Thursday, April 22, 2010

Earth Day 2010!

Today is Earth Day, April 22 2010. This marks Earth Day's 40th anniversary!


I'm going to be honest. This is only the second Earth Day I have ever "celebrated". My first Earth Day, I was 8 years old. I took a bunch of my neighborhood friends and a red wagon all around the block and we picked up a ton of trash and recyclables to help save our Earth. I was so cute wasn't I?

I am not ashamed to admit after that I never cared. It's amazing how much a few books have changed my entire way of thinking! Now I love the idea of Earth day.

With that said, I am going to make a list of how I am celebrating Earth Day this year, and how I have celebrated this day everyday for the past 3 months...

1. I officially have not eaten any meat, dairy, or eggs since February 19 of this year. Which means I have helped cut CO2 emissions into our air. If you didn't know, the meat industry is one of the leading sources of the greenhouse gases that lead to global warming.

2. I have switched all my house hold cleaning products to ECO friendly brands. I use Seventh Generation and Green Works for cleaning my kitchen, bathroom, my dishes including the dishwasher, and anything else that needs cleaning. Everyday cleaning products contain a lot of toxic chemicals that just aren't natural for our bodies or our environment. These chemicals get under our skin, can irritate our eyes, and we breathe them in which can irritate our respiratory system.

3. I recycle every little thing I can. Even if I just cut open a bit of plastic, I will recycle it. It really isn't hard to recycle. I was SO LAZY just a few months ago. If I drank a can of soda, I would just throw away the can instead of walking a few more steps outside to my recycling bin. Same with plastic. We had so much garbage because my husband and I never recycled. Since realizing how important recycling is, my husband and I now recycle everything. It took my husband a little longer than myself, but now he's so used to it and it's amazing how supportive he is.

4. I also do not buy paper plates anymore. Again, I was SO LAZY. Last Summer, we would invite people over to our home for a BBQ every weekend. To make things easier on myself, I would always buy paper plates and plastic forks and knives. And I can't think of any other reason why I did that besides I was a lazy lazy person. Why is it so hard to stick a few extra plates and silverware in the dishwasher? It's not. I was just lazy. Now I use all my plates if I have to and I have no problem washing them...which leads to number 5....

5. I only use my dishwasher if it is completely full. I stuff that baby sometimes. But by doing so, I save a ton of water.

6. Every time I brush my teeth, wash my face, or wash my hands, I turn off the water until I need to use it. I never realized how much water is just running down the drain when I'm not even using it. I also try to take quicker showers.

7. I turn off the lights if I don't use them. By doing so, I'm saving a ton of energy.


Those are all the little easy things I have been doing to help out our planet. Before I never cared about any of these things, but now I feel like I am really making a difference. Some people may not see it that way, but when you get into the habit of doing these things, it just feels right. I know for sure I can do a lot more than I am doing now, but I still feel very awesome knowing what I have accomplished so far. I'm sure I will better myself by next year's Earth Day.

I would like to end this blog entry with one of my favorite songs as a kid from one of my favorite TV shows back in the day... ENJOY AND HAPPY EARTH DAY!

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