 TODAY IS EARTH DAY!
Earth Day is a time to celebrate the gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. Earth Day is a time to unite around new actions. Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet.
The first Earth Day was in 1970. It is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere in the spring and celebrated in the fall in the Southern Hemisphere. The United Nations celebrates an Earth Day each year on the March equinox, a tradition which was founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969. A second Earth Day, which was founded by US politician Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in the late 1960s, is celebrated in many countries each year, today on April 22.
The photo represents the unofficial Earth Day flag from John McConnell.
Progress that has been made since 1970:
- The air is cleaner
- The annual loss of wetlands has been reversed
- More and more industrial sites are being restored and redeveloped
- The backlog on the National Parks Service maintenance is being reduced
HOW YOU CAN DO YOUR PART AT HOME (tips provided by our government)
Save energy
Use the Energy Star program to find energy efficient products for your home. The right choices can save families about 30% ($400 a year) while reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases. Whether you are looking to replace old appliances, remodel, or buy a new house, ENERGY STAR can help. ENERGY STAR is the government backed symbol for energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR label makes it easy to know which products to buy without sacrificing features, style or comfort that today’s consumers expect.- Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
- Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
- Purchase “Green Power” for your home’s electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
- Have leaky air conditioning and refrigeration systems repaired.
- Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
- Insulate your home, water heater and pipes.
- Keep in mind that every trip adds to air pollution. Learn more at It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air (http://www.italladdsup.gov).
- Replace incandescent light bulbs with Energy Star qualified Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL). If every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with a CFL, it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road.
Use less water
Look for the WaterSense label to identify water-efficient products and programs. The WaterSense label indicates that these products and programs meet water-efficiency and performance criteria. WaterSense labeled products will perform well, help save money, and encourage innovation in manufacturing.- Don’t let the water run while shaving or brushing teeth.
- Take short showers instead of tub baths.
- Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run until the water is cool.
- Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
- Wash only full loads of laundry or use the appropriate water level or load size selection on the washing machine.
- Buy high-efficient plumbing fixtures & appliances.
- Repair all leaks (a leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons a day).
- Water the lawn or garden during the coolest part of the day (early morning is best).
- Water plants differently according to what they need. Check with your local extension service or nurseries for advice.
- Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only – not the street or sidewalk.
- Use soaker hoses or trickle irrigation systems for trees and shrubs.
- Keep your yard healthy – dethatch, use mulch, etc.
- Sweep outside instead of using a hose.
- Learn how to plant trees, build a pond, compost, and more from the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service .
Reduce/reuse/recycle
Practice the three R’s: first reduce how much you use, then reuse what you can, and then recycle the rest. Then, dispose of what’s left in the most environmentally friendly way. Read the tips below and explore the Consumer’s Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste.
- Reduce:
- Buy permanent items instead of disposables.
- Buy and use only what you need.
- Buy products with less packaging.
- Buy products that use less toxic chemicals.
- Reuse:
- Repair items as much as possible.
- Use durable coffee mugs.
- Use cloth napkins or towels.
- Clean out juice bottles and use them for water.
- Use empty jars to hold leftover food.
- Reuse boxes.
- Purchase refillable pens and pencils.
- Participate in a paint collection and reuse program. For information on handling household solid waste, visit Wastes, What You Can Do.
- Donate extras to people you know or to charity instead of throwing them away.
- Reuse grocery bags as trash bags.
- Recycle:
- Recycle paper (printer paper, newspapers, mail, etc.) , plastic, glass bottles, cardboard, and aluminum cans. If your community doesn’t collect at the curb, take them to a collection center.
- Recycle electronics.
- Collecting Used Oil for Recycling / Reuse (PDF)
- Compost food scraps, grass and other yard clippings, and dead plants.
- Close the loop – buy recycled products and products that use recycled packaging (PDF) . That’s what makes recycling economically possible.
Handle toxics properly
What’s under your kitchen sink, in your garage, in your bathroom, and on the shelves in your laundry room? Learn more about what’s in these products, about potential health effects, and about safety and handling. A database of household products tells you more.
Common household items such as paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides contain hazardous components. Although we cannot completely stop using hazardous products, we can make sure that leftovers are managed properly. The best way to handle household hazardous waste is to give leftovers to someone else to use.
Many communities have set up collection programs to keep hazardous products out of landfills and combustors. More than 3,000 household hazardous waste (HHW) collection programs exist in the United States. Read more about household hazardous waste.
In addition to items listed here, check the Earth Day sites of various agencies for more tips and events in your area.
HGTV also has ideas for 20 ways your home can save the planet!
HOW YOU CAN DO YOUR PART AT WORK
Green your building
- Apply green building principles to your office buildings. They affect natural resources, land use, energy use, worker and public health, and community well being. With sustainable design – or green building – tools, the federal government can protect human health and worker productivity, reduce costs and risks, and build with greater responsibility towards future generations. Green Building principles lead to building in greater harmony with the environment, consciously sustaining and renewing natural resources.
- Go Green with GSA. (General Services Administration) The U.S. Government Services Administration has many environmental initiatives to help federal agencies Go Green. These initiatives range from green products to constructing and leasing green buildings.
- Clean Green. Using environmentally preferable cleaning supplies helps reduce pollution.
Reduce energy use
- Use Energy Star’s energy-efficient office products Make sure that you turn on the energy saving features.
- Turn off your computer monitor, printers, copy machines, and the lights when they are not being used.
- If possible, take the stairs instead of using the elevator.
- Use the consumer’s guide to energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Reduce, reuse, and recycle office products
- Buy recycled content, remanufactured, and recyclable office products, and recycle them when appropriate (including e-cycling electronics). At a minimum, buy recycled paper and recycle it again. See the small business guide to pollution prevention.
- Clean Out Your Files and recycle papers you no longer need. Many organizations sponsor cleaning weeks; check with your office management staff.
- Use spell check and proofread before you print or copy. Print double sided whenever possible. Minimize the amount of paper you use.
- Buy reusable office supplies instead of disposable supplies.
- Set up an area to store and exchange reusable office supplies, such as binders
- Recycle fluorescent bulbs properly to prevent hazardous mercury from entering the environment.
In addition to these items, check the Environmental Protection Agency’s “At the Workplace“.
This year, treat Earth Day as you would New Year’s day and start a resolution to do your part to make this planet a better place!
