Not a Treehugger? What Earth Day Means for You

You don't have to be a Tree hugger to appreciate Earth Day.

Earth Day, started in the '70s, is really just a day to call attention to: "Hey, you, yes, YOU, you can do a little something to be a more responsible human being". Let's not forget, that no matter what side of the aisle you sit on Global Warming, we cannot deny the fact that humans can help or hurt where they live.  Which picture below do you like?

Earth Day is Every Day. Every day we have a choice: do what's best or do what's easiest.  Let's be honest,   humans boil everything down to two things: money & time.   Check out the list below, most things on there do not require much more money, no more time, but there certainly is a better choice:

• letting water run while shaving or brushing teeth : vs : turn off the water til you need it
• Leaving the TV & lights on when you leave the room (for a long time) : vs : turning them off until you return
• tossing everything in the trash : vs : tossing recyclables in a bin (usually close to your trash can)
• idling your car in the bank line : vs : turning it off until you're ready to leave
• buying fancy coffee form standard growers that burn down rain forest to plant coffee plantations : vs : buying shade grown or earth-friendly coffee
• using whatever paper products (25% of trees are cut down for paper) : vs : buying 100% recycled content.  Now this one does cost a little more, but unless you are on a super-tight-uncomfortable budget, trust me, you can afford it.  Just start out with one product : paper towels, and move on from there.  Ever hear of rags?  No need to have Bounty clean up the gallon of milk that spilled; a rag will do it, rinse it & toss it in the dirty laundry,  it will be fine & it works.

I could go on & on with this list, from little money to more costly, but I think you get the picture.  

Earth Day is about every person can do something and each of those somethings will add up to major changes.  Did your Mom ever yell at you for throwing gum out of the car window? "If everyone did that, we would have gum everywhere!"  And you thought, "Holy cow, it was just a piece of gum, what's the big deal?"  Think about that now, as an adult, if that really did happen. That would be gross.  Piles & piles of chewed gum.  Now do you see...that's the power of a little thing, done by lots of people, having a big impact.  We can use those same actions for the powers of good, and not evil, and pick our "one thing" to do good for the earth.  Hey, it's where you live!

Check out this site for some great tips & visit Be A Better Earthling (that's B.A.B.E!) for continual tips!

http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2011