EARTH DAY

The following post is not hockey related...

This sunday is Earth Day!
Now would be the perfect time to change to a greener lifestyle! Well how'm I gonna do that you ask? Well lucky for you I've made a list!

1. Plastic. It's super bad. It never breaks down in landfills, and it is actually bad for your health. Without going into a big explanation, the use of plastics in household materials and food containers has been linked to girls getting their first period earlier than they used to (16 years about 100 years ago to 11 or 12 now). Pregnant moms should worry (or those who want to be moms) because plastics leach Estrogens into the food that we eat. This actually changes the organization of the baby's brain and it affects them for the rest of their life. It can also change the baby's reproductive organs making them sterile with a combo of boy and girl parts. All bad news. If you are wondering where I got this info from, I did a termpaper on this, and it is all from reputable medical journals. It is now becoming the consensus that plastic is not foodsafe and could be really detrimental to the health of little ones. My Earth Day contribution is to cut my use of plastics by a lot. I'm going on a plastic-detox. My plan includes: using canvas bags for grocery shopping, recycling more (most stuff I recycle), and trying to figure out a plastic-free way to pack a lunch. It's going to be a tough thing to change.

On with the list, easier changes:
2. your car. get rid of a gas guzzler in favour of a hybrid or more energy efficient car. Drive less, take public transit, and walk more. If you can walk, do! This is also an excellent way to lose weight and save money!!

3. change your light bulbs to the more energy efficient type. They last 5 years, before they burn out. So you will also be saving time not having to change light bulbs, as well as saving money on the cost of replacement bulbs and electricity!

4. Use cold water. Wash your clothes in cold water, and hang to dry when possible.

5. If you have electric heat registers shut them off at the fuse box in the spring. Did you know that they eat up energy all summer long?

6. Look into weather stripping windows and doors, I hear that this can really make a difference in the amount of energy spent in the winter on heating.

7. Buy locally grow foods. In the summer, this is just about the easiest change to make. The food grown way far away has to transported to where you are. But, if you buy locally grown produce, not only is it fresher with more nutrients, but it also requires less energy to get it to you.

8. Recycle. If don't do this already, you should! I have guilt tripped more than one person into recycling. I give out Recycler of the Year certificates to those I see making an extra effort. :)

9. If you live in an appartment and think that you can't compost, think again. You can Vermicompost! Dirt, newspaper (shredded), worms and a little water and veg scraps all in a rubbermaid tote with some air vents. Mix and wait. The micro-organisms eat the veg, the worms eat the micro-organisms and make dirt. Excellent way to teach kids about recycling, ecosystems, and why we always save worms who are drowning on the sidewalk when it rains. And it doesn't smell because you bury the veg.

10. I can't really think of a #10....