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.

Poly-bags have today become the part and parcel of our daily necessity. We use them in different sizes without paying any attention towards their adverse effects on our health and hygiene. We use them proudly as a carrier of our items and other accessories of our daily use. While making their use, we feel only their comfort and convenience, they provide us, but we do not keep in mind their side effects. As these bags are non-biodegradable in nature, so they remain in existence for a longer period, and thereby they cause inconvenience.

Polythene shopping bags and wrappers are a menace and potential threat to the environment. They choke your drain and sewer system and cause, insanitary conditions. This gives birth to many deadly germs and other fatal diseases. Poly-bags impure the atmosphere and create an unhealthy effect on the life of all the living beings. We should be very cautious in their use.

Here are some facts about the impact of poly-bags on our environment:

• Every year 100,000 sea turtle and other aquatic animals die because of plastic bags, when animals mistaken them for food.
• Tones of carbon emissions are done by the manufacturer of plastic bags, which harms the ozone layer and our environment.
• In the UK, banning poly-bags for a year would be the equivalent of taking 20,000 cars off the road.
• Each year around 1 trillion poly-bags is used worldwide.
• Most Poly-bags takes over 400 years to break down and biodegrade.
• Each day China uses 3 billion plastic bags.
• Each year around 500,000 plastic bags is collected in Australia during Clean Up Day.
• Each day 250 tone of plastic wastes comes out of various colonies of major cities in many countries like India, Pakistan.
• Each year around 100 million barrels of oil is required to make the world’s plastic bag.

Keeping in view the impact of plastic and poly-bags on us, some governments around the world have either banned the use of poly-bags or discouraging their usage.

Lately you have probably heard a lot about plastic bags and probably already know that it is not a good thing for our environment and that you shouldn’t use them anymore. Some people will suggest using paper bags instead, but it doesn’t solve the environmental problem. Paper bags do degrade more easily than plastic ones, but if you think on environmental consequences and global warming, you’ll see they are not a better choice. Keep in mind that paper bags require 40 percent more energy to be produced compared to plastic bags.

By using reusable bags you can play your part preserving the environment and also on lowering the prices. You read it right: if store owners doesn’t have to buy plastic or paper bags anymore they will save money and may lower their prices based on the total money saved. True, you will have to spend some money on a reusable bag, and some energy is needed to produce them, but both are necessary only once.

Reusable grocery bags don’t have any negative impact to our environment and are made from recycled and biodegradable materials. Also, this kind of grocery bags have more room for your goodies, so you will only need to carry two or three reusable bags. To summarize, you will save money, help the environment, carry less packages and have an item that will last for years. Why don’t you purchase your own reusable grocery bag today?

As Christmas is approaching I started wondering how green would be the Christmas this year for different people. Yeah, I know your Christmas tree is green, but is it eco-friendly? Now you got the point. A conscious customer may experience a hard time choosing the most earth-friendly decorations for the holiday, but this time of the year the major doubt is between choosing an artificial tree or a live one. If a live tree is chosen, you buy a potted tree or a cut tree?

You should keep in mind that a live, fresh tree is biodegradable and nowadays most Christmas fresh trees are grown on local tree farms instead of the forest. Also, plotted trees are able to grown on its container for up to four years, giving you enjoyment for years and saving you some bucks. When the tree isn’t fitting on the container anymore, plant it on your yard and you’ll remind of great moments from your Christmas while your tree grows. Making this option you help sustaining your local economy as well as saving the environment.

If you don’t want a live tree, remember that artificial trees are usually NOT biodegradable. Also, close to 90% of artificial trees are made in China and they have almost no environmental restrictions there. And there’s always the risk that some of the trees contain harmful chemicals (such as PVC or lead). Ok, you’re stick with this idea of an artificial tree, so at least be a little environmentally conscious. Refurbish your artificial tree and use it year after year and adding natural elements such as fallen pine branches to give your tree a new look and feel.

You don’t want the responsibility of taking care of a live tree and also want to help the environment by not using an artificial tree? No problem! Create your own tree made from objects in your house and your tree will be unique.

The mantra of going green is reduce, reuse and recycle. It can be quite easy to do for most people, it just takes a little readjustment in your thinking and in your actions.

This three step process can be started today, right now. In our two previous articles we covered reducing and reusing, and now it’s time to talk about recycling.

Recycle

Some thing you need to use can’t be re-used, such as cans from your groceries, but you can still lessen the impact on the environment by recycling them instead of throwing them away — and clogging up the land fills.

Almost every community in developed contries have some sort of recycling program for their resident. Check the pick up day in your town, and you’ll just have to separate your recyclabe trash before throwing away and take it to the curb on trash day. It’s that easy.

Just a little bit of thought and a little bit of extra effort on your part can make all the difference in the world.

Read the two other articles on “Going Green the Easy Way”:

Go Green The Easy Way
Go Green The Easy Way – part 2