Thursday, April 22, 2010

Happy Earth Day!!!

Today is Earth Day and you'd have to be living under a rock not to know it.  I mean, just clicking on google's homepage gives you a clue.  Here is a list of 40 ways to celebrate Earth Day today and everyday, because really we should be incorporating things like this into our every day life!  Here are a few things I incorporate into my everyday life that are on the list:
  • Walk to work 
  • Shut off the lights in a room when I am not in there.
  • Shut off the water when brushing my teeth.
  • Line dry my clothes.
  • Shut off the water when washing dishes and use it only to rinse.
  • Open the fridge/freezer only when I know what I need.

Some things I am hoping to incorporate into my life (I plan on going in more detail, but prefer to not expend energy today on the computer and instead, on reading or doing something else) which help the Earth and are healthier:
  • Eating more organic and in-season food.
  • Cut way back on eating processed foods.
  • Stop drinking pop and alcohols (except for wine).
  • Get my husband to shut off the water when he does the dishes, turn off lights when he isn't in a room, and not open the fridge until he knows what he needs.
  • Reduce my shower time.
  • Try to use our heater products less this winter (this will be HARD)
  • Be better about recycling vs. what we throw away and investigate a possible compost bin.
  • Use my tumbler more often when going to Starbucks (oh and cut that habit back to like 1/week).

Most of these changes are not hard to do, it just takes commitment and a little bit of extra time and effort.  For example, cutting back on processed foods means we need to cook and plan our meals more than we do now.  But I am ready to make the change.  

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day every day?
~Tyffanie

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My dad is obsessed with saving water and electricity. We call him the shower police. Since we were little we were trained to take showers as follows:

-Rinse yourself off with water for about 5 seconds

-Shut off water, soap yourself and scrub shampoo into your hair

-Turn on water for 10 seconds to get all the soap and shampoo out

-Preferably skip conditioning since it means more wasted water

-If you can´t skip conditioning, and can´t do it in the same step as the shampooing, stop water again, scrub conditioner into hair, and then turn on the water to rinse for 5 more seconds.

If he hears the water going for longer than a couple minutes he freaks, so we´ve learned how to do it his way. I used to really resent him for it, but now looking back and imagining how much water we saved over years doing this, I am proud and now continue to shower this way because I want to.

So yes, here is another earth day suggestion, though I´m not sure how many people would be willing to give up their shower time lol!!

Tyffanie said...

Wow that is intense!!!! Hahaha but I bet you guys did save a ton of water.

ileiva said...

"Stop drinking pop and alcohols (except for wine)"

Espero eso no incluya ir menos al depto 41 :D

"Get my husband to shut off the water when he does the dishes, turn off lights when he isn't in a room, and not open the fridge until he knows what he needs."

hahaha. pobre, pero esta bien. A mi también me retan a cada rato por las luces.
-----
No se si esta la aplicaste en tu nuevo depto... pero nosotros tenemos 2 botellas de esas de medio litro llenas de agua dentro del estanque del water. es decir ahorramos un litro cada vez que se tira la cadena.
Saludos.

Tyffanie said...

Interesante idea Nacho! Me vas a tener que explicarlo la próxima vez que nos vemos.

Se mejoró el Panchito???

Saludos!

Sara said...

I feel like so many of those things mentioned we consider earth friendly in the US but are sort of our daily lives here whether we consider them environmental benefit or not. I am such a baby about my showers and heat during the winter that cutting either of those would be hard!

Amanda said...

http://www.wisebread.com/urban-composting-it-can-be-done

I looked into composting in apartments. You can get plastic bins and like put them under your bed! Check out urban composting, there are tons of ideas!

Disclaimer—La Chilengüita is a blog created upon my personal experiences and which expresses my personal opinion that in no way represents the views my employer, family or friends.