Happy Earth Day!

Today is the day to remember to be kind to our Earth because it's the only one we have.  For me this means trying to incorporate things into my daily life that are good for the me and the environment.

For the environment I try to participate in causes that help to conserve our natural resources and clean up environmental damage caused by humans.  Try to make an impact by getting out and active in a cause.  Even if you can't personally get involved try and donate to a cause.

I also try and make small changes at home by changing old incandescent light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs.  If energy efficient bulbs are too harsh for you, they now make ones that are covered so that they give off softer light like the old incandescent bulbs.  There are also daylight bulbs which are supposed to mimic the daylight color spectrum for when you want more natural light.

I use a water pitcher with a filter and pour the water into a reusable container to take with me instead of using plastic water bottles which create tons of waste.  There are companies and programs to recycle them but it's still better not to use them at all.

I use reusable bags for shopping to cut down on plastic bags.  In some areas, whole towns are doing away with plastic bags.  Many stores will give you credit for bringing in a reusable bag to use when you are shopping.

Try to conserve water by taking shorter showers.  I am still working on this one as I have been known to take hour long showers.  Whoops!  It takes me forever to wash my hair.  Now I take a timer into the bathroom with me to help me shower faster.  I am down to half an hour now with a goal of taking a shower in 10 minutes.  You can also change your shower head to a more efficient one that lets you stop the water when you are not rinsing which saves a lot of water.  For example, you turn on the shower and let your hair get wet then click off the shower head while you shampoo then click it back on to rinse.  The same goes for conditioner and body wash, etc.

Conserve energy by turning off appliances you are not using.  I unplug everything I am not using including TVs, DVD/Blu-Ray players, appliances, and computers.  I make sure to power down all my gadgets at night before bed both to conserve battery power and to get rid of any light source that will disturb my sleep.  There are studies being done on how blue light from computers and TV effect sleep patterns as well as energy waves that flow through the room from electronics that are in sleep mode.  Somewhere I read an article about how you should keep all electronics at least 4 feet away from you while you sleep to prevent cancer.  I wonder if that's true.  It can't hurt anything to try it.

For me it means trying to be healthy by drinking lots of water and eating lots of fresh, non-GMO, unprocessed, organic foods from local suppliers like a farmers market.  I try to be conscious of the choices I make when buying beauty products by choosing brands that use ingredients that are not harmful to my body and don't test their products on animals.  I also try to learn about the brands I buy from and their impact on our environment.  Many companies are making an effort to incorporate healthier ingredients in their products and participate in charities and fundraisers for certain causes.

For a list of companies that do not test on animals visit www.leapingbunny.org