Live Good

            Earth Day is no longer just for hippies and Berkeley students. No, no, times have changed. It’s 2011 and it’s necessary to be green in today’s day and age.

            At a time when we are cutting holes in the o-zone layer and pumping out Carbon Dioxide like it’s going out of style, we need to be conscious of our footprint.

            It true, you’ll be dead long before the o-zone is gone and Earth is turned into a giant microwave. But that doesn’t excuse you from caring about the environment today. You can already see our damage, evidenced by the crazy climate changes that are happening already.

            This year it snowed in Los Angeles, only five months after the city saw its hottest day ever at 113 degrees. There were tsunamis and giant earthquakes. 

            This is a direct effect of our consumption and blatant disregard of Mother Earth. Today is a day to be thankful for what our planet has given us, but also cognizant of how the choices we make in our lives have a global, and we mean, GLOBAL impact.

            We always preach the value of small decisions having the power to make big changes for your health. That same principle applies to how our lifestyles can adversely affect the Earth.

            Some critics say that one person changing their habits for the better won’t have an effect, mainly because not everyone is changing along with them. But it’s days like today that can unite people in that change for the better.

             

            Here are some little changes you can make that can have a big impact:

Change your houses light bulbs to fluorescent bulbs. Researchers say that if every house in the U.S. made the change, it would be equivalent to taking 1 million cars off the road.

Go Vegan for one day a week. According to the Washington Post, eating vegan once a week does a better job of reducing your carbon footprint than eating local 7 days a week.

Reduce your meat intake. “According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off U.S. roads.”-PETA.

Don’t buy bottled water. Buy a re-usable bottle. Think of all the plastic you aren’t using. Think of all the water you aren’t buying. This is a no-brainer.

Go electronic with your bills. Figures show that if every house in the nation did this, we could save 18 million trees a year.

Take re-usable bags to the grocery store. If you can remember to bring them with you, these bags, available at almost every grocery store for purchase, will help reduce the amount of waste you produce every week.

Happy Earth Day. Let’s keep our planet around for another couple thousand years.

For more information, visit our friends at Live Good.