Just read frm a mag about what we can do to help save our mother earth and decide to post it here. Seriously, if everyone on earth take these little steps as well..mother earth will b farkin happy i guess.
Light bulbs matter: Switch frm traditional incandescent lightbulbs to compact fluorescent lightbulbs (C.F.L). If every household in America replaced one regular lightbulb with a CFL, the pollution reduction would be equivalent to removing one million cars frm the road. A 30-watt CFL produces about as much light as an ordinary 100-watt bulb. Although the initial price is higher, CFL's can last 12 times as long. CFL's are available at most home-improvement stores.
Play it cool: Avoid placing your air conditioner next to a TV, lamp or other electrical appliance that generates heat. A heat source will confuse the unit's thermostat, causing it to misread how hot the room is and make the air conditioner run longer than it should. You can also program an air conditioner to start running 30 mins before you arrive home. There's no need to cool a home if no ones is in it.
Standby no longer: Electricity 'leaks' are no laughing matter. Televisions, video, and DVD players, cable boxes, and other electronic equipment found in nearly all modern home are wasting huge amounts of energy. When these devices are left on standby (the equivalent of 'sleep' mode for computers) they use about 40% of their full running power. Every year, the energy is wasted in this way is equivalent of the annual output of 26 power plants. To avoid the drain of these 'energy vampires', plug them into a power strip and turn it off when they are not in use.
Turn off your chargers: Most cellphone chargers continue to draw electricity even when the phone isn't plugged into it. If your cellphone charger averages five-watts per hour and is plugged in all the time, that means a total of more than 40 kilowatt-hours every year, or about 93 pounds of CO2. The same problem applies to your other electronic equipment - your laptop, ipod, digital camera, and blackberry. Unplug all your chargers when they are not in use.
Green Paint: Most paint is made from petrochemicals, and its manufacturing process can create 10 times its own weight in toxic waste. It also releases volatile organic compounds (V.O.C's) that threaten public health. (VOC's are solvents that rapidly evaporate, allowing paint to dry quickly.) They cause photochemical reactions in the atmosphere, leading to ground-level smog that can cause eye and skin irritation, lung and breathing problems, headaches, nausea and nervous-system and kidney damage. The best alternative? Natural paints. Manufactured using plant oils, natural paints pose far fewer health risks, are breathable and in some cases are 100% biodegradable. Remember, never throw your paint away. Check out earth911.org of its "paint wise" section for reuse programs in your community.
Take showers, not baths: The average modern household consumes about 227 litres of water a day from showers and baths. To reduce this number, take quick showers and install a low-flow showerhead that uses fewer than 9.5 litres with an older showerhead. Baths are relaxing, but it can take 189 litres of water to fill a tub.
Buy recycled products: There has to be a market for products made with recycled goods. Support this movement by purchasing recycled goods and you will save virgin materials, conserve energy, and reduce landfill waste. Recycled paper products include toilet paper (which is no longer scratchy, like it used to be), copy paper, paper towels and tissues. Look for garbage bags and bins liners labeled 'recycled plastics', and buy recycled toner cartridges for your fax machines and printers.
Buy eggs in cardboard carton: Cardboard egg cartons are normally made frm recycled paper, which biodegrades relatively quickly, and are also again recyclable - Styrofoam or plastics cartons take a much longer time to biodegrade and their manufacture produces harmful-by products.
