Happy Earth Day!

Monday, April 22, 2013 is Earth Day!

We are celebrated last week at our local Earth/Arbor Day Festival. It was our first time going and we had a great time! We picked up some free mulch, a free tree, ladybugs for our rose bushes and learned about great ways we can protect the planet and save money! There were a lot of fun activities for the kids. Baby C is a little too young to do most of the crafts and activities but it was still fun to spend the day as a family. These dresses were one of my favorite things from the festival – I loved the creativity and use of “trash” to make dresses!

To me, Earth Day means celebrating our planet by looking at how we live and finding ways to reduce, reuse and recycle to protect it for future generations.

I wanted to share with you some of the great tips we learned on how we can be more green and save money in the process. By the way, with a new baby I’m all about saving money when we can. Babies are expensive! J

Open windows instead of using the air conditioner. If you have to run the air conditioner, set your thermostat to 78 degrees.

Open the blinds or shades during the day to let natural light in instead of turning on the lights. Also, it helps to warm the house on cooler days.

– Change to compact flourscent light bulbs (CFLs)
– Use a power strip and unplug appliances and chargers when not in use. Turn off the tv or computer when you are not using it as well.

– Take shorter showers, install a low flow shower head, and look into possibly adjusting your water heater temperatures.

– Wash clothes in cold water and if possible, line dry clothes instead of using the dryer.

– Carpool with friends or neighbors. You can save lots of money on gas and have great company in the car!

– Walk or bike to work or run errands; saves a lot of money on gas.

– Go meatless one day a week…perfect for today – meatless Mondays! Cooking at home is a great way to save money and it’s also great for taking leftovers in a reusable container for lunch!

– Start a vegetable garden. We planted tomatoes from seeds last year and we didn’t need to buy tomatoes for the whole year!

– Make your own green cleaning products. I recently learned the amazing powers of vinegar. We use vinegar in the dishwasher to clean it out, on windows, disinfect countertops and bathrooms. Another great natural and cheap cleaner is baking soda!

– Use the library instead of buying books and magazines.

– Sign up for paperless billing; often times companies will give you a discount or enter you into a monthly drawing.

– Recycle bottles and cans. The California Refund Value (CVR) is tax paid on certain bottles and cans in California. Since you are already paying the tax, collect the beverage containers with the CRV symbol and redeem them for 5 or 10 cents depending on the container size.

– Bring your reusable cup instead of buying bottled water or reusable mug for coffee.

– Use you reusable bag for 5 cent discounts at certain retailers. Our favorite is Target…5 cents off, yes please!

– Rent, borrow or freecycle.org – It’s a great way to save money. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right?

All of this week’s posts will be about reducing, reusing and recycling.

What are you doing to celebrate earth day?