While cleaning off my desk today, I came across this list the World Wildlife Fund mailed to me…
10 Simple Things You Can Do To Help Protect the Earth
Put on a sweater. Remember, when you turn up the heat in the wintertime, your furnace is probably burning fossil fuels. A sweater or a nice warm robe will keep you even warmer and will help conserve resources and reduce climate change.
Summer time on your end of the globe? Set your thermostat to 78 degrees when you are home and 85 degrees or off when you are away. Using ceiling or room fans allows you to set the thermostat higher because the air movement will cool the room. Always take into account health considerations and be sure to drink plenty of fluids in warm weather.
Put one foot in front of the other. One hundred years ago, 99.9% of people got by without cars! They took the train; they lived near their workplaces…and they walked. Using fuel-efficient cars is important, but we can save even more fuel by simply driving less.
Go for seconds. Recycling doesn’t only mean separating your cans and bottles. It can mean using things a second or third time. That nice padded envelope you got in the mail, for example? Instead of throwing it away, scratch out the address, tear off the stamps and use it again.
Watch your waste. Items you may be throwing away can contaminate the soil and water for thousands of years. Your community probably has special disposal procedures for things like used oil and batteries. Ink cartridges can probably be recycled where you bought them. And many of the new superefficient light bulbs contain mercury, so proper disposal is crucial. Check with the store where you buy them.
Paper nor plastic. Bring you bags with you! By taking reusable bags to the grocery store, you can cut down on the 350 bags the average American uses each year and reduce needless deaths to marine life caused by plastic bags that end up in streams, rivers and oceans.
BYOB. Last year Americans went through about 50 billion plastic water bottles. Fill up a reusable water bottle at home and bring it with you. Don’t like the taste of your tap water? Buy a filter! (Remember, much of the bottled water sold today is filtered tap water, anyway…)
Flip’em off. In much of America we can’t even see the stars anymore, due in part to all the electric lights. Keep the light on in the room you’re in, but keep the rest of your house dark. You’ll find the dark is soothing.
Get in touch with your roots. Plant a tree! Good for the soil, good for the birds, good for reducing global warming – and good for the air you’re breathing!
Get off. Catalogs are great when they’re from companies you like to order from. But if you’re getting catalogs from companies you don’t buy from, call them and tell them to get you off their list – and that’s an order.
Support WWF. The World Wildlife Fund working to protect endangered species and preserve their habitats. Time is running out for many of the animals you love. There are many more non-profit organizations working to keep our planet healthy too. Here is a list of some more organizations that can use you support!
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