Think Twice Before Grabbing that Bottled Water

Great article from Discovery Channel.com on the real cost to the earth when we choose bottled water. Check it out here. What do you think?

Earth Hour: 8:30PM local time, wherever you live on planet earth. This Saturday, March 28

WOW! Has it been a year already? Last year we discovered Earth Hour, an hour set aside to turn off your lights as a "breather" for Mother Earth. It started in Sydney, Australia and has spread around the world! We gathered the kids, killed the lights and spent the next two hours playing charades by candelight. In fact, when it came time to turn the lights back on, the kids were bummed (thus the second hour of twilight charades!). They were so excited they wanted to have an Earth Hour every week - lol.

From the Earth Hour website, here are some different ways to spend Earth Hour and reduce your carbon footprint:

1. Attend a local Earth Hour event or organise your own by throwing an Earth Hour street party with your neighbours
2. Gather family & friends for a night picnic in your local park and look at the stars
3. Enjoy a family dinner by candlelight
4. Organise a treasure hunt in the dark
5. Take the dog for a night walk
6. Have a candle-lit bath
7. Sit in the dark and share stories
8. Organise a family night playing board games
9. Share a romantic night in with your loved one

Earth Hour Executive Director, Andy Ridley, is encouraging people to participate in whatever way they choose and to think beyond the hour.“There are no hard and fast rules surrounding participation in Earth Hour. We only ask that you flick that switch and have fun doing whatever you choose to do during that time.

Make Earth Hour work for you. Families with young children should feel free to turn their lights off earlier than 8:30pm and for those having too much fun in the dark during the hour, don’t feel you have to limit yourself to one hour and switch back on at 9:30pm.” To find out more about Earth Hour, visit the official website www.earthhour.org, sign up and join millions of people in more than 1,400 cities and towns in 80 countries throughout the world by turning off your lights for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday 28 March."

Ban the Plastic Bag

We were recently watching "Long Way Down", Ewan McGregor's motorcycle adventure show where he and a buddy bike from Scotland to South Africa, and noticed that not only is Africa more than lions and elephants, it's littered with plastic bags. Yes, the obnoxious plastic sacks that you bring home every time money leaves your pocket. 

It was sad. Beautiful African landscapes, exotic plants and breathtaking views, blighted with awful, ugly plastic bags. Ugh.

How many plastic bags are in your home right now? Do you take them back to the store for recycling or do you stuff them in the trash can, out of sight, out of mind? We return ours to the store, but I'll admit the pile grows huge before we take them back. But, at least we take them back. 

PLEASE don't stuff these bags in the trash! They won't go away, they don't biodegrade, and chances are they will end up clinging to a tree or bush somewhere, choking an animal who mistakes them for food, or even worse, end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The trash in the patch doesn't just float around out there; animals mistake it for food and it ends up back in the food chain, which means we end up eating plastic, too. Plastic lives forever.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Boycott Plastic Bags: Simply say "no thanks" when you check out. Hand carry your purchase, tuck it in your purse.

Take your own bags to the store: I have a whole batch of mismatched canvas bags that we haul to the store - they work great (and never split or tear).

Write to the stores to ask them to stop using plastic: Most stores offer bags for sale (usually $1 or less) and they will give you a credit when you bring your own bags in for them to use for your purchase.

Drop me a note and let me know how you are Banning The Bag. I'd love to hear how you are making the world a better place for everyone.