3 Things We Can Do 4 Earth Day

I was thinking about Earth Day coming up (April 22), and wondering what kinds of things I can do that will have a cumulative impact on the planet. And also, of course, on all of us people who live on this wonderful, blue planet.

3 Things We Can Do For Earth Day

• 1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Well, that's 3 right there - but I'm counting it as one for this post. We already do these 3 things in our home, but I'm thinking we could do them MORE. I use concentrated home cleaners & laundry products that reduce packaging waste in landfills - and they work just great! I'm thinking I can further reduce waste - like turning off the water faucet when I'm brushing my teeth.

• 2. Locate One 'Green' Business. Then give them YOUR business. I found a great dry-cleaners near us that does 'green' dry-cleaning. They don't use all those chemicals that give you a headache & make your clothes smell nasty for days. And their service is great! I give them my dry-cleaning business. This past week, I found a salon that uses non-toxic hair coloring products, and gave them my business.

• 3. Read Labels. I was thinking I did pretty good on that one - however, I recently discovered that there's a lot more to people's understanding of reading labels than I thought. Here's what happened: The grocery store where I shop always gives out tidbits of food & drink to shoppers. A young woman with a small boy was taking a sample of an apple juice drink, & offered me one. I declined, explaining that it wasn't organic so it would have pesticides in it. She grabbed a bottle of the juice & said, "NO it doesn't - LOOK! It says on the label, 'water, apple juice, lemon juice, & sugar - it doesn't say pesticides!" I explained that apples are a heavily sprayed fruit and the juice would have pesticides in it. She exclaimed again, "NO! It's not on the label! It doesn't have any!"

YIKES! I watched the young woman and her toddler walk away each drinking their apple juice drinks.

Planting trees is a good thing to do, if you have the space. I discovered that it takes 10 trees to support the oxygen needs of one person, over their lifetime. We're short on trees in the world.

If you don't have space to plant one, here are the websites for American Forests, and for The Green Belt Movement. You can donnate for trees to be planted. How cool is that??

http://www.americanforests.org/

http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/

I thought of 3 things (well - 4 really) - and I'll bet you can think of WAY more. Please share your ideas with everyone, below - just click on comments.

No one can do everything - but everyone can do something!

Nancy