Tomorrow is Earth Day how will you celebrate?

Tomorrow is Earth Day
How will you celebrate?

Wednesday April 22, 2009 is Earth Day. How will you celebrate?
Earth day can be celebrated any way you see fit. The biggest celebration is in a long-term lifestyle change.

Here are some little changes that will have a big impact on our planet earth and can quite easily become a part of our every day routines.

Most of us drive to and from work without giving much thought as to how fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and affect our health and the planet’s health. Not all of us can ditch our cadmium polluting cars for a greener version, so we must find more sensible ways around the pollution problem. Car pooling cuts down on the number of cars on the road. Some states such as Arizona, California and Houston have H.O.V. (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes for this purpose. Car pooling is also a great way to start new friendships and to really get to know your co-workers.

Cities such as Phoenix, Scottsdale and Toronto have specific bike lanes to allow you to safely ride your bike on the road. Try riding your bike to work or to run small errands. This is a fantastic way to get into shape and feel great on a physical and emotional level while connecting with the outdoors. When I was in Toronto I had special bags on either side of my rear tire that I would fill with groceries. It was a wonderful experience to be able to connect with the outdoors, shop at the local markets and save one pound of carbon for every mile I traveled.

Walking is the next best thing to biking and is less expensive. All you require are a good pair of walking shoes. Instead of getting in your car for a two minute drive to the store, grab a reusable bag and walk. Try googlemaps and plan your route off major roads to cut down on the amount of noise pollution or charge up your MP3 player and plug into your favourite tunes. Googlemaps can provide you with directions along with estimated time of arrival by walking. Googlemaps.com

Biking, walking and other day-to-day activities require hydration. We have become a nation of monstrous water bottle consumers. We are now realizing the environmental impact from the millions of water bottles we discard yearly. Water bottles are the single largest growth among all beverages and that spells disaster! Empty water bottles produce up to 1.5 million tons of plastic a year and require 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. Although you may think you are doing your part to recycle your water bottle, sadly 80 percent of empty water bottles never make it to a recycling facility. It takes aproximatley 700 years for one discarded water bottle to begin decomposing; think of the environmental toxins entering our atmosphere and water ways.

There are plenty of new reusable water bottles on the market but, buyer beware! Some of these bottles leach toxins such as  Bisphenol-A and xenoestrogens, chemicals that have been linked to serious health and hormonal issues and cancer. Stainless steel water bottles are popping up everywhere and that concerns me. Stainless steel, yes, will not leach toxins, however, I am a concerned about what has been used to seal the bottle together. I have not seen a stainless steel water bottle yet that mentions the sealing material as non toxic.

One company that I do trust is Sigg Sigg . A Switzerland based company; Sigg sells environmentally- and eco-friendly water bottles and accessories. I have owned a SIGG water bottle for 9 years and can vouch for their quality. Produced from a single component that is seamless and has no distinguishable weak points, the SIGG water bottle is nearly indestructible. The composition of the liner also reduces the chances of bacteria build-up. And, because the liner is virtually baked into the inner walls of the bottle, it will not flake or chip even if dented on the outside. My water bottle has acquired many dents over the years and is still going strong. There are many forms and sizes to choose from. This Earth Day, give up on plastic water bottles and go SIGG!

In honor of Earth Day SIGG has teamed up with their good friends at 1% For The Planet. In addition to their ongoing annual pledge to contribute 1% of global sales to environmental causes, This Earth Day they will donate an additional $1 for every bottle sold on their site using a special discount code.

Just enter the code:  SIGGEARTH at checkout and get an extra $5 off of your order. That's $1 extra for the planet and $5 off for you. An added bonus, SIGG is still offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $50.  Visit mysigg.com

Let’s get the gardening and lawn care maintenance under control. Michelle Obama is already organic gardening and so should the rest of the United States. Toronto is already pesticide and herbicide free and it was easy! I can’t believe the amount of pesticides sprayed in one month in Phoenix and Scottsdale. It is disgusting! This Earth Day, take the time to find out what these chemicals are really doing to our environment and us. Then join CREDO’s action and sign this petition today  today  to tell the board members of MACA (virtually all of them big chemical executives) that we don't appreciate their telling Michelle Obama (or any of us) to use pesticides in our gardens. We support Michelle Obama's organic garden, and we'll thank them to keep their propaganda out of it.

One person’s trash, is another person’s treasure. If you are not already a member, become one at Freecycle.org What’s it all about? I can’t say this any better The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,726 groups with 6,620,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. I have been a member for a while and I have given tons of stuff away to those that wanted it. The selfish part of this is how it makes me feel; AMAZING! Every time I give I swear my heart gets lighter. Sign up today, clean out your closets and garage and give back to yourself, to others and more importantly Mother Earth.

These are just a few tips to get you in the mood for celebrating our Earth. We have only one planet earth. We need to make changes today for a clean, sustainable earth for our future and the future of our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Check out your carbon footprint here carbon footprint. http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator

Happy Earth Day!

Photos 

Bicycle Freephoto.com

Michelle Obama http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/wh_garden/?rc=tm

Freecycle logo Freecycle.org
SIGG waterbottles mysigg.com
Woman drinking water http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1076887


_______________________

Karen Langston, Chief Body Reorganizer

Shape shifting your body and mind environment

Karen@iamworthit2.com

http://www.IamWorthit2.com

http://21stcenturyhealthcare.blogspot.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karenlangstoniamworthit2‏

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