Earth Day is a day to promote awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It is on April 22. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin) as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year. The first Earth Day was in 1970. 

This year’s Earth Day theme is Billion Acts of Green®. The campaign calls for people to commit to an act that helps reduce carbon emissions and promotes sustainability. 

Here are some helpful tips: 

1. Use CFL light bulbs. An average CFL bulb lasts 5 to 7 years, depending how it’s used. If every home replaced 5 high-use bulbs with ENERGY STAR® CFL’s, they could save more than $60 every year in energy costs.
2. Adults receive about 41 lbs of junk mail each year. Get off junk mail lists. Here’s a website that can help http://bit.ly/tHgxB
3.  Go paperless. Read newspapers & magazines online. Switch to electronic banking & credit card payments.
4. Make it a full load. The average washing machine uses 40.9 gallons of water per load. Wash in cold water. About 90% of the energy from the washer goes to heating the water.
5. Tests show that pre-rinsing doesn’t improve dishwasher cleaning & you’ll save as much as 20 gallons of water per load. Use the energy save option on dishwasher, allowing dishes to air dry.
6. Use a programmable thermostat. Studies show that use of one can save households up to 25% in energy costs.
7. In the summer, close blinds and drapes during the day to keep heat out.
8. In the average home, 25% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. Lots of appliances suck up energy even when they are turned off. TV’s, computers & DVD players are among the biggest culprits.
9. Shower power! A full bathtub requires about 70 gallons of water, but taking a 5 minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons.
10. Vacuum your refrigerator coils and don’t obstruct them. They need air space to work.
11. Use room fans to keep the air moving and reduce the feeling of heat.
12. Fire up the outdoor grill instead of using the oven.
13. When shopping use a reusable bag. Every year, the U.S. uses 100 billion plastic bags consuming about 12 million barrels of oil. All plastic bags can be recycled. Most stores have recycling bins for your use.
14. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Help ease the burden on our landfills. Give away or sell used items that you no longer want.  

Some facts to consider:

• If every American home swapped five incandescent bulb fixtures for Energy Star CFLs, it would keep one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air. 
• Each ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water. 
• If every American household purchased one package of 100% recycled napkins, it would save one million trees. 
• The number of gallons of gas saved if every commuter car in the United States carried just one more person: 8 billion. 
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours. 
• Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic

“The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity… that’s all there is. That’s the whole economy. That’s where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world.”  – Gaylord Nelson

This year is the 40^th Anniversary of Earth Day. Unfortunately even after 40 years of this celebration, the world is in greater peril than ever. Earth Day 2010 is a great opportunity to get involved and we would like to provide you with some tips on how this can easily be done.

Things You Can Do:

● Use programmable thermostats and recommended temperature and settings.

● Reduce idle electricity use (unplug or shut off unused electronics, set your computer to hibernate, turn off unused lights). Every year, U.S. households spend $100 to power devices while they are in “standby” mode.

● Waste less food.

● Reduce incandescent bulbs with CRL’s.

● Maintain your vehicle properly (oil grade, engine tuning, tire inflation).

● Attend to water leaks and cut heat loss (use caulking/weather stripping).

● Use hot water more efficiently in your home (lower the temperature setting of water heater, wash in cold water, use efficient faucets and showerheads).

● Opt for Energy Star appliances when replacing a refrigerator or dishwasher. 

Some interesting facts and tips for you from simplesteps.com : 

FACT: If a quarter of the households in the United States replaces incandescent with one CFL, it would save as much CO2 as planting 257,215 acres of forest.
TIP: CFL’s with a Kelvin temperature between 3,000k and 3,500k will give off the familiar warm glow of incandescents.

FACT: Up to 50 percent of the average household’s energy consumption goes to heating and cooling the home.
TIP: Seal all window edges and cracks with caulk, reducing the energy consumed to maintain indoor temperature.

FACT: Every year, the U.S. uses 100 billion plastic bags consuming about 12 million barrels of oil.
TIP: When shopping at the grocery store, or even the mall, bring a reusable bag.

FACT: Americans threw away more than 100 million cell phones in 2006. Recycling them could have saved enough energy to power approximately 194,000 U.S. households for one year.
TIP: It’s one of the 3 R’s! Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

In the words of Dr. Seuss in his classic book, “The Lorax”. 

“But now,” says the Once-ler,
“Now that you’re here, the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.
UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.” 

Let’s help to make this Earth Day the most successful one yet. Happy Earth Day!