EcoTalk

Hi everyone! I've been meaning to post this forever but, well, you know how life can be, so I am finally getting to it.
One of the reasons why I wanted to do this is because sometimes it can be overwhelming to go through a website or pamphlet or something along those lines that has lots and lots of information in it, on how you can change your habits to help eliminate your carbon footprint. So I just wanted to start a blog that had a few of my favorite tips and also a few "Did you know" type trivia. So here we go!

Change your dishwashing liquid – Switch from a regular petroleum based dish liquid to a natural one. If every household in the ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />U.S. replaced just ONE bottle of 25oz petroleum based dishwashing liquid with a vegetable based product (such as Seventh Generation or the like), we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, that's enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S. homes for a year!!
Switch your regular incandescent bulbs to more eco-friendly CFLs (Compact Florescent Light bulbs) – This is a win win situation. Not only are you being eco-friendly but you will be saving money on your electric and heating bill. Regular light bulbs convert just 10% of their electricity usage to light, while the rest is turned into heat, making you crank up that AC during the summer. In addition, a regular 100watt light bulb is converted into a 26 watt CFL, using way less energy. CFLs use 75% less energy and last up to 10 times longer than incandescents. It also reduces the amount of Mercury in our air. So why haven't you switched yet??
Switch to Energy Star products – Not that we can all go out and afford to buy new appliances or such but if you are in the market for it, be sure to purchase an product with the Energy Star seal. An average household spends about $615 a year on heating and cooling their home. Using Energy Star thermostats can save up to 33% on costs per year. AND you can prevent enough CO2 emissions to remove 600 cars from the road for a year. Energy Star Appliances use 10%-50% less energy and water than standard models.
DID YOU KNOW that top/bottom freezers use 10-25% less electricity than side-by-side models? And that Energy Star dishwashers only consume 5 gallons of water per load versus standard models that consume twice as much.
Organic versus non – Many vegetables we eat today are processed and contain preservatives, colors, dyes, fertilizers, and many more unhealthy chemicals. In fact, organic food is known to contain 50% more nutrients, minerals, and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed. I know we can't all afford it but here is a list of certain fruits and veggies that contain greater amounts of pesticides and chemicals than others; so going organic on these items is a smart way to go: 1. Wheat 2. Apples 3. Celery 4. Green Beans 5. Peaches 6. Grapes 7. Spinach 8. Pears 9. Strawberries 10. Winter Squash
You will also be supporting organic farmers instead of conventional factory farms; this means greater protection for the environment and for your health.
I know I've thrown out quite a few things here but the truth is, these aren't just words. You have a responsibility as an active member of this Earth, as a parent, as a brother, sister, or husband or wife. Just saying hey, that's someone else's responsibility only makes you the problem. I'm not asking you to turn your whole life around and become SUPER ECO GUY/GAL but just pick a few things that you can do and go for it. What do you have to lose?
I will try to make this a regular blog when I can…and I hope this makes some of you at least think about making these changes and/or sharing them with others!
Here are just a couple of my favorite sites: www.localharvest.org
www.idealbite.com
Namaste
(pronounced na-ma-stay, and represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us; It is a deep form of respect and when translated literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you")