. They lights with a combined change it when it looks
from petrochemicals.
less energy than virgin help keep the fridge cool photocell and motion dirty. At a minimum,
Be sure to air your
aluminum. as they thaw. sensor create energy sav- change the filter every
clothes outside before
ings by only turning on at three months. Dirty filters
you wear them or put
night when someone is slow down airflow and
them in your closet.
present. waste energy by making
Locate a green dry cleaner using either CO2 or the the system work harder to
GreenEarth Cleaning process. GreenEarth Cleaners keep you warm or cool.
can be found at at www.greenearthcleaning.com.
You will not only smell the difference, you’ll see and
feel it too. Colors stay brighter, whites won’t yellow
and soft fabrics stay soft and drape beautifully. It’s
truly a breath of fresh air in dry cleaning.
2. Ever hear of wet 8. Recycling does a ton 9. Take care of your 9. Check the seal on your 10. Buying paint? Chose
cleaning? With the of good. Every one ton vinyl shower curtain. A fridge by closing the door latex, water-based paint
right equipment, wet of aluminum recycled study on vinyl shower on a piece of paper. If it instead of enamel. Most
cleaners clean clothes saves the equivalent in curtains shows that new slides out easily your seal brands offer a low odor,
with water like you do energy of 2,350 gallons vinyl curtains can release (or your fridge) may need water-based alternative to
at home. It’s also an eco-friendly choice IF they don’t of gasoline. This is the toxins harmful to your replacing as it is letting environmentally harmful
use toxic chemicals to remove stains (wet cleaners how much electricity the health. If your shower too much cold air out. oil-based paints. When
rinse directly into the city water system). Also ask: typical home would use curtain no longer has a you’re done, make sure to
what do they do with items that can’t be cleaned in over a period of 10 years. smell, take care of it so properly dispose of your
water? Make sure they aren’t sending them out to that you won’t need to paint cans, it’s not safe to
dry cleaners using petrochemicals. replace it. put them in the trash.
19

21.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green September
11. Charge your cell 12. Recycle that old 13. Next time you feel 14. Before you buy that 15. If you live in the city 16. Make one day a week
phone during the day, hairbrush! Hairbrushes like reading a new book, tool you need, check to and don’t use your car very laundry day. Washing full
instead of overnight. make a great tool for try borrowing it from the see if your city has a tool often, consider car shar- loads saves big on utility
Most mobile phones only cleaning room air library or a friend instead lending library. Many ing. Car-sharing services costs. Drying consecutive
need about two hours to conditioner coils—a good of buying a new copy. It’s cities offer basic hand, like Zipcar and others you’ll loads requires less energy
fully charge. Plugging way to make sure your air is a great way to reduce gardening, landscaping, find from the Car Sharing because it leverages the
in your charger at night conditioner isn’t pulling waste and reuse materials. and construction tools to Network give you access to built up heat in your dryer.
creates a lot of wasted more energy than needs. local residents, often for a car, hassle-free.
energy! free with your library card.
17. Have yourself a 18. Fall is a good 19. Whenever 20. Using 21. Organize 22. Evergreens can green 23. Use the dishwasher if
green wedding. With the time to plant trees and you are drawing washable rags your refrigerator up your utility bill. Planted you have one. It uses less
average cost of weddings bushes around your air water from the instead of and cabinets. to the north and northwest hot water than washing
today running about conditioner to create tap, use the cold paper towels Knowing what of your home, they’ll help by hand. Use the air-dry
$20,000, weddings have a shade for it next summer; water instead of for household you have helps block winter winds and setting for drying to save
huge environmental and it will run up to 10% more the hot. cleaning saves prevent you prevent cold drafts. Buffer energy.
economic cost. Make a efficiently. trees and from wasting against cold winter winds
green statement about money! food! with evergreen shrubs
how you want to spend planted around the front
the rest of your life. It’s entryway to minimize the
easier than you think! chill.
20

22.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green Earth Guide to Living Green October
24. If you are buying 25. Reduce, recycle, 26. Create your own 27. The best things in
a new appliance, make re-wear! Green up your low-flush toilet. Fill up a life aren’t things. Giving
sure it is an Energy Star laundry and lighten your plastic bottle filled with gifts of your time, your
product. Energy rated load by“re-wearing” water and drop it into talents or donating
products are an easy way everything you can more the tank of your toilet. money to a good cause
to make a difference to than once. The average With every flush, you’ll in someone’s name are
the planet and your utility home does more than 400 be saving that much really thoughtful and
budget. loads of laundry a year— water to refill the tank. very green.
cutting it by half will save
big on time, energy and
money.
28. Take the plunge, go 29. Find out if water 30. Buy a share in a CSA, or community supported 1. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an excellent time
pesticide-free! Replace leaks are draining you. agriculture program. CSA shares buy you weekly to give the gift of a rainforest tree. Rainforests are home
the pesticides you use on Turn off all the taps in boxes of fresh, locally grown produce. Cost? About to many unique plants that help fight cancer. For $10,
your lawn with natural your house, then check $300-400 for a 24-26 week growing season (many the Natural Resources Defense Council will plant a new
products that work just as your water meter. If it is CSAs let you buy weekly or monthly). Check out rainforest tree in honor of a friend or family member
well or better. still turning, you likely Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, and send a personalized E-card message of support. To
have a leak somewhere. Food Routes and LocalHarvest to find a CSA near order one, visit nrdconline..org.
you.
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23.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green October
2. Help fight breast cancer, go Paperless For the
Cure. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified
3000 plants that are active against cancer cells; 70%
of these plants are found in the rainforest.
3. Think Pink. Live Green. More than one third of
9. Recycling can take 10. BYOB: Bring your 11. Purchase your power 12. Be Green. Get free
cancers can be prevented by eating a balanced diet,
you far. Since 1972, over own bags. The typical from renewable energy stuff. Make someone else’s
staying physically active, and maintaining a healthy
19 million tons of tin cans family accumulates 60 sources! Find out find out trash your treasure. Join
body weight.
have been recycled in the permanently polluting what green power options the Freecycle Network and
4. Step up the fight against cancer by stepping up U.S. These cans, placed plastic bags after just are available in your state. find free stuff you can put to
your commitment to recycle paper. Twenty-five end-to end, could stretch four grocery trips. High good re-use. Their service
percent of the active ingredients in today’s cancer- to the moon and back quality reusable bags are keeps more than 300 tons a
fighting drugs come from organisms found only in 174 times. everywhere these days. day out of landfills!
the rainforest. Keep yours handy and
remember to use them.
5. Studies suggest that women who get plenty of
mushrooms and green tea in their diets may have a
lower risk of developing breast cancer!
6. If you or a loved one has survived breast cancer,
be sure to get plenty of exercise and drink green tea.
Studies show that lifestyle factors like these may help
prevent depression. 13. In cold weather, 14. Always use cold 15. Only two weeks until 16. Reduce your water
when you go to sleep water for the RINSE cycle. Halloween! Why not make heater temperature to
7. Most women know that breastfeeding is best for
or leave home for an Rinsing in warm water an eco-original costume 120%. Turning it down
babies and the planet, but did you know that women
extended time, set the costs an extra 18¢ a load out of materials you already not only saves money, it
who choose to breast-feed might also reduce their
thermostat back to 55°F, and it doesn’t get your have lying around? You slows mineral buildup and
breast cancer risk?
or turn it off. For every clothes any cleaner. can find lots of homemade corrosion in your water
8. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a perfect time one degree you turn costume ideas online! heater and pipes, helping
to de-toxify your life. Chemicals used in everyday down the thermostat in them last longer and oper-
products can be a health concern. Check out this the winter you’ll save up ate at maximum efficiency.
searchable index at simplesteps.org to learn what to 5% on your heating
chemicals are toxic and should be avoided. costs!
22

24.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green Earth Guide to Living Green October
17. Cruise to 18. Solar dry 19. We CAN 20. Open a window 21. Reduce your water 22. In cold weather, when 23. Make your own triple
gas savings with your laundry! do better. The while weather permits. heater temperature to you go to sleep or leave pane windows. Add a
cruise control. Hanging your average family Improved insulation in 120%. Turning it down home for an extended time, storm window to a double
Believe it or not, clothes up to recycles 150 six homes and offices is not only saves money, set the thermostat back to pane window and cut your
studies prove dry saves a lot of packs of cans a great for conserving en- it also slows mineral 55°, or turn it off. For every heat loss by 25% (75% over
that setting your energy, makes year. But only ergy, but not indoor air buildup and corrosion one degree you turn down single pane).
speed with cruise your clothes one out of every quality. Fresh air flowing in your water heater and the thermostat in the winter
conrol can help smell great and two cans that in keeps toxins flowing pipes, helping them last you’ll save up to 5% on your
you save up to helps clothes last Americans con- out. This is especially longer and operate at heating costs!
14% on long longer. sume are actually important when you are maximum efficiency.
car trips. recycled. cleaning with chemicals.
24. Make it a point to 25. Go natural with your 26. Choose soap and 27. Strip energy over- 28. Reduce, reuse, re- 29. You just changed your
recycle your glass! Glass air fresheners and home water over antibacterial consumption with power charge! Rechargeable printer ink…ahem, where
is one of the easiest scents. Indoor plants cleaners whenever you strips. Did you know batteries cost a little more is the old one? If it’s in the
things to recycle and one make a great filter for can. The more we rely on your “phantom load”, than disposable batteries, trash, chances are you just
of the hardest things to interior air. Any broad these products, the more the drain on appliances but save money in the end sent hazardous waste to
decompose. That glass green leaf plant will do we risk breeding “super and devices not actually because they are made to the landfill. Ink companies
jar of salsa you just threw but English Ivy and Peace germs,” chemical resist- in use, is 5-15% of your be recharged up to 1,000 make cartridges easy to
out? It’s probably going Lilies are favorite choices. ant bacteria. Good old monthly electric bill? times! Take care of them recycle with instructions,
to still be there millions of soap and water works Power strips with on/off and they can last up to 10 envelopes and free postage.
years from now. just as well. switches turn it off. years!
23

25.
GreenEarth Guide to Living Green November
30. Don’t throw those old tennis shoes in the trash. 5. Did you know that burning candles could emit
1. Trees beautify your yard and cut your energy
Most atheltic shoes take 1,000 years to degrade in a carcinogens and neurotoxins? Burn safely—select
costs. A deciduous (leafy) tree creates shade to
landfill. They make great dog toys, or you can recycle soy, palm oil or beeswax varieties, they are eco-
cool your house in the summer, and after its leaves
them with one of the many organizations that recycle friendly. Check to be sure they don’t contain stearic
fall in winter, lets sunlight in to help warm your
shoes. Nike’s Re-Use a Shoe program lets you drop off acid (an animal-derived fat from meatpacking plants)
house. Late winter is a good time to plant.
up to 10 pairs of shoes at a time. or any synthetic fragrances classified as VOC (volatile
2. Halloween is over. Donate those costumes to a organic compunds, contributors to smog formation).
31. When you take the kids out to trick or treat, make it
local children’s hospital or charity shop. Costumes
a teachable trip. Carry two bags: one for treats and one 6. Teleconference more; fly less. You will save time,
are always a treat for kids less fortunate!
to collect discarded candy wrappers and costumes. money, and carbon emissions. Airplanes account for
3. Just two months left to claim tax deductions for 12% of all transportation sector emissions.
this year. If you’re thinking about making energy
7. No matter what kind of winter we’re having,
saving improvements in your home or car, learn
according to the National Academy of Sciences,
about tax breaks at www.fueleconomy.gov or
the Earth’s surface temperature has risen by about
www.energystar.gov.
1° Fahrenheit in the past century, with accelerated
4. How green is your vote? If knowing your warming during the past two decades.
candidate’s position on environmental issues and
8. Clean up with cans: recycling aluminum reduces
legislative progress against green priorities is of
air pollution by 95% and water pollution by 97%
importance to you, the League of Conservation
versus producing aluminum from natural resources.
Voters website is a great resource.
24