Ways that You Can Help Protect the Environment

It seems that every other day there is a new “Green initiative to help us ‘Save the Planet’”. We are forever being urged to join in and do what we can to help, but What can we do? Will it really make a difference?

It may surprise many of you to know that there are small changes we can make to our everyday lives, which will have a major impact on the environment. If you are really looking to help the environment, you may wish to consider the following simple ideas:

Switch Off Electrical Appliances when not in use

Switching off, rather than leaving on stand-by, such everyday appliances as your TV and Computer will save enormous amounts of energy. By saving the energy, we can all help to reduce carbon emission into the earth’s atmosphere, thereby reducing pollution and global warming.

Car Sharing

Rather than travel to work alone, why not arrange a car sharing Scheme with one or more of your friends or colleagues? To give you an example, if you drive one of the fashionable 4×4 cars, you will use more energy in a year than you would leaving your fridge door open for seven years, or your TV on for thirty two years! Imagine the savings if you car shared with 2,3 or even 4 people?

Insulation and Turing Down your Thermostat

These two energy saving ideas go hand in hand, and they will save YOU money. By turning your central heating thermostat down by one degree, this will both reduce both your household emissions, and save you £30 a year in energy costs.

If you also update your roof and wall cavity insulation, as well as eliminating annoying draughts around your doors and windows, you will retain more of the heat in your home, and again reduce emission. A win win situation, I think you will agree?

Recycling

Recycling is perhaps the easiest way to help in the fight to save the environment. You can recycle many every day materials including glass, paper, plastics, cans and much much more. Not only does recycling save on energy emissions, the recycling of paper will literally save millions of trees a year, which are the earth’s main source of absorbing some of the harmful emissions in the atmosphere. Not to mention, the chance of saving areas like the Amazon Rain Forests, which contain some of the rarest of animals, many of which are near extinction due to the actions of man.

Junk Mail

While we all complain about the increase in Junk Mail, we very rarely do anything about it and the mail continues to flow through our letter boxes, straight into the bin – with 99% not even opened.

What can you do about this? There are various websites around the world (UK residents check out http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/ for further details) where you can register to receive NO JUNK MAIL. As well as saving your time, your will also be doing a massive amount to help the environment, e.g. every person in the US receives junk mail which is equivalent to one and a half trees a year!! Throughout the US as a whole, this equates to more than 100 million trees a year.

There are many many other everyday changes which you can make to help the environment, they will cost you nothing and many will actually save you money! Why not give it a try? Turn your thermostat down by one degree and see if you notice the difference. We can all help, if we really want to.

© 2006 – J. Joyce www.theenvironmentroom.com

Author: James Joyce
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets

Honor the Earth With These Inspiring Earth Day Activities

Earth has a special day. It’s sort of like a birthday. It’s called Earth Day. It began on April 21, 1970. Earth Day is celebrated all over the world, usually on the first day of spring but sometimes on April 22nd. It is a special day to remind us to take care of our Earth, our environment, and to learn what we can do to help keep the Earth healthy-not just on Earth Day but every day! Help your children honor the Earth by sharing with them these inspiring and educational activities.

Recyclables Game

Collect small cans, plastic bottles, and newspaper. Label 3 bins or trash cans: cans, bottles, and newspaper. Draw a line and place the containers about 3 to 5 feet away from the line. Have children stand behind the line and try to toss the recyclables into the appropriate container.

Trash Hike

Provide each child with a bag and gloves. Have them pick up trash. Talk about the items that they picked up. Ask children if they think any of the items they found are recyclable. If so, have them place the items in a container to be recycled later.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

First, explain to children what the following words mean:

Reduce: This means you cut down or lessen the amount of materials you use. For example, if you use both sides of a piece of paper, you are reducing the number of pages you need. Reuse: This means you use the material over again, either for the same purpose, or for something else. For example, a coffee could be reused as a container for crayons or pencils. Recycle: This means to use the materials over again to make a new product. For example, old newspapers are recycled when they are made into new paper products.

Next, create a 3-column chart. Label the columns Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Cut out pictures from a magazine of items like a tire, a Styrofoam cup, a plastic bottle, a glass jar, soda can, etc. and have children categorize them. Variation: Have bins in which children can sort the items.

Field Trip

Have children collect plastic grocery bags and return them to their neighborhood grocery store.

Trash CollageUse throw away paper, labels, scraps cut from junk mail, aluminum foil, pull tabs from soda cans-anything you can find that is typically thrown away-to make a collage.

Wind Sock

Cut the bottom of a cup or margarine tub. Cut streamers from crepe paper, ribbons and plastic bags. Attach other recycled items on a string. Arrange and glue them around the cup so that they hang down over the edge. Make two holes and attach a pipe cleaner or ribbon to make a hanger.

Dirt Cups

Have children make this fun snack by putting chocolate pudding in a paper cup. Have them top the pudding with crushed chocolate cookies and a gummy worm.

Author: Jolanda Garcia
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty tariff

Earth 911 – Learning to Recycle the Right Way

Are you a person who watches someone throw an aluminum can out of their car window and nearly cause an accident skidding to a stop just to pick it up for proper disposal? Do you cringe when you see plastic piling up in your neighbor’s trash and take late night trips to their bin just to empty it out? If any of this behavior sounds familiar to you, then you might be a recycle junkie. But don’t worry; it’s not a bad thing because in reality there need to be more people like you in the world. And to make you feel even better, you’ll be happy to know there is a home for you. If you an adamant recycler and are always looking for ways to not only get involved more deeply in the process, but always promote getting others involved, then Earth 911 is right up your alley.

Who is Earth 911?

Earth 911 is known as the “nation’s premier environment resource.” It is a division of the cause media company, Global Alerts, and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Global Alerts is one the leading cause media companies in the country and is best known for its world-class Mass Notification System, which includes Earth911.com, Pets911.com, and AmberAlert.com. Because of its dedication to alerting the country of the emergencies of our society, we are able to stay abreast of what is most important.

The mission for Earth 911 is to deliver local information on the environment in a way that empowers people and causes them to act upon their community in a positive way, live responsibly, and contribute to sustainability. One of the major ways they accomplish this is by encouraging communities to recycle their goods instead of sending them to a dump as waste. Some of the other ways they help the community is by promoting green shopping, learning how to live green, energy conservation, beach water quality alerting, understanding the dangers of household waste, educating children on how to recycle responsibly and care for the community, composting, and environment education – and all of these services are free to the public.

Why Recycle?

According to Earth 911, recycling is the one of the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle). When you recycle you take a product or material when you are finished using it and turn it into a useable raw material, which enables it to be made into another product. The greatest benefit of recycling is that it stops materials from ending up in landfills and incinerators.

Earth 911 explains that recycling has grown considerably in the past years, and now 50 percent of all paper, 34 percent of all plastic bottles, 25 percent of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans, 63 percent of all steel packaging, and 67 percent of all major appliances are recycled. This allows us to stop having to cut down trees and creating new products with newly found resources, while other resources are burning in incinerators, creating a great deal of our world’s population. In other words, recycling creates a win-win situation for the world.

Since 2005, almost 9,000 curbside recycling programs have been existence; there was only one in the mid-80s, so the world is definitely embracing recycling more and more. And now, it is common to not only have a recycling bin found in a central location within an office setting, but many companies also provide smaller recycling bins that sit next to each employee’s trash can in the cubicle and office. The world is finally catching on, and I bet you want to know how you can too!

How Can I Get Involved?

Earth 911 provides a resource right on their website that allows you to enter your city and state or zip code along with the item you wish to recycle, in order to find out information on recycling in your area. Since I have several cell phones that I no longer use, and are no longer able to have refurbished, I decided to enter information for my zip code to find out where I can take them to avoid throwing them away. When I entered the keywords “cell phones” and entered my zip code, I was quickly provided with a comprehensive list of locations in my area, sorted by distance that will accept my cell phones.

While some of the places on my list did not surprise me (i.e. Goodwill), I was surprised by a few. On my list were RadioShack’s Commercial Drop-Off location, AutoZone, Batteries Plus, and Best Buy to name a few. I realized that every company has become involved in recycling and now it is time that all others follow their leads.

If you don’t want to begin your own recycling campaign, it is understandable. People have busy lives with children and work, and often times are busy with their own chosen cause, so developing a program of this nature does not always fit into that criteria. However, you can always contribute where you see it makes sense. Instead of throwing your old, non-functioning computer into the trash can, take the time to call around to see who will dispose of it responsibly. And if you have a family that constantly drinks soft drinks, whether in aluminum cans or plastic bottles, find ways to make your contribution by building those items up in your home then taking them to a recycling center on a Saturday afternoon while you’re already out shopping.

In your lifetime you may have heard that standing by and doing nothing is almost as bad as being a contribution to the problem. You may feel that you have no obligation to make this world a better place because you don’t feel as though you’ve contributed in making it a bad place. However, if you have the opportunity to recycle your goods and you don’t, you are contributing to the problem just as equally as the person who throws his or her can out of the car window. Earth 911 is proactively making a difference in this world by teaching us why we need to recycle. All we have to do is follow their lead by moving forward down the road they’ve already paved. So what road will you choose? Will you contribute to the problem? Or contribute to the solution?

Author: Jeffrey Meier
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rate

What is the best way to get others to care about the environment?

I am very interested in conservation, recycling, and other acts which will preserve our time on earth, and it is only because I am self interested. I think that we as humans are creating an environment that is not sustainable for ourselves. I don’t think that life on earth will have any trouble continuing to exist, but I am worried about humans. Why don’t others think about this for their children?

How much green house gases were coused by the delay of digital tv transition?

Obama says he green but he is making tv station run 2 transmitters at 500,000 watts each. How can that be green?

where can i get good information about recycling?

i have to do an imformative speech on recyling and my main points are : what to recycle, where to recycle, and what products are recycled materials are made into.
all help is appreciated very much!!

Top Ten Tips For Going Green in Your Commercial Kitchen

Restaurant Equipment and the Green Revolution in Commercial Kitchens – Going Green in the Commercial Kitchen with Environmentally Friendly Products, Pro-environment Practices and a Green Mindset: As manufacturing companies, service providers and top decision-makers all over the world look for ways to positively impact the environment, it’s time for the foodservice industry to conduct an honest introspection and commit to making changes going green every step of the way.

Introduction

The foodservice industry is globally positioned to usher in the green revolution simply because of the size of the industry and significant energy consumed. Any changes, no matter how small, that were embraced throughout the industry would produce significant impact. And the change in operational procedures and processes isn’t limited to the acquisition of restaurant equipment. There are a number of strategies you, as the responsible owner of a foodservice operation, can adopt in your commercial kitchen to run a genuinely green operation and not only contribute to a safe environment, but also favorably impact your bottom line by reducing utility expenses and enhancing overall productivity. Here are ten tips to help you reach this goal in a way that calls for minor modifications in operational practices, employee training and a dash of plain common sense.

Tip#1: Reduce Water Consumption

Water consumption in your restaurant, college cafeteria or catering operation is inevitable. However, there are many things you can do to cut back unnecessary water consumption and reduce usage.

The Dishwasher Fallacy
The commercial dishwasher is perhaps the most prominent piece of restaurant equipment you use in your foodservice operation. Unfortunately, most commercial dishwashers are neither energy efficient nor do they support water conservation. You may not be able to replace your existing dishwashers with energy efficient ones due to budgetary constraints. However, if you can, consider investing in dishwashers and other commercial restaurant equipment that display the Energy Star logo. More about this in a moment. While using dishwashers in your foodservice operation, attempt as often as possible to set the units to the right cycle. Some utensils may not be as soiled as others and so they may not need to undergo an extended cycle. The longer the cleaning cycle, the higher the water consumption. If you have a small operation where dishes are cleaned manually, train your dishroom staff not to leave faucets running continuously. Cleaning and rinsing smaller utensils and china in a large plastic trough will save gallons of water and show a reduction in your monthly water bill, says Laurel Kohl, a senior researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University. Kohl further believes that using tap water for the dining service is more earth friendly when compared with bottled water and tends to conserve water resources as opposed to bottled water.

Icing up the Ice Machine
By maintaining a record of the usage of ice at your foodservice facility, try to estimate the amount of ice you use on a daily basis and set the production accordingly. If you are located on a college campus and the students are out for spring break, reduce the number of ice machines you operate during slower times. This will not only conserve valuable water resources but also the electricity used to operate the ice machines.

Low Flow Pre-rinse Spray Hoses and Faucets
Installing low flow pre-rinse spray hoses and faucets is an excellent way to control water consumption at your facility. Most importantly, ask your maintenance man to come in once a month and check thoroughly for dripping faucets. Since he is the expert, you can ask him to make recommendations regarding water conservation.

Tip #2: Reduce your Energy Consumption

Michael Abbate, author of Gardening Eden: How Creation Care Will Change Your Faith, Your Life, and Our World believes that the best way to conserve resources is by tracking them and responding proactively before the damage becomes extensive. Reducing your energy consumption in your commercial kitchen isn’t as challenging as you think.

Energy Star
If you are planning to replace older commercial kitchen and restaurant equipment, invest in appliances that display the Energy Star logo. This is a government sponsored initiative jointly supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the US Department of Energy. Energy Star appliances are certified to be energy efficient and are validated after stringent testing.

Run Simple Checks in your Commercial Kitchen
Visually inspect all tabletop and heavy-duty restaurant equipment for wear and tear. Take a piece of paper such as a dollar bill and try to slide it through your refrigerator doors. If it goes through, you are wasting energy and probably need a new door gasket. Finally, optimize all your thermostat settings when inspecting your restaurant equipment.

Energy Assessment
Most utility companies in the US and Canada will conduct commercial energy audits of your foodservice facility for little or no charge. Request one if you haven’t done so already. They are the experts and will be able to offer the right type of guidance to help you reduce your energy bills. If you have extended warranties on your commercial kitchen equipment, request the manufacturer for an all points energy check. Most manufacturers today are as concerned about the environment and conservation as you.

Tip #3: Reduce Waste

There’s no limit when it comes to the measures you can adopt to reduce waste in your commercial kitchen. Here are just a handful of suggestions.

Collecting Recyclables
Foodservice operations receive food and supplies everyday and much of the packaging is recyclable. Because you are removing the packaging in order to get to your supplies, it is extremely easy to collect, sort and recycle. Most urban areas offer recycling pickup along with trash collection. If this isn’t available in your area, contact a commercial recycler if the quantities are large. Your recycler can assist you in setting up an easy to manage program.

Use Compacters and Pulpers
Compactors and pulpers are instrumental in reducing the physical size of trash which needs to be removed from your premises daily. If you did not invest in them while acquiring your restaurant equipment, it isn’t too late. Compactors and pulpers go a long way in reducing the energy resources required to process waste. According to an Energy Star study jointly sponsored by the US EPA and the US Department of energy, investment in energy efficient restaurant equipment and other commercial appliances can cut operational costs by up to 10-30%.

Tip #4: Use Environmentally Friendly Cleaning Supplies

It has taken some time for the foodservice industry to come to terms with the fact that traditional cleaning products are not only environmentally unfriendly, they may even be hazardous to public health in more ways than one. Hundreds of studies have demonstrated beyond doubt that these cleaning products contain carcinogens and other harmful ingredients. Here is what you can do:

Switch to Natural Cleaning Products
Josh Dorfman, the author of The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget, believes that we no longer have an excuse not to use eco friendly cleaning products. They are not only easily available but also priced competitively. Moreover, they won’t hurt your employees or send them to the emergency room.

Green cleaning no Longer Violates the Codes
Commercial and municipal codes in most jurisdictions have been suitably modified to promote green cleaning. This practice also preserves the quality of water and does not damage ground water tables.

Tip #5: Change to Biodegradable Products where possible

Using biodegradable products is no longer a fashion statement but a genuine global initiative. As scientists continue to look for more avenues and sources for eco friendly bio materials, the practice is sure to help minimize further damage to the environment.

Use Biodegradable Packaging
When packaging orders for quick service customers, take out orders or left overs, use packaging constructed from recycled paper board. Other biodegradable options you may want to consider include eco friendly food packaging made of bagasse, or sugar cane fiber.

Bio Plastics
While conservationists argue over how to store toxic waste, a new line of plastic products called bio plastics is gradually gaining hold. Depending on the size and level of your foodservice operation, you can explore the possibility of switching over to bio plastic products. Many articles and reports have recently appeared in trade publications on this subject which you should give a second look. Bio plastic products are usually constituted from corn or potato starch and are known to be 100% biodegradable.

Tip #6: Change your Lighting

We all take lighting for granted and realize its critical importance only when there is either a black out or a brown out. Like other energy resources, lighting is an area that calls for immediate intervention.

Energy Efficient Lighting
According to a study, 13% of your energy expense is generated by the lighting you install in your facility. You can reduce this ratio by installing T8 fluorescent lighting not only in your commercial kitchen but also in the immediate vicinity. Other measures include installing motion detectors in walk-in freezers, setting up timers in common areas and plain old good sense-asking your service personnel to turn off lights when not in use.

Amazing Statistics
According to a study from the Foodservice Technology Center at Pacific Gas and Electric, about 80% of the $10 billion consumed by the foodservice sector in energy costs goes to waste. Unproductive lighting energy costs form a significant portion of this excess.

Tip #7: Education for yourself and Employees

An educated staff is also a competent staff and this adage extends to leveraging the positive energy of the green movement as well. Here are a few tips and tricks you can consider:

Resources from Manufacturers
Make a few phone calls and you will be amazed to learn the extent to which the manufacturers and distributors of energy efficient restaurant equipment and other commercial kitchen appliances can help you and your employees learn about going green and staying green.

Training Programs from Industry Groups
Certification and training programs organized by industry trade groups such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and the Green Restaurant Association are great places to start. Other training and continuing education opportunities are often covered in many trade magazines and ezines.

The Almighty Internet
Simply conduct searches on the Internet and locate relevant resources to help your company go green. Forward these links via group messaging to your employees and announce little incentives for those who read these resources.

Tip #8: Buy Local

“Buying local” refers to the practice of sourcing your products locally. This is an environmentally friendly strategy that is bound to pay rich dividends. Here is why:

Vote with your Feet
If you source your food products, cooking supplies and other essentials from within your local community, you can influence the processes used to grow the food. Large volume buyers always have a say in not just the product but also the process. Buying organic or from sustainable resources is a quick step the right direction.

Energy friendly Conservation
Sourcing locally also reduces environmental damage owing to transportation. The closer your produce or other food products are to your location, the less the transport resources are used.

Tip #9: Conduct the Research

The green movement is not a static entity. It is a dynamic, continually evolving global phenomenon that not only calls for but also requires research and study on your part. Such research does not have to be full time. There are plenty of online resources you can identify that will help you locate possible areas of interest.

Green Blogs
You can also use Technorati or Google Blog Search to locate blogs on green issues. Thousands abound. Better still, why not set up your own blog on going green. It is not only free to blog but it can also provide you with a forum to exchange thoughts, views, ideas and opinions with like minded industry professionals who share a common mandate with you.

RSS Feeds
If you are not all that techno savvy and don’t have the time to become one, ask your computer service provider to send someone over to set up an RSS feed for you which covers the green revolution as it pertains to the foodservice industry. You will be impressed with the number of links you will receive every day on the subject. Through careful keyword selection, you will also be able to control the number of focus areas you have configured the RSS reader to aggregate.

Tip #10: Stay Committed

The green movement is not simply a trend or a fad. It is here to stay and continues to increasingly impact every industry, profession and vertical. Even the consumers are on the cutting edge. According to a study published in 2008 by the National Restaurant Association, 62% of customers surveyed indicated that they would prefer to dine at an environmentally friendly restaurant rather than one that did not consider the environment as a priority. Therefore, it makes good business and environmental sense to stay committed to the green cause and foster a back to nature approach in your operation.

Author: Jeff K Breeden
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Mobile device news

Is this why the climate models always fail to predict the future?

The models are hind-cast to fit past climate data. Since this climate data has been altered the models are fundamentally flawed and therefore do not fit the REAL temperature curves going forward. It would make sense that the models don’t parallel observation.

Landfill Is Bad For The Environment: Would We Be Better Just Littering?

Why not just throw our litter on the floor? It would eventually return to nature: decompose more quickly than Landfill. How is piling plastic bags full of rubbish, on top of thousands of other plastic bags full of rubbish in landfill sites better for the Environment?
(will take a few mins to download)
Explanations about how we process rubbish all the problems associated with it
and what may be done in future and all problems. There is no evidence to suggest
that landfill is not a problem. There is more evidence to suggest there are more
problems than we knew about.

Climate Change and Waste

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/dirty_truths.pdf

Climate Change and Stopping OVER Consumption
•Waste prevention -the best environmental option, avoiding resource use
•Reuse -reduces need for resources and manufacturing
•Recycling -reduces need for extraction and processing of new resources
•Composting -returns nutrients and structure to soils; displaces other fertilizers; sequesters carbon; and, in the case of anaerobic digestion, produces methane which can be used as a 100% renewable energy source.
•Then we must phase out the rest -the residual waste, which is currently landfilled or incinerated
–Phasing out residual waste is the right long term direction, both for resource efficiency and climate change.

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/event_presentations/waste_and_climate_change.pdf

Biodegradeable Wastes Returning to the soil

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing_notes/way_forward_on_biowaste.pdf

Campaign Guide. This is old research but demonstrates current arguments. Simply states why landfill sites are not well managed.

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/landfill_campaign_guide.pdf

Waste Stream and New Technologies and their problems (follow links within)

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing_notes/new_waste_technologies.pdf

anaerobic digestion

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/anaerobic_digestion.pdf

Why putting waste on the ground is a great idea (like in French Vineyards) where it is not even sorted before placing on ground.

Abstract gives sources Utilization of Urban Wastes in Crop Production

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0006-3568%2819710615%2921%3A12%3C561%3AUOUWIC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage

Stabilization of organic matter during composting.

http://www.woodsend.org/pdf-files/s.houout_CSU_vol13No1.pdf

Environmental and Health Impact of Solid Waste Management Activities
By Ronald E. Hester, Roy M. Harrison

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tP6BEJBUD_8C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=France+Vineyard+refuse+mulch&ots=dJheQ62BXG&sig=HrBjTWbiQzmGCKWhiu0tcTCf_KM#PPA211,M1

Seastedt T R 1984 The role of microarthropods in decomposition and mineralization process. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 29, 25–46.

St John T V 1980 Influence of litter bags on growth of fungal vegetative structures. Oecologia 46, 130–132.

Stevenson F J 1986 Cycles of soil carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, micronutrients. John Wiley and Sons, New York, USA.

TSBF 1993 Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility: A Handbook of Methods. Second ed. Eds. J M Anderson and J S I Ingram. CAB, Wallingford, UK.
SO In the worst case scenario even if you do not compost just place the waste on the land, after all the organic material decomposes you are left with the plastics tins, glass, etc which does not biodegrade. This is already ‘presorted’ so it would just be a case of collecting up these materials for recycling.

Not looking like such as stupid idea is it now?

5 Ways to Protect the Environment Outdoors

Picture yourself outdoors. You are camping, or working out in your garden, or simply taking a walk. You feel at one with nature…but are you harming that nature while you are at it? The chances are actually pretty good that you are harming the environment, even when your intention is to enjoy the atmosphere or to make it more beautiful.

Be more aware of what you are doing outdoors. Most people don’t even think about how much they are harming the environment when they are making their yards more pleasing to the eye. Furthermore, people rarely take the time to enjoy their lawns and gardens anymore. Today, we want to use the highest powered equipment to get the job done in the least amount of time.

Stop thinking of it as work, and start thinking of it as a way to enjoy nature – as well as a way to get a fantastic workout. Get the whole family involved, and get out there for some much needed sunshine while the ozone layer is still protecting you…just be sure to wear your sun block. Here are ten ways that you can protect the environment when you are outdoors.

1. Get rid of that old gas powered lawn mower, and the riding lawn mower. Instead, use an electric lawnmower – if you must – and if you really want to do your part, and get a great workout, use a non-electric, non-gasoline powered mower. Instead of electric or gas powered trimmers, use old fashioned hedge trimmers. Instead of electric edgers, use the manual ones. Instead of weed eaters, get down on your hands and knees and pull those weeds. It’s great exercise!

2. Do not bag the grass that has been cut! Sure, it makes your lawn look nicer, and it is easier than raking, but you aren’t doing the environment any good at all. That cut grass needs to be left alone, so that it can decompose naturally, which in turn feeds nutrients to the soil.

3. If you must water your lawn, do it once a day, and do it early in the morning. Don’t over water the lawn. Also note that it may not look that fabulous when it is under watered, but when the rains come – and they always eventually come – it will get its good healthy green color back again. Sometimes, it is best to let Mother Nature take care of nature.

4. Use a rake. Avoid using blowers and such. These only stir up dust, and they aren’t very good for the environment. Raking is fine, and its great exercise. If you don’t want to do it, hire a neighborhood kid to do it for you.

5. Create a compost pile or bin. This compost makes great, natural fertilizer, and it enables you to recycle your waste, as long as the waste was ‘natural’ to begin with. Compost piles are very easy to create. The environment will thank you – and so will your gardens later on.

Author: Marc Fields
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing