EarthCastle Eco-Tips
Clean Up ~ Visit your local High School during lunch hour. Wow!! Do your part and bring a bag on your next walk picking up some trash as you go along. If more of us pick up after ourselves and others, it may catch on.
Conserve ~ Water is scarce or abundant depending on where you live. Either way, it's important to conserve our limited natural resources. Installing low flow toilets and shower heads, using a rain catch barrel and not saturating lawns "over 1inch a week is too much" can add up and save huge amounts of water. Turning off electrical appliances and devices when not in use, changing your old incandescent light bulbs with high efficiency LED bulbs, and purchasing 'energy efficient appliances' can conserve electricity and save you money every month.
Compost ~ Don't put organic waste in your garbage disposal (plumbers charge between $60-$80 per hour) or your trash can. Using a small 2 gallon bucket placed discretely under your kitchen sink can reduce your average trash volume by 30-50 percent. Regularly place non-meat and non-dairy food scraps ~ eggshells, coffee filters and grounds, fruit and vegetable waste, grass, weeds, leaves in your bucket and empty every 3-4 days into a compost bin you can purchase or pick up for free from your local waste management company. Regularly turn your pile, add some earth worms and in a couple of months you have what gardeners refer to as "black gold"
Cut Back ~ If you do a search on the web and ask how much trash an average human creates each year you will find it's close to one ton or around 2,000 pounds a year. Many consumer goods come in disposable versions ~ contact lenses, grocery bags, plastic utensils, razors, paper plates and the list goes on and on. Consider using canvas bags for your groceries, cloth napkins and diapers, reusable plastic containers for sandwiches and reusable bottles for water. Buy items in bulk to cut back on packaging waste. Wash and reuse your plastic freezer bags.
Donate ~ The salvation army or your local thrift store will gladly take your clothes, shoes, computers, books, furniture, toys, bikes, household appliances, flatware, etc. You can even get a tax write off for your donations. One mans trash is another's treasure.
Eat Earth Wise ~ The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your table, producing tons of carbon emissions via the trucks, trains and planes used to ship the food. By eating more locally or regionally grown food, you can cut down on the amount of energy it takes to transport the food to you by about 20 percent, said Robert Jackson, a climate change expert at Duke University. Visit your local farmers market and eat Earth Wise.
Go Green ~Toxins are saturating our water, air, earth and personal well being. You can fight back by using non-toxic cleaning solutions. Surf the net and find countless recipes using common household supplies like vinegar, salt and baking soda replacing those expensive toxic household cleaners. Learn how to properly dispose of hazardous waste materials such as batteries, ink cartridges, computer components, paint, and motor oil. Having a problem with pests in your garden? Visit you local nursery and discover the wide range of natural pesticides available.
Plant something ~ A single tree can absorb one ton of carbon dioxide during its life span. A garden full of vegetables absorbs carbon dioxide and puts fresh healthy produce on your table. Grab some seeds, dig a hole and watch it grow.
Print on both sides ~ American businesses throw away around 20 million tons of paper every year. To cut this in half, set your printer's default option to print double-sided. This has the added advantage of keeping your desk clean and clutter free.
Recycle ~ Bottles, cans, most plastics (find the recycling symbol ~ the triangle with three arrows), all cardboard and paper including magazines, junk mail and newspaper can be recycled. Using a mini-recycle bin (medium/large plastic tub 5-7 gallon) will make recycling a simple and convenient task that will become a habit before long. Empty your mini-bin as needed into your large recycle container supplied by your local waste management company. Creating more recyclable waste than your container can hold? Exchange your container for a larger one usually for free. Contact your local waste management company for details.
Spare Two Degrees ~ Move your thermostat up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter. This alone can conserve two thousand pounds of carbon dioxide a year and put money back in your pocket.
