Celebrate Earth Day Today – And All Year! 4 Easy Ways

Happy Earth Day everyone!

On this celebratory day I thought I’d recap some of the simplest things you can do year-round to help the earth.

Longevity and health are key – and there are choices we can make each day to do our part. Here’s four easy areas to greenify:

Happy Earth Week! UnLitter Us & How to Continue the Success Philly!

Philly’s 3rd Annual Spring Cleanup had its biggest cleanup ever thanks to greenies like you with its UnLitter Us Campaign!

Over 11,000 volunteers worked at 231 official project sites to collect over 1.3 million lbs of trash, 140K lbs of recycling, 50 parks & recreation centers cleaned and 763 neighborhood blocks cleaned!

Incredible numbers, Philly! But how can you keep it up for this Earth week (and always…)

Here’s some suggestions:

Confessions of an Eco-Sinner – Book Review

When I spotted “Confessions of an Eco-Sinner” at the local library, I was wary of a green-washing book However, I skimmed the brief summary and gave this book a read – I’m quite glad I did! Although my friends & family may be sick of me continuously spouting things I learned, I can’t get enough.

Fred Pearce is a British author who decided to track down where various items he uses originate, how they’re created and what the impact is on both the local inhabits & environment. For example, he follows the birth of his wedding band into the gold mines of Witwatersrand, Africa (by Johannesburg). He checks to see if his ‘Fair Trade” Coffee and cotton are actually “fair trade” – (which is quite complex).

Here are just a few fascinating takeaways I learned:

Quick Tip – Ditch the (Disposible) Razor

56% of women use disposable razors, according to Gillette.

Don’t do it! But just because you’re green doesn’t mean you have to stop shaving.

Here’s greener alternatives:

Uniform Project – How many times could you wear the same outfit?

If you’re anything like me, one of your biggest fears is wearing the same outfit twice in a week… or month (unless you can strategically dodge who you saw in the questionable attire.)

Could you go for the same outfit for 365 days? Sheena Matheiken vowed to wear the same dress for 1 year (yep) with only recycled accessories. Talk about making an environmental statement!

Watch the video for more info:

The Uniform Project Trailer from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.

Makes you think maybe we don’t need a closet (or two) full of options to be stylish…

Green Guilt: Par for the Course?

I had a recent bout of ‘green guilt’ that got me thinking …

I just got back from a trip to beautiful Los Cabos (don’t hate me!) – The trip, scenery, company and Mexican hospitality were off-the-charts awesome.

The downer…the hotel was not eco-friendly. As in, NO recycling. (I am a strong advocate of checking into hotel policy prior to vacationing. But this time was out of my control. )

Why do I bring this up? The more conversations I have with sustainable minded people, the more I realize most of us experience a little ‘green guilt’ from time to time. It’s tough to act 100% eco-minded. Unfortunately, we’re bound to be in situations now and then where we feel uncomfortable.

I felt really guilty knowing my bottles of dos equis weren’t headed for the recycling bin… The truth is harping on this mindset and feeling unworthy because I couldn’t exercise control is counter productive.

What’s the best way to overcome these feelings?

Quick Tip – Cut That Excess

Need to cut some excess from your life?

While you may be familiar with Beth’s Paper Peeve and my co-workers apologize each time they print a doc… but no longer fear! An easy gesture such as shrinking your margins (I recommend .5″ on all sides ) on computer printouts will save your printer (and co-workers) pages.

Word 2007 even has an easy default:

• Go to the “Page Layout” ribbon
• Click the “Margins” dropdown
• Select “Narrow”.

You’ll be amazed at how much more info you can fit & trees you can save! (One study by Change the Margins says if you change your margins to .75″ on all sides, you can reduce paper by 4.75% – saving 1.14 trees per ton of paper. If the whole US changed their margins, we’d save 6,156,000 trees every year just by a small change.)

Make Your Own Reusable Bag!

One of the most quick-catching green habits (notice I didn’t say trends) is the reusable bag.

It’s old news that carrying your own bags for groceries, clothes shopping, as lunch “boxes” etc is a great way to cut down on plastic and paper waste.

But what about taking this action a step further and creating your own reusable bags from materials around the home?

That’s what Valerie Frazier of Langhorne, PA does. “Going out and purchasing a manufactured bag seemed as though it was adding to the problem of too much stuff in the world,” Valerie said. So, she decided to find a way to use her big ol stash of grocery bags.

The result?

Big Belly Solar Trash Cans in Philadelphia!

Huge confession … I’m getting trashy.

Dave Matthews Band: Recycling Bonus

These days when you purchase a new cell phone most companies provide means to recycle or refurbish your old phone.

Just in case you need further incentive – The Dave Mathews Band (whose latest CD, Big Whisky and the Groo Grux King, came out a few weeks back) has partnered with Musictoday and Collective Good to implement a cell phone recycling program with a bonus…

All you have to do