For those who believe “Earth Day is Everyday”.
Find out more at 'Great Lake Services of Wisconsin'
About "The People Who Protect" We are not activists, treehuggers or politicians... we are EHS professionals who have thoroughly enjoyed everything this planet and its people have offered us and want to extend the quality of life for both. Our careers and actions are dedicated to this effort and lifelong goal.
EarthDay top 10 list.... So, what can you do? Earth Day should reflect on the benefits we all can have on the environment we so enjoy.
Contributing to a clean environment should be everyone's responsibility, by working together to reduce pollution sources; we can limit the harmful effects on our children and families.
But traditionally Earth Day is utilized by finger pointing alarmists to scare the pants off the public with stories of impending disaster and eco destruction that are wrecking our fragile environment.
This constant doom and gloom information discourages many individuals to make even the slightest change, as they perceive that individually we can have no impact on this global problem.
That couldn’t be further from the truth… The fact is that if just a third of US make better choices in our daily lives to conserve and preserve there is a good chance of eliminating these problems.
BELIEVE IT! If a third of us agree to stand against the gravest threat in human history, and do our part collectively we can make a huge impact.
What's more, many of the ideas that protect the environment also save us money. That helps the economy and dependence on outside energy sources.
So what can you do? Quite literally, YOU can stop “Ton’s” of emissions and waste by entering the environment by following some good and practical ideas. I have included the list below of little things you can do today and everyday to make a difference.
Earth Day should be a celebration of our individual commitment to protect the environment and how each one of us continues to make a difference. Celebrate that releases of toxic chemicals dropped 42% from 1998 to 2003*!
Pass this email this on to anyone who cares to make that difference.
Thanks for caring,
Christopher Haase
HERE MY EARTHDAY TOP 10 LIST!
1. Donate your old
phone
HopeLine(SM) phone has recycled more than 600,000 phones since 2001. In 2005 alone, nearly 150,000 pounds of batteries were recycled through the national HopeLine(SM) service! Possible tax benefits… http://www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline
2. Recycle, but don’t donate your old computer?
According to the U.S. EPA, nearly 250 million computers will become obsolete in
the next five years. As more companies, organizations, and individuals find
reasons to upgrade their computer equipment, the problem of disposing of old
equipment grows.
Out-of-date computer systems can be more of a burden than a blessing to schools
and nonprofits, as it can cost them up to $400 to bring a pre-Pentium computer
up to today's standards. Donate computers to a recycler or refurbisher, rather
than directly to these other groups. There are approximately 400 nonprofit and school-based refurbishers in the U.S. A Large listing of non-commercial refurbishers in the country can be found at:
When your light bulb burns out swap it with a fluorescent or LED bulb ($3 to $6). If every U.S. household replaced a burned-out bulb with ENERGY STAR bulbs, the cumulative effect would prevent more than 13 billion pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere – which is like taking more than a million cars off the road for an entire year. Other light saving conservation includes turning off unneeded lights, open the curtains and bring natural sunlight into your home when feasible.
4. Just driving differently and maintaining your car can save TON’s! Paying attention to fuel efficiency in your car may be the single best thing you can do to prevent pollution. All of things on this list save on gas (saving you money) and can provide near “hybrid” improvement during normal driving.:
5. Turn down refrigerator and air conditioning! Your refrigerator and air conditioning may be responsible for 15-25 percent of your electric bill.
The other big users of energy in your household are your hot water heater, your washer and dryer, and your dishwasher. Each, in its own way, can be inefficient. Here are some things to try:
6. Plant a tree or plant in your backyard Yes, it’s the oldest trick in the book but trees clean air, break winds to save energy and add shade to lower cooling costs. While plants can also help, think of ways to use less water with them. And make sure you water your lawn sparingly. All of these will conserve water & energy.
Consider this… According to the “American Forests'” I would have to plant 60 trees to offset my family’s negative impact on the environment. Find out what you can do using the CO2 calculator at: http://www.americanforests.org/resources/ccc/
7. Properly dispose of hazardous household waste Every spring the average household has countless bottles, cans and other containers full of hazardous chemicals that can ALL be disposed of properly of even better recycled! Contact your trash collection service to find out where you community household waste drop off center is. Or visit: http://www.p2rx.org to find a collection spot in your area.
Here is a short list of hazardous household waste (Full list: http://www.neutralcleaning.com/Toxic%20Hazardous.htm)
8. Recycle batteries… free or even make $$$ There's little argument that lead is extremely toxic. Scientific studies show that long-term exposure to even tiny amounts of lead can cause brain and kidney damage, hearing impairment, and learning problems in children. But still more than 40,000 metric tons of lead is lost to landfills every year. According to the federal Toxic Release Inventory, another 70,000 metric tons are released in the lead mining and manufacturing process.
What can you do? Simple. Drop off used batteries for recycling.
Check out www.rbrc.org or call 1-(800) 822-8837 for a drop-off location near you.
The hazardous chemicals in common cleaners can not only be harmful to your family, but they can have detrimental consequences to indoor air quality, aquatic life and the environment. There are no excuses to use these traditional hazardous cleaners with a variety of safer cleaners available. (www.neuhomecare.com)
10. We have already made a difference... *According to the EPA, the U.S. is already getting cleaner. Releases of toxic chemicals dropped 42% from 1998 to 2003, even though more chemicals are being counted. But, don’t kid yourself we all see the looming global environmental problems, and need to continue change now before we reach the environmental point of “no return”. http://blogs.usatoday.com/techspace/2006/04/a_dark_forecast.html
*http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri03/brochure.htm
Quick Facts About Earth Day (From About.com)Earth Day is a great day to spend with your kids and remind them about the environment and how important it is to celebrate Earth Day every day of the year.
Reason We Celebrate Earth Day: To
call attention to the environment and the “People
Who Protect” it. History of Earth Day:
Observance of Earth Day:
" On -American Heritage Magazine, October 1993
History of Earth Day By Senator Gaylord Nelson,
Founder of Earth Day I continued to speak on
environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All
across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing
everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The
environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation's political
agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not. After President Kennedy's tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins," had spread to college campuses all across the nation.
Suddenly, the idea occurred to me
- why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our
environment? I was satisfied that if we could
tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the
student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a
demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a
big gamble, but worth a try. At a conference in Five months before Earth Day, on
"Rising concern about the
environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that
may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam…a
national day of observance of environmental problems…is being planned for next
spring…when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'…coordinated from the office
of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned…." It was obvious that we were
headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day. It was also obvious that
grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate
office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc.
In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common
Cause, provided temporary space for a Earth Day worked because of the
spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor
resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools
and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about
Earth Day. It organized itself.
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