Category: NEW

+ 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth
+ Save Our Planet: 750 Everyday Ways You Can Help Clean Up the Earth/25th Anniversary
I was ten years old when I read these books and they changed my life. Through them I learned that being environmentally aware is easy and that it doesn’t take much to make a difference on a local scale. They also set the stage for my decision to become an environmental scientist… If you haven’t already, read them!

+ Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
“Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better–say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete.” I haven’t read this book yet, but I’m on the waiting list at our library.

+ An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
The companion guide to the movie that made global climate change front and center in America.

+ The Healthy Home Workbook: Easy Steps for Eco-Friendly Living
I really like this book. It is organized by room and for each area it lists a variety of environmentally conscious changes for 1. instant gratification, 2. greater commitment, and 3. a truly healthy home. So you’ll feel good if you make just a few simple changes and helps you set goals for more long-term eco-friendly projects.

+ Silent Spring
This book by Rachel Carson launched the global environmental movement. Required reading.

Should things continue not to go well, there is always The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook and The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Extreme Edition… But let us hope it doesn’t come to that.

“Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” – Cree Native American Proverb

In celebration of Earth Day, I’ve decided to little “save the earth” features this week. So, let’s start off with easy ways to do our part.

+ Decline your ATM receipts
“Receipts from 8 billion ATM transactions every year are one of the biggest sources of litter on the planet. If everyone left their receipts in the machine, it would save a roll of paper more than 2 billion feet long—enough to circle the equator more than 15 times.” [via link]

+ Use cold water
“About 90 percent of the energy used for a load of laundry goes to heating the water. While you may want to wash bed linens in hot water to kill dust mites, opt for washing all other loads in cold — and save up to $300 and 330 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year.” [via link]

+ Switch your light bulbs
Replacing just one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year [via link] and now you can purchase a variety of different full spectrum and natural looking CFL bulbs. “If every family replaced one bulb with a CFL it would be like reducing carbon emissions from 800,000 cars.” [via link]

Stay tuned for lots more tips over the next few days…

“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” – From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy

There has been so much press about Earth Day and hype about green living recently in the news. All I can say is it’s about time! My passion and commitment to protecting our planet began in nursery school when I declared that I no longer wanted to eat meat and has grown exponentially since then. I’ve been waiting over twenty years for an eco-conscious identity to develop here in America and I really hope that day is upon us.

Today is Earth Day. Because David and I feel that honoring and caring for the earth is important every day–not just on Earth Day–we decided to begin, rather than end, our Earth Week today. This week we shall present you with practical tips designed to show that being eco-conscious is really easy. As far as we are concerned, there is no excuse for not looking forward…