Thursday, April 22, 2010

Ode to Earth Day 2010

Here are some small things you can do every day to help the planet out (notice that buying a hybrid is not on this list).

1. RECYCLE. If you don't already recycle, then you kinda suck. Just kidding. You don't. Well, you kinda do, but we'll forgive you. Just look to see if that funny lil' triangle with the number inside it is on the bottom of your plastic bottle. And, since everyone here is an avid reader of Gold Coast magazine and is also a subscriber, just be sure to recycle the mag every month.

2. BRING BACK HANGERS TO THE DRY CLEANERS. You know those flimsy wire hangers with the white cardboard roll that the dry cleaners use to hang your clothes? Well, next time you go to the cleaners, bring back the ones from the last time. It'll reduce your household's total trash, and the dry cleaners can reuse them. A nice trade-off: If enough people do this, it'll help keep your dry cleaners from jacking up their prices.

3. REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS. Grocery store, market, Target, shopping malls, whatever. They are all locations where we invariably pick up paper or plastic bags to hold our newly bought items. Have available reusable bags instead.

4. REUSABLE LUNCH BAGS. Gone are the days of brown-baggin' it. Use a reusable bag to pack yours or your child's lunch.

5. PRINT PREVIEW. Use your print preview option every time BEFORE you hit "print." That way you'll avoid printing excess pages as well as avoid the need to reprint if all the info isn't there.

6. PRINT ONTO ENVELOPES, NOT LABELS. Instead of printing on labels (and wasting more paper), just print directly onto your envelopes.

7. AVOID EATING INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED CANDIES. Alright, this one's a little hard to avoid. Consider this bonus points for those who can adhere to it. Think about it this way: You know those regular-sized Reese's peanut butter cups? Well, here's all the trash you'll be disposing: the orange plastic wrapper, the white cardboard paper that it sits on, and the black wrap that holds the cup together. And that's just for one cup. Too bad Reese's are just so awesome...

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