Earth Day

Below is an excerpt from ecologue.com ... it's a pretty cool website and offers easy ideas for living a "greener" life. Please visit their website if you would like more information.

Earth Day, Earth Week, Earth Month —
April is the time for remembering this big planet we call home. Around the world, people are focusing all things eco-friendly — from community and volunteering events to news specials, eco product promotions and even new green websites (like Ecologue!).
Eco-living is center stage this week, but why stop there? Make Earth Day a kick off for year-round greener living. Get started with these easy ideas:

Go Paperless
Sure, that junk mail is great fodder for a compost pile, but reducing waste is better than recycling. Take time this week to switch all your bills to paperless or e-statements. Consider canceling unwanted catalog and magazine subscriptions and sign up for a junk mail monitoring service, which removes you from mass mailing lists for small fee. Your letter carrier — and local landfill — will enjoy the lighter load.

Grill It
Cook-out season doesn’t start till after Memorial Day, but grilling is a more energy-efficient way to cook. Whether hosting a backyard party or cooking a weeknight dinner, always use real plates and silverware (or consider biodegradable plates), and shop for your ingredients from the local farmers’ market or food co-op, which will be brimming with fresh produce soon enough.

Get Crafty
Want to give a room a spring update? Consider a crafty recycling project for the kitchen, bathroom, living room or even garden. Look for ways to reuse recyclables: line garden beds with newspaper, turn old plastic bottles into a garden trellis and more. Or just refresh old furniture with a new slipcover or wood finish (try all-natural, soy-based strippers and low-VOC paints).

Shop Wisely
Looking for gifts for mom, dad, a grad or just for yourself? Bookmark shopping sites such as the The Rainforest Site, The Hunger Site, Care2 and iGive, where a portion of sales go to good causes (sometimes your choice). If you’re just in search of eco products, check out green ratings at Evo.com.

Hug a Tree
Well, not literally. Take advantage of warmer temperatures and update your landscape. Plant deciduous trees near your house. As they grow, the trees' lush leaves will shade your home from the warming sun. In winter, their bare branches let that sunlight through, which means less stress on your heating system and utility bills. Plus, more trees means cleaner air.