It's Not Easy Being Green...

by: AndreaDow
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Word Count: 505

Sunday, March 18th

Ahhh...St. Patrick's Day. A day full of green beer, green shamrocks, green beaded necklaces and green dye in the rivers. How can we keep this green theme going through the rest of the year? A challenge to all of my readers today is to pick just one thing from the list below and make a concerted effort to help keep our planet Earth green. I promise it will not take too much time or effort on your part, but the end results are immeasurable. Did you know that by doing only full loads of laundry in cold water, you could save 3,400 gallons of water a year! Thanks to Real Simple and Yoga Journal Magazine, we can all help reduce our carbon footprint.

1. What's a carbon footprint you ask? Simply put, it is the effect that our human lives have on the environment in terms of green house gases produced measured in carbon dioxide. To measure your footprint, not at Nordstrom's latest shoe sale silly, get to www.carbonfootprint.com to calculate, offset, and reduce it and much more.

2. Park your car. Ride your bike, walk, take public transportation. Find out more in your area at www.publictransportation.org. Check out the latest fuel efficient cars at www.fueleconomy.gov.

3. Learn to make greener purchases in your daily life by logging on to The Green Guide, www.thegreenguide.org.

4. Purchase wind-generated, solar or other earth-friendly electricity. www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/.

5. Find a greener computer through www.epeat.net.

6. Check out MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country. www.civic.moveon.org/book/.

7. Choose more organic foods, shop at farmer's markets and consider buying clothing that has organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, linen and silk.

8. Check out an eco-eaterie registered with the Green Restaurant Association. www.dinegreen.com.

9. Unplug electronic devices you are not using in your home like DVD players, toasters, and laptops.

10. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact flourescents.

11. Buy a yoga mat that is environmentally friendly. The Green Yoga Association (www.greenyoga.org), Gaiam (www.gaiam.com) and Jade Yoga (www.jadeyoga.com) all have great options.

12. Carry a re-usable water bottle with you throughout the day.

13. Turn off your car instead of letting it idle while you wait.

14. Donate your old cell phone at www.call2recycle.org.

15. Buy recycled paper towels, tissues and napkins. While you are shopping at Whole Foods for these products (or anywhere that sells Seventh Generation products), bring your own bags. Check out www.reusablebags.com.

16. Try biodegradable cat litter. 2 million tons of this stuff gets to landfills every year! www.petecology.com for product information.

17. Recycle everything you can! To find out what items you can leave on the curb, log on to www.earth911.org.

18. Get rid of your junk mail. Click on to www.ftc.gov to remove yourself from lists. If we all reduced our junk mail, we would save millions of trees every year.

19. Skip red meat once a week. Giving up meat once a week would save 840 gallons of fresh water.

20. Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth! You will be saving 3 gallons of water per minute.

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