Easy Ways to Make a Difference this Earth Day
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0419-02.htm
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50 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
justgive.org
http://www.justgive.org/html/guide/50waysenvironment.html
IN YOUR HOME
1. Recycle everything you can: newspapers, cans, glass bottles and jars, aluminum foil, motor oil, scrap metal, etc.
2. Don't use electrical appliances for things you can easily do by hand, such as opening cans.
3. Use cold water in the washer whenever possible.
4. Re-use brown paper bags to line your trash can instead of plastic bags. Re-use bread bags and the bags you bring your produce home in.
5. Store food in re-usable containers, instead of plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
6. Save wire coat hangers and return them to the dry cleaners.
7. Take unwanted, re-usable items to a charitable organization or thrift shop.
8. Don't leave water running needlessly.
9. Turn your heat down, and wear a sweater.
10. Turn off the lights, TV, or other electrical appliances when you are out of a room.
11. Flush the toilet less often. (If you cut flushing in half, you'll save up to 16.5 gallons a day.)
12. Turn down the heat and turn off the water heater before you leave for vacation.
13. Recycle your Christmas Tree.
...
IN YOUR YARD
14. Start a compost pile.
15. Put up birdfeeders, birdhouses, and birdbaths.
16. Pull weeds instead of using herbicides.
17. Use only organic fertilizers. (They are still the best.)
18. Compost your leaves and yard debris, or take them to a yard debris recycler. (Burning them creates air pollution, and putting them out with the trash wastes landfill space.)
19. Take extra plastic and rubber pots back to the nursery.
20. Plant short, dense shrubs close to your home's foundation to help insulate your home against cold.
21. Use mulch to conserve water in your garden.
...
IN YOUR CAR
22. Keep your car tuned up.
23. Carpool, if possible.
24. Use public transit whenever possible.
25. On weekends, ride your bike or walk instead.
26. Buy a more fuel-efficient model (such as a hybrid or electric) when you're ready for a new car.
27. Recycle your engine oil.
28. Keep your tires properly inflated to save gas.
29. Keep your wheels properly aligned to save your tires. (It's safer too.)
30. Don't litter our roads and highways. Save trash and dispose of it at a rest stop.
...
AT YOUR BUSINESS
31. Recycle office and computer paper, cardboard, etc. whenever possible.
32. Use scrap paper for informal notes to yourself and others.
33. Print or copy on both sides of the paper.
34. Use smaller paper for smaller memos.
35. Re-use manila envelopes and file folders.
36. Hide the throw-away cups, and train people to use their washable coffee mugs. Use washable mugs for meetings too.
...
WHEN YOU'RE SHOPPING
37. Avoid buying food or household products in plastic or styrofoam containers whenever possible. (They cannot be recycled and do not break down in the environment.)
38. Think twice about buying "disposable" products. (They really aren't disposable and are extravagant wastes of the world's resources.)
39. Buy paper products instead of plastic if you must buy "disposables." They break down better in the environment and don't deplete the ozone layer as much.
40. Check the energy rating of major appliances you purchase. Buy only the most-energy-efficient models.
41. Ask questions. Don't buy products, such as styrofoam, that are hazardous to the environment or manufactured at the expense of important habitats such as rain forests.
42. Buy locally grown food and locally made products when possible.
43. Don't buy products made from endangered animals.
...
PERSONAL EFFORTS
44. Join a conservation organization. Browse the JustGive Guide or search by keyword to find an environmental organization you would like to support.
45. Volunteer your time to conservation projects.
46. Give money to conservation projects.
47. Switch to a vegetarian diet. (Raising animals for food consumes vast quantities of natural resources, including water, land, and oil; destroys habitats; and generates a tremendous amount of water and air pollution.)
48. Convert by example. Encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to save resources too.
49. Learn about conservation issues in your community or state. Write your legislators and let them know where you stand on the issues.
50. Teach children to respect nature and the environment. Take them on hikes or camping. Help them plant a tree or build a birdhouse. Teach them by example.
TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE
HBO
Premieres on Earth Day,
Saturday, April 22 at 7:00pm ET/PT.
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/toohot/synopsis.html
A primer on global warming, TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE features contributions from leading scientists in the field. In addition to in-depth discussions of such subjects as the greenhouse effect, hurricanes, snowpack, hybrid vehicles, and alternative power sources, the film shows how businesses, local governments, and citizens are taking positive actions to reduce global warming emissions.
Over the past century, consumption of carbon dioxide-emitting fossil fuels
(coal, oil and natural gas) has risen to staggering levels, especially in the United States, where five percent of the world's population is responsible for 25 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE offers a wealth of chilling evidence that the greenhouse effect is intensifying and the Earth is warming faster than at any other time in human history.
Among the startling facts revealed are:
- Deadly heat waves in the U.S. have increased threefold since 1950 and today kill more people than hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning and blizzards combined.
- The average temperature in Alaska has already risen five degrees, causing 99 percent of its glaciers to be melting, retreating and shrinking.
- Rising sea levels are eroding our shoreline and may eventually displace large numbers of Americans.
- The intensity of catastrophic storms, such as 2005's devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita, has increased dramatically in the last half-century, as hurricanes draw their strength from warm ocean water.
- Deadly viruses like West Nile, aided by higher air temperatures, are spreading to new parts of the globe, including the entire continental U.S.
"My personal hope is that every viewer will be inspired to become part of the solution to reducing our carbon emissions," says executive producer Laurie David. "As the film shows, everything we need to address this pressing problem already exists, and the time to act is now."
Encouraging viewers to think "outside the barrel," the film explores innovative ways Americans can reduce global warming and literally change the world with Earth-friendly options such as biodiesel and hybrid cars.
TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE is executive produced by Laurie David; produced by Susan Lester and Joseph Lovett; edited by Tom Haneke; written by Susan Joy Hassol; segment directors, Maryann De Leo and Ellen Goosenberg Kent; segment producers, Vibha Bakshi and Rosemary Sykes; original music by Joel Goodman. For Lovett Productions: executive producer, Joseph Lovett. For HBO: supervising producer, Jacqueline Glover; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
Informant: NHNE
--------
Too Hot Not to Handle - JOIN the Virtual March on Washington
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/1850037/
--------
Save Energy in Your Kitchen: Save energy every day with these ten easy cooking tips from Annie: http://go.care2.com/e/J.j/kN/n06J
--------
50 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
justgive.org
http://www.justgive.org/html/guide/50waysenvironment.html
IN YOUR HOME
1. Recycle everything you can: newspapers, cans, glass bottles and jars, aluminum foil, motor oil, scrap metal, etc.
2. Don't use electrical appliances for things you can easily do by hand, such as opening cans.
3. Use cold water in the washer whenever possible.
4. Re-use brown paper bags to line your trash can instead of plastic bags. Re-use bread bags and the bags you bring your produce home in.
5. Store food in re-usable containers, instead of plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
6. Save wire coat hangers and return them to the dry cleaners.
7. Take unwanted, re-usable items to a charitable organization or thrift shop.
8. Don't leave water running needlessly.
9. Turn your heat down, and wear a sweater.
10. Turn off the lights, TV, or other electrical appliances when you are out of a room.
11. Flush the toilet less often. (If you cut flushing in half, you'll save up to 16.5 gallons a day.)
12. Turn down the heat and turn off the water heater before you leave for vacation.
13. Recycle your Christmas Tree.
...
IN YOUR YARD
14. Start a compost pile.
15. Put up birdfeeders, birdhouses, and birdbaths.
16. Pull weeds instead of using herbicides.
17. Use only organic fertilizers. (They are still the best.)
18. Compost your leaves and yard debris, or take them to a yard debris recycler. (Burning them creates air pollution, and putting them out with the trash wastes landfill space.)
19. Take extra plastic and rubber pots back to the nursery.
20. Plant short, dense shrubs close to your home's foundation to help insulate your home against cold.
21. Use mulch to conserve water in your garden.
...
IN YOUR CAR
22. Keep your car tuned up.
23. Carpool, if possible.
24. Use public transit whenever possible.
25. On weekends, ride your bike or walk instead.
26. Buy a more fuel-efficient model (such as a hybrid or electric) when you're ready for a new car.
27. Recycle your engine oil.
28. Keep your tires properly inflated to save gas.
29. Keep your wheels properly aligned to save your tires. (It's safer too.)
30. Don't litter our roads and highways. Save trash and dispose of it at a rest stop.
...
AT YOUR BUSINESS
31. Recycle office and computer paper, cardboard, etc. whenever possible.
32. Use scrap paper for informal notes to yourself and others.
33. Print or copy on both sides of the paper.
34. Use smaller paper for smaller memos.
35. Re-use manila envelopes and file folders.
36. Hide the throw-away cups, and train people to use their washable coffee mugs. Use washable mugs for meetings too.
...
WHEN YOU'RE SHOPPING
37. Avoid buying food or household products in plastic or styrofoam containers whenever possible. (They cannot be recycled and do not break down in the environment.)
38. Think twice about buying "disposable" products. (They really aren't disposable and are extravagant wastes of the world's resources.)
39. Buy paper products instead of plastic if you must buy "disposables." They break down better in the environment and don't deplete the ozone layer as much.
40. Check the energy rating of major appliances you purchase. Buy only the most-energy-efficient models.
41. Ask questions. Don't buy products, such as styrofoam, that are hazardous to the environment or manufactured at the expense of important habitats such as rain forests.
42. Buy locally grown food and locally made products when possible.
43. Don't buy products made from endangered animals.
...
PERSONAL EFFORTS
44. Join a conservation organization. Browse the JustGive Guide or search by keyword to find an environmental organization you would like to support.
45. Volunteer your time to conservation projects.
46. Give money to conservation projects.
47. Switch to a vegetarian diet. (Raising animals for food consumes vast quantities of natural resources, including water, land, and oil; destroys habitats; and generates a tremendous amount of water and air pollution.)
48. Convert by example. Encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to save resources too.
49. Learn about conservation issues in your community or state. Write your legislators and let them know where you stand on the issues.
50. Teach children to respect nature and the environment. Take them on hikes or camping. Help them plant a tree or build a birdhouse. Teach them by example.
TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE
HBO
Premieres on Earth Day,
Saturday, April 22 at 7:00pm ET/PT.
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/toohot/synopsis.html
A primer on global warming, TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE features contributions from leading scientists in the field. In addition to in-depth discussions of such subjects as the greenhouse effect, hurricanes, snowpack, hybrid vehicles, and alternative power sources, the film shows how businesses, local governments, and citizens are taking positive actions to reduce global warming emissions.
Over the past century, consumption of carbon dioxide-emitting fossil fuels
(coal, oil and natural gas) has risen to staggering levels, especially in the United States, where five percent of the world's population is responsible for 25 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE offers a wealth of chilling evidence that the greenhouse effect is intensifying and the Earth is warming faster than at any other time in human history.
Among the startling facts revealed are:
- Deadly heat waves in the U.S. have increased threefold since 1950 and today kill more people than hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning and blizzards combined.
- The average temperature in Alaska has already risen five degrees, causing 99 percent of its glaciers to be melting, retreating and shrinking.
- Rising sea levels are eroding our shoreline and may eventually displace large numbers of Americans.
- The intensity of catastrophic storms, such as 2005's devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita, has increased dramatically in the last half-century, as hurricanes draw their strength from warm ocean water.
- Deadly viruses like West Nile, aided by higher air temperatures, are spreading to new parts of the globe, including the entire continental U.S.
"My personal hope is that every viewer will be inspired to become part of the solution to reducing our carbon emissions," says executive producer Laurie David. "As the film shows, everything we need to address this pressing problem already exists, and the time to act is now."
Encouraging viewers to think "outside the barrel," the film explores innovative ways Americans can reduce global warming and literally change the world with Earth-friendly options such as biodiesel and hybrid cars.
TOO HOT NOT TO HANDLE is executive produced by Laurie David; produced by Susan Lester and Joseph Lovett; edited by Tom Haneke; written by Susan Joy Hassol; segment directors, Maryann De Leo and Ellen Goosenberg Kent; segment producers, Vibha Bakshi and Rosemary Sykes; original music by Joel Goodman. For Lovett Productions: executive producer, Joseph Lovett. For HBO: supervising producer, Jacqueline Glover; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
Informant: NHNE
--------
Too Hot Not to Handle - JOIN the Virtual March on Washington
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/1850037/
--------
Save Energy in Your Kitchen: Save energy every day with these ten easy cooking tips from Annie: http://go.care2.com/e/J.j/kN/n06J
rudkla - 20. Apr, 10:51
