Earth Day
LET’S MAKE EARTH DAY BE EVERY DAY!
Earth Day celebrates its 40th anniversary this year! When Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin proclaimed April 22, 1970 to be Earth Day, more than 20 million people participated in events to help clean up the environment. Today Earth Day is observed around the world, with events planned to encourage environmentally aware behaviors, such as recycling, reducing or reusing disposable items, using energy efficiently, reducing air pollution, conserving our natural resources, and using chemicals safely or reducing their use as much as possible!
What are some of the benefits for the environment and our health when we eliminate using household cleaners containing harmful chemicals?
Benefits for the environment:
- The harmful chemicals in cleaning products go down drains and accumulate in our water supply, hurting us and the environment.
- Many cleaning products contain petroleum, a non-renewable resource.
- Carcinogens and other chemicals in cleaning products all eventually end up in the environment, where they are very persistent (in many cases non-biodegradable) and damaging to wildlife and ecosystems and may end up back in your drinking water.
Benefits for our health:
- Reduce the presence of Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, in the air. VOCs come from some cleaning products and most air-fresheners. They can lead to headaches, depression, and loss of focus.
- Childhood asthma rates are increasing (it has jumped by 400% in Canada), which means that
- these children have more sensitive lungs that will be affected more strongly by fumes from cleaning products.
- According to the EPA, these chemicals can impair your performance with the following health effects: eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some chemicals are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans.
SOURCE:http://www.earthday.net/actionplanspdf/Clean%20Green%20Cleaning%20Student%20Action%20PlanFF.pdf
The truth is that everything single thing we do every day has an impact on the planet — good or bad. The good news is that as individuals we have the power to control most of our choices and, therefore, the impact we create.
LET’S MAKE EARTH DAY BE EVERY DAY!!
3 Simple Holiday Gift Ideas
3 Simple Holiday Gift Ideas (other than Norwex of course)
Food
Who doesn’t love food? I know I do, especially when prepared and gifted by someone I love.
Many people love baking treats and cooking nourishing food to warm our bellies and hearts. Gifting food is easy, just keep these ideas in mind:
• Be mindful of food allergies and sensitivities. There’s nothing like spending time creating something that can’t be eaten by the recipient. Send a quick email or check in with a phone call to the recipient and just ask. These days it’s a common question and one that could make the difference in someone enjoying your gift or needing to pass it on to another who can. If you need gluten free ideas, check out the Little Green Dream blog
• Think outside the box. How much would you love for someone to drop by a pot of soup, a side salad and, popovers (gluten free!) as a holiday gift instead of a gift card for the car wash, coffee or more mindless clutter?
• Think of the recipient. Is he/she a health nut or far from it? Is their family active or not? Keep in mind who they are and how they like to spend their time when gifting food. A basket of homemade power bars and kombucha might not go over well with a family who isn’t interested in wellness.
Experiences
Have you ever been given a gift card for sky diving or a trolley ride? Have you been the lucky recipient of a night out for dinner, a plane ticket or a stay at a B&B? Remember those coupon books we made our parents as children that included a free car wash, back rub and taking out the garbage? Bring it on back. Giving the opportunity to experience something new or to revisit a destination from the past are fun and welcome gift ideas. I like to think of the following when dreaming up fun for others:
• It’s really important to know the recipient well enough to know the difference between them enjoying an afternoon at a bounce house versus an evening on a dinner cruise.
• When purchasing gift cards for experiences, be sure there is no date of expiration on the card, or if there are specific time limitations, highlight them so the recipient is aware. There’s nothing like going to use that gift card to your favorite restaurant only to find it expired a week ago. In fact, an idea would be to write in any specifics the recipient needs to know on the card or tag that went along with the gift.
• Are you giving an experience only one can enjoy or are you able to give “for you AND a friend”, how much more fun would that be?
Handmades
This is the time of year where all kinds of craftiness comes about. It’s when grandmas, mothers and grandchildren gather to knit, sew, cut and paste. New tree ornaments, scarves, cuddlies and more goodies than we can imagine get produced. Giving handmade is not only more eco-friendly, it is such a gift to receive something lovingly created by another. If you are giving away handmades this year, keep these few ideas in mind:
• Keep in mind for whom you are creating the gift and what their interests are. Does it fit their lifestyle; will they be able to use/wear it?
• If you are shying away from creating a gift because you need measurements from your loved ones home or personal sizing, don’t! Imagine their wonder and curiosity after you’ve called and given them a task to measure themselves or something in their home.
• Putting together kits of items someone would need in order to get creative themselves is another idea:
o Construction paper, glue, glitter and funky scissors go a long way with a child
o Recipe box, apron, spatula and a cooking class gift card will win over any chef to be
o Knitting needles, a skein of yarn, and lessons with Auntie Jen are great for the tween needing something to bide her time
There are many great craft and art supply stores both online and near every retail center, however, for specific needs, go online to find a local shop near you or where you might need to order your supplies.
Reduce – Reuse – Recycle
THE THREE R’S: REDUCE – REUSE – RECYCLE
Did you know that: 
- In the U.S. the average person create 4.39 pounds of trash per day and up to 56 tons of trash per year?
- Every year we fill enough garbage trucks to form a line that would stretch from the earth to halfway to the moon?
- Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour?
- Each year Americans trash enough office paper to build a 12-foot wall from Los Angeles to New York City?
- Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year and most of it winds up in landfills?
- Forty-three thousand tons of food is thrown out in the United States each day?
- Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures a year?
The three R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle – all help to cut down on the amount of waste we throw away. They conserve natural resources, landfill space and energy plus reduce pollution. REDUCE means to find different ways to decrease the quantity of garbage that finds its way into our landfills. REUSE means finding methods to use things repeatedly instead of throwing them away and buying new things. RECYCLE literally means to convert something that is old into something new.
The most effective way to begin is by PREVENTING WASTE in the first place. This can help you save money and reduce your impact on the environment.
Preventing and reducing waste include:
- Purchasing durable, long-lasting goods and making them last longer by repairing them when necessary.
- Reusing products and packaging, and reducing the amount of packaging that is discarded.
- It is also seeking products and packaging that are as free of toxins as possible.
- Buying products that can be recycled.
- Buying products made out of recycled materials.
- Purchase in bulk.
- Using the least hazardous cleaning products.
- Buy only what you need for projects, such as painting, and properly store what is left.
- Maintain your vehicle.
Reuse takes many forms, but all with the same goal – to keep items useful as long as they have a function or value. It can save money and help the environment. Some ways to reuse are:
- Share – many items are needed only for special projects or activities.
- Try to repair an item before throwing it away.
- Organize a community exchange at your community center, library, school, or church.
- Shop at garage sales, estate sales, or auctions.
- Use consignment stores or thrift shops.
- Online options:
The Twin Cities Free Market is an internet-based listing service for residents who want to give away or get free reusable goods for their home, garage or garden. www.twincitiesfreemarket.org.
The Freecycle Network is similar to the Twin Cities Free Market. It is an online group of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. http://www.freecycle.org/.
Craigslist has free stuff and items for sale and is city-specific: www.craigslist.org.
Recycling uses waste such as glass bottles, paper, aluminum cans to make new products. Items and resources for recycling include:
- Recycle more paper with your curbside collection, including:
Magazines and books with hard covers removed.
Window envelopes and junk mail.
Boxboard containers, toilet paper rolls, tooth paste boxes, paper towel rolls.
Cereal boxes, cracker boxes, pasta boxes, cake mix boxes, tissue boxes.
Shoe boxes, gift boxes, electronics boxes.
Newspapers, phone books, inserts, school papers .
- Aluminum cans as well as foil and aluminum scrap are highly recyclable.
- Generally, most colors of glass bottles are accepted in curbside recycling programs and drop-off recycling centers.
- Recycle more household hazardous waste and make your home safer. Go to county HHW programs for a listing of Household Hazardous Waste Facility locations in Minnesota.
- E-Waste includes old computers, printers, fax machines, televisions, radios, audio equipment, cell phones, etc. Find recycling opportunities for consumer electronics: www.pca.state.mn.us/ewaste.
- Several major manufacturers of computers and electronics are offering consumers recycling and reuse alternatives for their products when you purchase new ones.
- Toner and Ink jet cartridges can also be recycled in areas of Minnesota. For MORE information about recycling ink jet and toner cartridges go to the MPCA recycling markets directory for a listing of locations.
- Plastic garden containers can now be returned to specific garden centers throughout Minnesota. Go to Garden Minnesota.com for a complete list of dates and locations.
- In general, yard waste facilities accept leaves, grass clippings, and other plant materials. Most often, this does not include wood debris. Contact your county recycling coordinator for more information about yard waste recycling in your area.
[Note: Minnesota sources used but each state has similar agencies and resources. ]
The benefits of recycling include:
- Recycling protects and expands U.S. manufacturing jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness.
- Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration.
- Recycling prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.
- Recycling saves energy.
- Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
- Recycling conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
- Recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations.
Putting source reduction into practice is likely to require some change in our daily routines. If we don’t reduce waste, the economic and social costs of waste disposal will continue to increase, and communities—large and small, urban and suburban—will face increasingly harder decisions about managing their trash. A fourth “R” – Rethinking – is also becoming part of the process associated with educating ourselves about recycling. By thinking creatively, many new uses for common items and new possibilities for source reduction and recycling can be discovered.
One of the steps we can take to reduce waste, to reuse products, and to lessen the negative impacts of household pollutants on our environment is to use environmentally friendly products for our personal care and household cleaning!