Photo by *dscript

Earth Day is just around the corner (April 22nd), and champions of the environment are once again gathering to save our glorious world. Earth Day had been around since 1970, a time when social change was burgeoning, and Americans were starting collectively to become more self-aware.

Prior to the 1960s, plumes of smog and industrial complexes were thought of as par for the course of progress. The long term impact of pollution was thrust to the forefront of the public eye with Rachel Carson’s 1962 bestseller “Silent Spring,” and catastrophes like New York’s Love Canal (the original Superfund site). Since then, Earth Day has expanded across countries and is now celebrated in 175 countries worldwide.

This year’s Earth Day theme is “The Face of Climate Change,” and it serves as a call to action to everyone. Climate change is a global problem that’s creeping up into everyone’s backyard, and it’s everyone’s problem. Showing your support for the earth this April 22nd is a terrific way to step up to the plate and bat a home run for mother earth.

Check Out an Event

No matter where you live, there’s an Earth Day event waiting for you. The EPA and Earth Day network sites offer resources to find out where Earth Day events are happening. Virginia celebrates with the Mason Neck State Park’s Eagle Festival, a place where businesses, politicians and civilians join to celebrate and make a difference. Foley Alabama hosts an environmental extravaganza and river job … the events truly are endless, and there’s no excuse to miss a day of fun and contribute.

Make a Green Pledge

Helping the environment isn’t just something you pledge to do one day out of the year. True earth warriors make subtle changes to their lifestyles daily. Maybe you can decide to ride your bike to the store instead of driving. Or, perhaps this will be the year you plant a garden, or maybe just swap out harmful practices for greener options. Even little things like refusing to buy plastic bottles to help save the 17 million barrels of oil used to make them each year. Even small changes like selecting printingforless.com business cards help bolster the green-friendly industry. The simple act of recycling old mobile devices (you can find where and how on Earth911.com) makes a monumental difference.

Volunteer!

The gift of time and/or effort is priceless, and prolonging the earth’s time through acts of service is one of the most valuable gifts you can give. Services like volunteermatch.com can help pair you with the nonprofit you’re looking for, and the service can also help pair employers and local communities to develop programs that help to engage volunteers. There are thousands of opportunities for every taste, so long as your taste has something to do with improving the world around you.

4 computers that will shock you with their eco-friendly benefits

You know all of that technology you own—the big screen television, the DVD player, the stereo receiver, the desktop, laptop, and tablet, and can’t forget the smart phone that you upgrade to the newest model every single year. That’s one heck of a lot of e-waste, or technology waste that is creating a toxic nightmare in our landfill sites because unlike most garbage, electronics contain dangerous substances like arsenic, lead and mercury that leach into the ground and drinking water of our communities if they are improperly disposed. So the next time you throw that old DVD player on the curb—think about the damage it’s doing to the environment.

However, there are ways that you can still enjoy electronics and do your part to save Mother Earth at the same time. Instead of chucking that used cell phone in the trash can, bring it to an e-recycling center. If you Google E-waste centers in your community, you will find a location. A second way to go green with technology is to only buy electronics from companies that are ecologically responsible. Take the following four green laptops for example… (more…)

Frugal and Green Ways to Use Electricity

There are two things that appear in our mind whenever we hear the word green – Mother Earth and money. And as day passes by, more and more people are getting involved in saving both.

The world was struck by devastating calamities in just the last five years. Some of these were hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and dreadful storms. Scientists believed that these occurrences might have caused disruption on the Earth’s normal rotation that will result to further predicaments in the future. To many people, these incidents are a wake up call. It’s Mother Nature’s way of fighting back after all the damage we’ve done.

So How Does Electricity Usage Affect the Environment?

In America, 37% of its total energy consumption was used in producing electricity. In case you didn’t know, most electricity was produced by burning fossil fuels like oil, natural gas, and coal. This entire process produces huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other emission that adds to the greenhouse gas that’s already in the atmosphere, hence, hastening global warming.

So the next time that there would be an earth hour again, don’t hesitate to join. It’s just one hour of sacrifice to help our struggling environment. (more…)