Earth Day is the day designated for appreciating the earth’s environment and raising awareness of the issues that threaten it. The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970 introduced by Senator Gaylord Nelson, a US senator, to bring environmental issues onto the national political agenda. Earth Day is observed in 175 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit organization Earth Day Network. Earth Day celebrates its 40th birthday this year on April 22nd.

In recognition of Earth Day, here are 5 simple things for the novice greenie to do that not only help save the environment but put money back into your pocket too.

1. Use reusable water bottles

Americans buy more than half a billion bottles of water each week. The issues with bottled water are numerous:

• Petroleum is used to make the bottles;
• About 27% of the bottles are recycled, the other 73% go into the landfills;
• Water, which is available from a tap, is transported from the bottling site to the store and ultimately to our houses causing greenhouse gases along the way;
• The FDA only requires that bottled water is as good as tap water. An NRDC study estimates that 25% of bottled water is really just tap water.

To save money and help the environment, buy a reusable water bottle and fill it up with good old tap water. If you do not trust the tap water, using a filter is still much better than buying bottled water.

2. Use reusable plastic bags

Single use bags in particular, plastic, are very bad for the environment. Not only are they made out from petroleum but the recycling rates are low. WorldWatch Inst. estimates that about 100 Billion are used and discarded in the US alone, at the cost of 12 million barrels of oil. Many of those plastic bags end up in landfills and some flow into the ocean and probably join the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which a floating island of trash estimated at twice the size of Texas where plastic particles are more abundant than plankton.

You can find reusable bags at most retail stores these days. Invest in a couple and you can save 300-700 plastic bags a year.

3. Unplug the Vampires

Many power cords suck up energy even if they are switched off, either because the appliance remains on stand-by waiting to be switched on with a remote control or an adapter, disconnected from the device they are supposed to be charging such as a cell phone or lap top, continues to suck up energy. This is known as vampire or phantom energy and can account for about 10% of your residential energy bill. The EPA estimates that the average US household spends $100 a year powering devices that are off. On a national basis, this standby power accounts for more than $10 billion in annual energy costs.

By using a power strip or unplugging unused appliances or power cords can reduce your energy bill as well as save the environment.

4. Eat like a vegetarian once a week

Farming requires fossil fuels to make fertilizer, run tractors, process and transport food. It takes many calories of grains to make one calorie of meat; animals and manure produce greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide. As a result, producing meat emits more greenhouse gases than growing crops. A 2006 United Nation report revealed that the “livestock sector” generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, trains, ships, and planes in the world combined.

Environmental Defense estimates that, “If every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted a vegetarian meal, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.”

5. Buy smart

Consumerism, the constant buying and disposing of stuff, leads to a lot of environmental issues, including extraction, manufacture, packaging, transportation and disposal of goods. Limit purchases to what you really need, after all, Reduce is the first of the 3R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

When you do need to buy something invoke the second R, Reuse, and save money by buying through thrift stores, online through Craigslist or eBay, or have fun visiting yard sales.

Have fun celebrating Earth Day 2010, and with these easy tips, save money and help save the planet too.

We all know very well that the life of a living being on planet earth is possible due to the favorable environment around it. Since the ages human beings are consuming this natural source of money in all possible ways. We are causing harm to our fragile environment due to which many problems are arising every day. Climate change, global warming, environmental degradation, ozone depletion, air pollution, water pollution, and land degradation.  This is not it; if we will continue harming our environment than the environment we know now will get destroyed completely.  So, it is a duty of every human to protect our environment in all possible ways and realize the mistakes which we or our ancestors did many of the times.

Following is the things which every individual should do to save the environment.

Stop using poly bags: Plastic bags or poly bags are non biodegradable. They clog in the drainage and water ways, spoils the landscape. Polythene takes 1000 years to break down. These poly bags are not only a threat to human beings but also to the marine and other animals too. Many birds and animals die after eating this plastic, which chokes in their throats. Also, poly bags require a millions of gallons of petroleum for the preparation.

One should replace the poly bags with the paper bags and the renewable poly bags. One can also take their own carry bag when going for the shopping. Also one can buy in bulk; bulk buying will reduce the use of package material.

Ensure the proper maintenance of your vehicle: Tune up engine of your vehicle will reduce the emission of harmful gases that results in global warming and air pollutions. These gases also are the reasons for the acid rain that harms the many crops. Global warming and ozone layer depletion is caused due to these gases, because of this entire world is in danger, various diseases such as skin diseases arise because of these. These problems can become serious if we will not stop destroying our environment.

Encourage the greenery- grow plants: Humans are the wisest and superior among all the living beings. It is our duty that we all should spread the awareness to our friends, neighbors and children’s. We should encourage the awareness around the globe and also make sure that each of us does the needful things. Together we all can make the difference.

Where will you be when the lights go out? Earth Hour 2010 will take place on Saturday, March 27 at 8:30 pm local time. Even though it will spark a tirade of controversy just asking folks to turn off their lights for one hour, let’s see who would rather fight than turn off a switch. In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support and Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future. Do you have what it takes to make such a simple gesture?

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. A year later Earth Hour had become such a global force that more than 50 million people in 35 countries showed their support by switch off for a simple 60 minutes. Icons stood in dark silence as Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all did their part as symbols of hope for the future.

This year China’s Forbidden City heads up a list of some of the world’s most iconic landmarks that have confirmed their participation in Earth Hour – including The Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. They will be joined by Italy’s Trevi Fountain in Rome and Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben and Houses of Parliament in London, Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, India Gate and Red Fort in Delhi, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Bosphorous Bridge in Istanbul, Hohensalzburg Castle in Salzburg, and Independence Angel in Mexico City. They join a comprehensive list of the world’s great man-made marvels and natural wonders, including the Eiffel Tower, Brandenburg Gate, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Empire State Building, London Eye, Table Mountain, Christ the Redeemer statue, Sydney Opera House and the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, which will plunge into darkness for Earth Hour

Before you say “Why bother?” or “My contribution won’t make a difference.”, then think on this… Earth Hour has truly managed to raise our awareness of climate change issues. But there’s more to it than switching off your lights for one hour once a year. It’s all about giving people a voice on the future of our planet and working together. Even if you’d rather fight than flick the switch… you are participating. Whether you are an individual, a business, a school or a city, you can show your support for Earth Hour by turning off your lights at 8.30 pm on March 27 wherever you are on the planet. No one is saying you can’t use your computer or watch television. Bake a pizza and eat it by candlelight with your family! All it takes is the guts to show you understand and care enough to take action.

Do you have what it takes to flip the switch?

Source: Universe Today

Fast pace of life has made a living on an individual so hectic that nobody even bothers about what is happening at the neighborhood. In such condition preventing the environment is a much bigger issue to be kept into consideration. Due to such an irresponsible behavior of each human, the environment is getting harmed every day. Some of the problems which are affecting the world are global warming, acid rain, air pollution, water pollution, ozone depletion, land destruction, etc. these problems are not only affecting our surrounding, but it is affecting the world as a whole.

The term “global warming” refers to the increase in the average temperature of global surface air and oceans. It occurs due to the increase in the temperature of an atmosphere due to greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere is called the “greenhouse effect”. Along with it there are various other problems such as air pollution, water pollution, land destruction which all go hand in hand. It is once said by Havelock Ellis “The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago… had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands”. Air pollution is caused basically due to various gases, which are released in the environment, whereas water pollution is caused due to release of harmful chemicals or substances from factories or homes in water which in turn pollutes the water and makes it unsuitable for drinking purpose. Land pollution occurs due to cutting of forests to meet the demand of agricultural land as a result of which erosion of fertile soil occurs, that can affect the growth of vegetables and other farm products. Another common cause that is found in this kind pollution is dumping of chemical waste or nuclear fertile in water or on land, which results in pollution.

If our environment is not saved from such pollution human species will not be able to survive for long. According to Robert Orben, ” there’s so much pollution in the air now that if it weren’t for our lungs there’d be no place to put it all. It’s high time we should put some efforts to save our environment if it’s too late then it will be late for us. As Darryl Cherney says “I’m not an environmentalist.  I’m an Earth warrior”. If everyone amongst us starts thinking like this, then with few efforts earth can again become a better place to live in. It just needs a try, so try it!

Since the childhood, we all have heard and talked about saving environment; going green-save trees, stop pollution and, etc. But do we really do the things that are needed to be done to save the environment? Probably, many people will say no. Governments and NGO’s are widely trying to spread awareness about the destruction of our environment, and trying to save it. If every human doesn’t take his duty to save the environment seriously then we all are surely going to see the worst scenario of the environment.

We can choose the simple ways to prevent our environment from further destruction. The estimated human population on earth is around 6,806,900, and each person or every other person thinks of planting a small tree then how much tree we can grow in a year. If every year this many trees is grown then definitely it will help the environment in a better way. For covering short distance, we should use bicycles instead of fuel vehicles; it will stop the emission of harmful greenhouse gases. One should maintain our vehicles, and tune up the engines to make sure to control the air population. Minimize the use of CFC products, such as refrigerator, and air-conditioner. Also, turn off the Computer, AC’s or other electric appliances when not in use, this could help in saving electricity.

While shopping for groceries or other food items then buy in bulk this will save a lot of packaging materials. Instead of poly-bags you can ask for paper bags, or you can carry your own bag for shopping purpose, that way you are preventing the trees that is used for making papers and also the use of poly-bags that do not degrade in decades.  One can also ensure the mark of eco friendly or green on buying various products, food items and appliances.

Advancement of technology has provided us with one more option to save our environment and that is recycling. Use of recycled material is also a good idea to prevent from the further destruction of environment. As a part of this world, it is our duty to do whatever is needed to prevent our environment. Now is the time for each human to be united and act wisely in order to save the environment.

Since decades, human beings have taken the environment for granted and consuming the natural resources blindly, without even thinking of adverse effects that can cause many natural calamities and imbalance on the environment.

We all have heard about the global warming, and we also know that it could be worse if the emissions of harmful gases are not controlled. The poisonous gases like CO2, CO, etc. are the causes of depletion of the ozone layer which allows harmful UV-rays of sun to come to earth. These UV-rays are not just harmful to the environment, but it affects a human being too. It can cause many diseases, especially the skin related diseases. According to the data, each year, many people die because of these. It is a duty of the human being to control the emission of harmful gases.

Being a human it is our duty to take the steps to prevent the environment. Many people ask what they can do to save the environment, nothing is in their hand. However, this is not true; a single step of every person can make a big difference. If we become determined and show commitment then we really can save the environment. Many a times we use our vehicles to go to our offices or at friend home or at grocery shops, and instead of that if we can travel on the trams, trains or bus, then we can stop the air pollution, and the use of fuel, which is also a part of the natural resources. Imagine if every person on the planet stops using their cars and bikes then how much air pollution can be controlled.

To build the multistory buildings and complexes many trees are cut down. What will happen if the trees which provide us fresh air and help to rain will vanish from earth then in such circumstances from where we will bring fresh air? Who can stop the soil erosion? So it is our duty to plant a tree and try to keep our surroundings more green. Also, we can spread such awareness among the neighbors, friends and family. Every wise step and act can help to create and experience the better future.