10 ways to make every day Earth Day

Simple tips that help you protect the planet for Earth Day and all year long.

Fri, Apr 10 2009 at 2:00 PM EST

Photo by flaivoloka

In 1970, the first Earth Day motivated and energized people to take action and think differently about life on the planet. Now, with almost 39 Earth Day Celebrations under our belt, it’s time to up the ante and think about good ol’ Mother Earth each and every day.

Here, courtesy of RecycleBank and Burt’s Bees, are 10 easy ways to make every day Earth Day.

Recycle: This Earth Day, take a good hard look at your trash. We trust you’ll fish out some recyclables in the mix (probably from others), but also remember E-Waste like cell phones, MP3’s and laptops can all be recycled and repurposed.
Freecycle: The above is sure to stir up some goodies that can be useful to those around us: clothes, books, electronics, furniture, etc.
Reuse. Reuse. And did we mention Reuse? Products have life spans. Leave behind paper plates, plastic forks and any other disposables. Reusable serve ware, portable mugs for that latte and a water jug for that necessary potable will lessen landfills and just make life taste better!
Wallet activism: Look for products made from recycled materials, natural ingredients and minimal / biodegradable packaging. By supporting eco-friendly companies your green supports the greater green.
Park it: Celebrate the beauty of spring with a walk when you could have driven. Carpool, take public transport, ride your bike. If you can’t do it every day, try once a week. When you do drive, make sure you pump up your tires so you can deflate your fill-ups.
Junk it: Putting the kibosh on junk mail and catalogues will save you time, save landfill space and save millions of trees (and probably make the post office happy too).
Bills. Bills. Bills. We won’t advise not paying ‘em, but we wholly support going paperless for your banking, bill paying and at the ATM.
Live life locally: Support your local farmers while enjoying fresh produce and organically grown goodies. You can even try going veggie once or twice a week.
Say Y-E-S to CFL’s: You’ll save time, money and energy…but you may have to give up on the “How many _____’s does it take to change a light bulb?” jokes because you’ll change them so infrequently.
Spread the word: Tell your friends how easy it is to shave off some carbon here, save some resources there and conserve a little energy here. And then they can tell their friends. And then they can tell their friends...