Sustain Your Earth Day Efforts


By Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom


Many of us thought about ways to “go green” this past Sunday, April 22 – Earth Day. And while it’s great to make that one day a focus of a healthier planet, I’d like to suggest we all continue our activities on a daily basis – and make this one-day event the start of regular and consistent Earth-friendly habits.
Here are a few of my favorite – and very easy – ways to be save energy every day, and be gentler to our environment: 
Be careful what you recycle: Every packing material and container is not recyclable just because it has a number inside a triangle visible on the bottom! Those numbers have meaning about the ease of recycling. One of the biggest culprits is styrofoam, which is not typically accepted as a recyclable item in most facilities. If you dump it anyway, it must be removed from the acceptable items – a bigger waste of energy. Check with your neighborhood waste management service, or go online for a list of hard-to-recycle items and find out where you can dispose of them properly.
Swap out your window cleaner for a mix of vinegar and water: No chemicals here, but a great window cleaner; economical too! A bottle of Heinz vinegar mixed one to one with water cleans any glass surface.
Switch to CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs: These are amazingly energy-efficient. One CFL bulb has the life of 12 conventional incandescent bulbs. And newer versions are brighter, with soft light – not the harsh white light many people don’t like.
Eat like a “flexitarian”: You can reduce your carbon footprint by cutting back on meat in your diet. The perfect nutritional plant protein equivalent to meat is soy. Swap out your chicken for some tofu in a vegetable stir fry. If you’re new to soy, try some ready-to-eat soy chicken nuggets or “burgers.” Aim for more than once a week, if you can! Try new combinations of black beans and rice, white beans and quinoa, or other mixtures you like. Look online for easy, creative vegetable protein meals. Learn to be a flexible eater.
What other easy ideas do you have to keep the earth green? Please share your thoughts!

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