Hopefully you all participated in this year's Earth Hour. For those of you who didn't *waves finger* tisk tisk! It is important to participate in this global event because it raises awareness, gets you thinking, and shows your support against Climate Change.
Check out www.earthhour.org for more information on this awesome yearly event, and why you should take part (although this one is fairly obvious :p).
Also check out World Wildlife Fund (WWF) www.wwf.org , the organization behind Earth Hour. Their ultimate goal is "to build a future where people live in harmony with nature". Now who doesn't want to work towards that? They are a great organization that work to save our planet as well as the creatures on it. They have "adoptions" for endangered species, tons of information on local events, and other crisis that need your support to help our planet and wildlife. Show some love! ♥
Now I would like to think that just because Earth Hour is over doesn't mean that the well-being of the planet is going to be completely disregarded until next year's hourly event. The point is to raise awareness and to keep this awareness growing all year long. With that being said, here are some more tips to keep your eco-consciousness active all year round and all the little things that you can do that add up and mean a lot.
1. Turn off Your Lights! When you leave a room there is no reason to keep the lights on (unless of course someone is still in that room) so flicking off that lightswitch can make all the difference. The same goes for your TV. I'm amazed by the number of people that have their televisions on all day when no one is watching, and when no one is even home! Turn the darn things off!
2. Recycle, Reduce, Reuse. I know, I've mentioned this one before, and it's an obvious one. But I will say it again anyway: recycle, reduce, reuse!! Do it! And make the effort to buy recycled products such as paper, bathroom tissue, tin foil, books, absolutely anything you can think of! Need a little convincing of the environmental impact? If each household in Canada switched just one roll of their virgin bleached bathroom tissue to one roll of the recycled kind, we'd save almost 48,000 trees and prevent 4,500 kilograms of the air and water pollution that comes from making it!!!!
3. Buy Energy Efficient Appliances. If it's time to throw out that old appliance then look for new ones that have high energy efficiency. Lots are now marked with the "Energy Star" rating as well which makes this much easier when shopping. Plus you'll save lots on your bills which is always a bonus! Oh, and note to self; Refrigerators are one of the top energy-guzzling appliances in the home so you might want to trade up regardless if it's time for a new or not.
4. Unplug any Unused Appliances. All appliances use energy even when they are switched off. Note the little lights on lots of them that are still on when the electronic device is off, hmm? Unplug them when they're not in use, that little light isn't serving any good purpose and this easy step makes a world of difference!
5. Let Your Voice be Heard! Write a letter or email, or even a phone call if you can, to your local official letting them know about your concern for our environment and that you demand changes. We underestimate the power of the individual, so speak up and let your city and government know that you want to see changes before it's too late.
6. Be Smart with your Car. There's so much damage to be done by vehicles and so much we can change about it. You can start by driving less. We have legs for a reason--shocking I know ;p-- so use them and walk to do errands if you can. Your health and the planet will benefit from this. Ask yourself; do you Have to use your car? Maybe you can ride a bike or use the transit system? Maybe you can carpool to work? Second, you can stop idling! I seriously have to fight the urge to kick vehicles when I see them sitting there pouring out CO2 for no good reason. If every Canadian driver cut back on five minutes of idling a day, we'd save 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide and 1.8 million litres of fuel!! Third, get a car that doesn't suck on gas. Environment Canada says pre-1988 vehicles are responsible for 50% of road emissions--shocking when they only make up 10-15% of cars!
7. Eat Locally and Organic. In Canada, over 60% of our food is imported, and the average food product travels 2000 km to reach your dinner table. Eating food that is grown close to home will not only save harmful CO2 emissions, but it will also be fresher! Win-win! ^_^ Buying Organic means you're not eating possibly carcinogenic chemicals and pesticides, you're not poisoning wildlife, workers, and waterways, you're not eating gmo ingredients, and the soil's nutrients are reused, not to mention you get more nutrients from the food.
8. Fly Less. Airplanes account as one of the biggest culprits to CO2 emissions high into the atmosphere, so they're obvious baddies. If you have to fly then buy carbon offsets to reduce the impact of your flight. Check out www.climatefriendly.com.
9. Have 5-8 Minute Showers. This may be asking too much of some people, so even reducing your shower to 15 minutes for you hour-long water-hogs would make a difference. Every minute you stand in your shower, you're spraying 15 to 30 litres of water down the drain! Here's another tip: if your shower can fill a 2-litre jug with water in under 10 seconds, its time for a new shower head. Get yourself a low-flow shower head to decrease the amount of water being used, ideally one that uses no more than 11 litres per minute. You'll save money on both your water and electricity bill (that water doesn't heat itself you know!). Turning off the water while you lather up is a great tip as well that will save more water! :)
10. Have an Earth Hour every week. Or even having an Earth Hour once a month can make a world of difference! Have fun with it and make it a social gathering with friends to get more involved. You might be surprised by how much fun saving the planet can be ~_^.
You know I could make a list of thousands of helpful tips, but I will keep it to 10 for now. If your mind is hungry for more eco goodness, I highly recommend buying the book "Ecoholic" by Adria Vasil. I like to think of it as a great encyclopedia to earth-friendliness that is packed full of useful information not only for our planet but for your own well-being as well. It is Canadian-based but, still, anyone can benefit from this amazing book.
Time for the fun part ~_^....What do You do to reduce your carbon footprint? Share your helpful tips you use throughout your day and how you make a difference. Also, share how you spent your Earth Hour so we all have more ideas on how to enjoy an hour with the lights out in the future, especially for those that plan on making this a monthly or weekly event.
Love & Bruises, xo
~Bianca
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