10 Things That People Can Do to Save the Earth

Activism is a state of awareness of the world around us and the recognition of our responsibility to it. Everything we do affects the environment and our entire biosphere in ways that we may never have thought. The smallest seemingly most insignificant things can make a great deal of difference. Here are some simple things we all can do to affect our environment in positive ways.

Ten Simple Things We Can Do to Help the Environment

1. Six-pack rings are virtually invisible underwater, so marine animals can't avoid them and can get caught in them. Before you toss them in the garbage, snip each circle with a scissors. Or, if you are at the beach, pick up six-pack rings that you find and snip, or snap them before throwing them out.
   
2. In order to recycle, use reusable containers in wrapping food instead of cling wrap. Manufacturers add "plasticiser" to get wrap to cling and those chemicals can work their way into food.
   
3. Everyone hates their unwanted junk mail. If you want to stop receiving junk mail and save trees at the same time, write to: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, 6 East 43rd St., New York, NY 10017. They will stop your name from being sold to most large mailing list companies.
   
4. Your coffee filters and paper towels are white because they are bleached. The bleaching process is responsible for the creation of dioxin, a deadly toxic which has into the American waterways. Use unbleached coffee filters (write: Rockline, Inc., PO Box 1007 Sheboygan, WE 53082. Another alternative is to use reusable cotton coffee filters.
   
5. Between 240-260 million tires are thrown away annually in the US. It takes approximately half a barrel of crude oil to produce the rubber in one truck tire. To extend the life of your tires, keep them properly inflated. Proper inflation prevents premature wear and overheating, and it saves gas. Buy the longest-lasting most efficient tires possible. Make sure that your tires are properly inflated and balanced. If their prices are roughly equal, patronize dealers who offer recyling for tires.
   
6. A running faucet pours 3-5 gallons of water down the drain every minute. Washing dishes with the tap running can use an average of 30 gallons of water. You can save up to nine gallons every time you brush, if you just wet and rinse your brush. You can save up to 25 gallons each time you wash dishes if you fill the sink instead of using running water.
   
7. Cars and light trucks emit 20% of the US fossil fuel CO2 - the key ingredient in the Greenhouse Effect." Cars give off as much as 20 lbs. of CO2 for every gallon of gas used. Cars also cause acid rain by emitting 34% of the nitrogen oxide spewed out in the United States. To decrease the amount of smog and CO2 emissions, keep your car tuned up. A well-tuned car uses nine percent less gasoline than a poorly tuned car. Don't let your car idle unnecessarily. It takes less gas to start a car than to let it idle. If you're buying a new car, check the specs on the latest EPA mileage guide. If 100,00 car owners who had neglected tuneupse started tuning their cars up regularly, some 90 million lbs. of CO2 would not be released into the atmosphere.
   
8. For those of us who have pets: The number of flea collars that are thrown away each the pesticide on some flea collars include piperomylbutoxide (prolonged exposure can cause liver damage) and DDVP (dichlorvos, which, according to Harrowsmith magazine, "can cause cancer nerve damage and mutations in animals." To avoide these problems, you can order citrus-oil sprays or make your own. Run orange or grapefruit skins through a food blender and then simmer some water. Fater the pulp is cooled, rush it into your pet's fur. Use only skins because fruit joice will make the fur sticky. Also, try adding brewer's yeast and garlic to your pet's food. Fleas seem to hate it.
   
9. About one percent of all of the US landfill space is occupied by disposable diapers. They can take as much as five hundred years to decompose in a landfil. Although most people prefer to use disposable diapers, there are cloth diaper services who will pick up and drop off cloth diapers at your home. Write to the National Assn. of Diaper Services, 2017 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 or call 215-569-3650. Cloth diaper disposal is monitored and worn-out diapers are recycled into rags for industry.
   
10. One-third of all private auto mileage comes from commuting to and from work. Find out how to connect with other commuters and join a carpool. Advertise on community bulletin boards and in weekly shoppers for others who commute to your area.

The city of Berkley, CA adopted a program called precycling. Precycling is about making informed and environmentally-concerned purchasing choices. For example, each American uses approximately 190 pounds of plastic per year. A way to make more environmentally sound choices is to keep your eyes open when you shop. Everything we buy has an effect on the environment. If we try to make it a positive one, we can make a difference and effect a positive change.

Other things you can do: Use low phosphate detergents, and use less detergent as manufacturers recommend more detergent than is necessary per load. Use rags instead of paper towels to wipe up spills in the kitchen. Use rechargeable batteries. Use cloth sacks to carry your groceries to avoid using either paper or plastic bags, neither of which is good for the environment. Purchase eggs in cardboard, not styrofoam, cartons. Buy in bulk. It's cheaper and uses less packaging. Buy carrots, onions and potatoes, etc. loose, not in plastic bags, and buy beverages in glass or aluminum containers which are easy to recycle.

Source: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth, Earthworks Press, original copyright 1989.

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