Earth Day 2007

Tomorrow is Earth Day 2007. What are you doing to help save our Planet Earth? Here are ten things we do to help:

1. Nearly all of our light bulbs are CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs). Not only do we save money on our electric bill, we also help prevent additional carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
2. We recycle nearly all of our plastics, aluminum cans, newspapers, junk mail, and glass bottles. Not only does this help reduce landfill usage, we also make some money - about $30 per month.
3. While we still use plastic bags, which can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, we also use them to line our trash cans, reducing the need for us to buy additional plastic trash bags.
4. We live near our jobs, meaning that we consume less gasoline commuting. We also bunch our errands together on one or two car trips. This results in an average gasoline cost of $150 - $200 per month for two cars.
5. We use the Energy Star settings on our refrigerator, washing machine, and dryer.
6. We run the lawn sprinklers manually once a week, drastically reducing unnecessary water usage.
7. We use low flow shower heads and low flow toilets in our two bathrooms.
8. We've installed fiberglass insulation to help keep the internal temperature moderate throughout the day.
9. We try to purchase consumable products in bulk - helping reduce packaging and waste costs.
10. Finally, we try not to be wasteful in anything we do and anything we use.

Our household electric/natural gas bill is about $60, and the water bill is about $20. This is not just about saving money though - it's also about saving the planet. Every little thing counts.