Happy Earth Day

Even though everyday should be Earth Day, its good that at least one day is used to wake us up and remind everyone to be environmentally conscientious. So here are some tips that I've come across...

On Earth911.org , you can type in your zip code and find the nearest place to recycle pesky things like paint, batteries, used motor oil, fertilizers, used electronics like computers and monitors, medicines and pharmaceuticals, and a whole host of other stuff that you might not know shouldn't be tossed in the trash can. A lot of things that end up in our landfills can leech into our water supply and contaminate it with heavy metals and toxins. So think twice when you toss that old cellphone into the trash. Make a box to throw these things in and get rid of them every couple of months.

Reduce unnecessary mail, like shopping catalogs. Just call the number on the back of the catalog and tell them you prefer to shop online and they'll stop sending them. I used to get 4 Crate and Barrel catalogs a month -the same exact one! So I called and canceled all of them.


The average person gets an estimated 41 lbs of junk mail a year. Find out how to opt out and save your self time, and save the forest some trees.

Reuse your shopping bags. It really is simple. You can either buy the reusable ones at the grocery store, or just bring the ones you've used back to the store. You can store a bunch of brown paper bags and plastic bags in your car so that just in case you need to run into somewhere and get something, you'll have bags ready for you.

Recycle!! Plastic bags, aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper, there really isn't an excuse. "I'm too busy" or "I'm lazy" doesn't count.

Carpool. Take the bus. Walk. I'm guilty of not doing any of these. I told myself that I would start taking the bus and subway to work once a week and I still haven't done it. Now that my car's gas bill is about $200 a month (aaah!!), I really need to reconsider my priorities. It comes down to convenience vs saving CO2 emissions and money. I have an 8 am meeting this morning, so that's my excuse for today. I have no excuse for Wednesday...

Now go fix that leaky faucet before all of Greenland defrosts.