April is Earth month

Earth Energy
Originally uploaded by Auntie K

April 22nd is Earth Day and it's awesome that during the whole month of April we see a lot of media coverage promoting activities and good practices to help keep our environment clean and healthy.

I too will dedicate the most of this month's blog entries to being good to our planet and environment.

I try my best to tread lightly on this earth. I'll admit that I don't do everything I know I should or should not do (for example, I do drive a car), but I believe that even the smallest daily practices help. For example...

1. CLOTHES LINE IN MY GARAGE
I try to hang most of my laundry, especially larger items like towels that soak up a lot of water. Yes, sometimes, I put those items in the dryer for about 10 minutes when they're still a little moist just to soften them up a bit, but at least I dried 90% of it without the use of the dryer.

It's also more gentle on clothes and makes them last longer. It seems like a lot of trouble but actually, once you get in the habit, it doesn't really take that much time - you don't have to hang it perfectly. I learned this from my parents so I've been practicing this my whole life.

2. WALKING TO THE GROCERY STORE
I'm lucky enough to be a 10-minute walking distance to a supermarket so when I don't have too big of a load to pick up, I walk over with my canvas bags. Luckily my bank/ATM and the post office are also in the vicinity so I run those errands at the same time.

I know, I know... life is very busy and who has time? For me it's only 20 minutes round trip by walking, but even if it's 30 minutes, it's a good way to get a little exercise (walk fast) and get away from the phones and computer. It's amazing what it can do to your mental state to stop the frenzy. I just make a choice to give up watching TV or reading a book for that amount of time. Sometimes the trade-offs aren't that easy, but the point is that I TRY to do it when I can. :-)

What small (or big) things do you do on a regular basis to help our environment? Please do share.

About the photo
This amazing photo was found on Flickr.com - click on the image to see the full credits.