Keep Your Garden Green

*Plant some bamboo. Bamboo contributes to the balancing of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

*Don’t use a leaf blower. The horrible noise is reason enough to avoid these machines. Compost instead, and never burn leaves!

*Plant a garden using xeriscaping-no water needed. Find out more at ecolife.com/garden/natural-lawn/xeriscaping.html.

*Capture rainwater for gardens.

*Fertilize with grass clippings.

*When watering your garden, turn on the water early in the morning to minimize evaporation.

*Try not to fertilize before a storm to avoid the fertilizer being washed away.

Green Day

If you are able to, walk or ride your bike to school, work, or wherever you need to go. By not using your car, you are helping to reduce greenhouse gases while burning some calories at the same time! You can also use public transit or carpool with a friend-this also gives you the golden opportunity to bond with your coworkers or get to know more about your friend.

Reimagine and Reuse Every Chance You Get

In addition to recycling, you should also strive to reuse. When wrapping presents, use old maps or even newspapers-or open up a paper grocery bag, flip it over, and have your kids customize the paper with their artwork. You can also keep and reuse gift bags and tissue paper you were once given. This will save you money on buying gift-wrap while helping the environment save a few more trees.

Cloth Napkins Are Nicer Anyway

On average, an American uses around six napkins each day-2,200 a year! If every American used even one less napkin per day, more than one billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year.

Lessen the Landfill in Your Daily Decisions

Diaper with a conscience. By the time a child is potty trained, a parent will have changed between 5,000 and 8,000 diapers, adding up to approximately 3.5 million tons of waste in US landfills each year. Whether you use cloth or a more environmentally friendly disposable alternative, you’re making a choice that has a gentler impact on the planet.

Let’s Not Contribute to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

I don’t know about you, but photos of the big patch of plastic and garbage floating in the ocean scares me more than almost anything else. Nearly 90% of plastic bottles are not recycled, instead taking thousands of years to decompose. If you are used to toting around your green tea, juice, or iced coffee in plastic, get a cool-looking thermos instead. This is a great choice for the environment, your wallet, and possibly your health.You can guzzle as much as you want and still be green.

Mother Ocean Day

Look into volunteering to clean up your local beach. With pollution in our water and in the sand, help make these local hot spots safer for visitors to the beach and the environment! If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, check out All One Ocean to see when you can help: alloneocean.org/community-meeting-beach-clean-up.

I Love Big Bags and In cannot Lie

Bring reusable shopping bags when heading to the store. Whether you are grocery shopping or heading out with friends to splurge on clothes, take your own bags with you. Many stores have totes and reusable bags for a few dollars by the checkout lines that are more durable, hold more objects, and last much longer than those flimsy paper and non-biodegradable plastic bags. Reusable shopping bags help the environment by using less plastic and cutting down fewer trees.

Lessen the Landfill in Your Daily Decisions

Diaper with a conscience. By the time a child is potty trained, a parent will have changed between 5,000 and 8,000 diapers, adding up to approximately 3.5 million tons of waste in US landfills each year. Whether you use cloth or a more environmentally friendly disposable alternative, you’re making a choice that has a gentler impact on the planet.