Countdown to Earth Day 2010: 30 Green Tips in 30 Days

April 22nd, 2010 marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. Here at Greenwala we would like to celebrate Earth Day with providing you all with a Green Tip a day to make it easier for you all to be more  eco-friendly.

So here are all the tips for you to try out.

NOTE: If you have any simple tips, please leave a comment below and if your tip is selected we will send you a new Greenwala T-Shirt!

1) Mar. 22nd, 2010 - With spring in the air many people maybe looking at starting a new garden or getting it ready for the new season, but instead of buying plants, how about swapping them?  In this tough economy, swapping plants is an easy way to save money while maintaining or starting a new garden. 

Check out this post for more info:  Don't Buy Plants. Swap! (I did, and saved $50.)

2) Mar. 23rd, 2010 - With Easter around the corner there are several ways to Green your holiday. One simple way to be more eco-friendly is to use all-natural vegetable (red cabbage, blueberries, paprika and more) dyes to color your Eco-eggs!

Check out this video for a simple demonstration: Easter Time with Eco Kids and Eco Eggs

3) Mar. 24th, 2010 - Thanks to Greenwala member Anita, for the tip about using coffee grounds and eggshells to help fertilize your garden. However, eggshells have several other uses as well such as being a pesticide in your garden, help keep your drain clean and much more.

Find other uses here: 12 Eggscellent Things You Can Do With Eggshells

4) Mar. 25th, 2010 - Spring months can be a time for women and couples planning weddings.  There are many easy ways to make your special day eco-friendly. Choosing a local location has many benefits including being able to use local businesses and perhaps even local organic caterers.  Also, look into using a baker that can make an all-natural organic cake with fair-trade chocolate and/or coffee.

For several more wedding tips check out this post: Eco Wedding Ideas

5) Mar. 26th, 2010 - Take Spring Cleaning to a whole new level of green using all natural products as household cleaners.  Yes there are great eco-friendly products from companies like Seventh Generation, using every day household natural products (baking soda and vinegar) maybe be the best way green your spring cleaning.

For more details check out this post: DIY Eco Cleaning Ideas

6) Mar 27th, 2010 - Do your best not to buy gift wrapping paper but if you have to buy some make sure you buy recycled paper wrapping, which actually is sometimes even cheaper than regular gift wrapping paper.

To avoid using gift wrapping paper think about those stacks of newspapers and magazines you have and can make excellent, creative gift wrapping. Save the fronts of birthday and holiday cards and you can make a collage for gift wrapping as well.

See more information here: 5 Easy Tips to Green Your Next Party

7) Mar. 28th, 2010 - A quick way to save some energy at home and/or work is to spend some time cleaning out the power supply and fans of your computer every few months. Dust, lint, animal hair and all kinds of nasty bits get sucked inside and greatly reduce the efficiency of the cooling system. As the fans are forced to work harder because of the reduced airflow, more strain is put on them and more power is consumed.

8) Mar. 29th, 2010 - Use a water filter instead of buying bottled water. Trucking bottled water, which is usually just filtered tap water from another city's water system, has a big carbon footprint. Plus, bottled water is more expensive per gallon than gasoline and you will not use the plastic bottle.

9) Mar. 30th, 2010 - One of the easiest ways to be greener is to reduce the amount of meat in your diet.  For those that are not used to being vegetarian, try one meal a day and then two and then try going meatless for one day.  When you are ready participate in Meatless Monday.

The Greenwala Community Recipe Swap group is a good place to find some simple recipes.

10) March 31st, 2010 - With the chilly air still occuring in many parts of the world, many turn to vaseline of Chapstick to heal their chapped lips.  But all you need are three simple ingredients help you lips naturally.  Get 1/2 teaspoon of honey, 1/2 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon castor oil, then mix all ingredients well and apply liberally to chapped lips right before bedtime.

More information can be found here: 3 Simple Ingredients for Chapped Lips

11) April 1st, 2010 - Finally getting to use your lawn furniture as the weather starts to warm up? A natural way to clean your furniture is with a common household good like baking soda. Take a 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 quart warm water mix together to make a household cleaner for your outdoor furniture.

12) April 2nd, 2010 - If you are travelling this weekend for the Easter Holidays, you might be using various mabile devices and cellphones.  A simple way to help preserve and save some of the battery power is to simply turn off the Bluetooth of WiFi. Mobile devices such as iPhones will constantly be looking for a WiFi network when enabled and will cause your battery to drain quicker.  So disable those features when not using them and you will increase the life of your battery.

For other ways to save battery power check this post: Ways to Keep Your Battery Going and Going

13) April 3rd, 3010 - One of the easiest ways to be more green is to have your name taken off of junk mailing lists. Perhaps you like getting those store catalogs, but most companies have online versions of their ads and product catalogs.  So maybe you do not want more junk email, but it is better than junk paper mail.

Over 100 Million Trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail and you can see more stats at Stop Junk Mail Kit

14) April 4th, 2010 - Happy Easter to those of you that celebrate it! Hope you all had an eco-Easter. Looking to do something with those extra left over egg shells? Shake up crushed eggshells and a little soapy water to scour hard-to-clean items like thermoses and vases. They can also be used as a nontoxic abrasive on pots and pans.

15) April 5th, 2010 - On Twitter Monday is called Eco Monday, so here is our tip for the day. With many areas of the world dealing with drought like conditions, an easy and cost effective way to conserve water is with low-flow showerheads.  They can start around $10 but you can conserve about 50-60% of your bathing water. Not only will you save water, but also reduce energy costs because you will use less energy to heat the water.

16) April 6th, 2010 - Buying organic foods can be expensive, but if you spend money on only the "dirty dozen" of fruits and vegetables and then save money on other items, you will live a healthy lifestyle and still save some money. 

What are the "Dirty Dozen"? There are twelve fruits and vegetables that are high in pesticide residues, which includes: apples, cherries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, celery, potatoes, bell peppers, and spinach.

17) April 7th, 2010 - With Spring in the air and the weather changing many people are dealing with allergies, cold and the flu. How about trying some all natural remedies to protect against a cold or the flu.

Garlic has a component called allicin that blocks enzymes that play a role in bacterial and viral infections plus garlic boasts broad spectrum antimicrobial action.  You can get odor free garlic pills as a simple way to get your daily dose.  Both Zinc and Ginger also have great properties and you can read more info here: Natural Remedies To Protect Against Cold & Flu Ailments

18) April 8th, 2010 - Lunchtime food packaging wastes enormous energy and other natural resources - think of all the plastic and paper you throw away after you're finished with a take-out salad, sandwich or burger. David Bach, author of Go Green, Live Rich, calculates that, if you spend $9 a day on lunch from the local Subway or sandwich shop, you're spending $45 a week, or $2,250 a year to eat out. Much of what you're paying for -- the wrapping -- you throw away. The greener, money-saving option: take food from home in reusable containers, including a durable lunch bag. If you save and invest the $2,250 every year, says Back, in 20 years it will amount to $111,000.

Thanks to Greenwala Member Diana for this tip and see more here: Money Saving Eco Tips

19) April 9th, 2010 - Cutting coupons or printing them online to save money is not really that green because of the ink and paper being used.  However, there are a few simple ways to be a little greener and still save money.

- Use scrap paper to print on: Maybe the back of a child's schoolwork or misprints from previous projects. Be careful to make sure nothing important or sensitive information is not on the printed side.

- To save ink, set your printer settings to "Fast Print" (or something similar) and print in only grayscale not color. You just need the barcode for the market to can, so these methods will help you use less ink.

- Don't forget to recycle your ink cartridges. Many stores have recycling programs where you get rebates for bringing in or mailing back the cartridges.

More info here: Green Up Your Coupon Printing

20) April 10th, 2010 - Dog and cat waste takes up approximately 12 Million Tons of landfills, so greening your pet food is an easy way to help the environment. With feeding natural and organic food is the best way to help reduce waste.  If you live in the city you can flush your pet waste right down your toilet and if you use plastic bags to pick up waste, switch to biodegradable bags.

21) April 11th, 2010 - Did you know you could make your own liquid soap from left over slivers of bar soap? Well all you need to do is save those final slivers of your bar soap, let them dry completely. Once you have enough collected put them in your blender with just a little water and blend them together for abut 20 seconds.  Add water as need for the correct thickness.

See full instructions here: How to Make Liquid Soap from Leftover Bar Soap

22) April 12th, 2010 - With the weather warming up in most parts, many people are heading out doors to exercise.  This one of the best ways to green your workout. By not using a treadmill or indoor electric workout machine and heading out side for a walk or jog will save electricity.

For those of you that still prefer a gym, make sure you select a location that is close to your home and you will be able to walk, run or bike to the gym and you will reduce the amount of gas you use. 

More tips here: Tips to Green Your Workout

23) April 13th, 2010 - The economy and housing market have made many homeowners and business owners make quick decision moves.  Sometimes you might think the easiest thing to do is throw away old furniture, clothes and/or electronics. However, take a moment and list some of these items on sites like Freecycle or Craigslist and you are already one step closer to being green! As they always say one man's trash is another man's treasure.

24) April 14th, 2010 - The best way to be more green is educate yourself and the ones around you. If you are a parent teach your children. Read blogs and sites like Greenwala.  Almost every tip on this post was found right on this site!  You will find 100s of articles by just searching "Green Tips".

Sit down with your children and then try doing this together with them or as a family.  You will learn along with your children and perhaps all of you can educate the next person.

25) April 15th, 2010 - Happy Tax day! Did you file your taxes? Doing taxes is not the most green activity and tends to usually include a TON of paper work.  Every year a typical family or small buisness could collect a box of tax documents just to file, but if you switch to electronic statements and try e-filing you will easily save paper and trees.

If you plan right, like me, you will trim it down to only 1 piece of paper, which was mailed to me via my accountant that was the signature sheet to approve my E-File.

26) April 16th, 2010 - Many of you might have reuseable bags, but at the same time might forget to use them on a regular basis.  So today's tip(s) are about where to keep your reusable bags so you remember to use them regularly.  Do not put them in your trunk as you will most likely forget them on your way into the shop, but keep them in visible sight.

Fold them and place them between your passenger seat and center console or hang them on the door knob of your pantry or garage door so when you check what you need to buy or leave for the store you will see them.

27) April 17th, 2010 - There are many ways you can green your bedroom and love life, one simple way is to use bamboo sheets that are both silky and slippery. 

More tips to Green your love life here: 10 Ways to Green Your Love Life

28) April 18th, 2010 - Many of us eat out on a daily basis, but a simple way to stay green when eating out is by dining in.  Take out can lead to excess trash, but dining in can avoid this waste.  Of course order responsibly but if you have left overs, then take them home and instead of using take out doggie-bags, bring your own tupper wear boxes.

Nowadays there are more and more restaurants using sustainable green take away packaging, so simply ask the staff to find out.

29) April 19th, 2010 - Trying to green your fashion or wardrobe? Approximately 25% of pesticides in the US are used to treat cotton, so a simple way to be more green is purchase clothing with organic cotton. Purchasing clothing with organic materials is an easy first step, but you can also support local designers and artists whose clothing is most likely produced closer to you than you think.

30) April 20th, 2010 - With Mother's Day around the corner, this is a good opportunity to try and be a little more green especially for all the special Eco Moms.

Thinking of giving your mom a card, well try maybe making your own card with some craft materials. This is a nice way of putting a personal touch on your gift.  Of course as always, e-certificates and using local florists are a couple of simple ways to help reduce your carbon footprint.

Earth Day is right around the corner and we hope these tips are just a stepping stone on your path to becoming green.  Don't forget to click on the links above for more information.  All of these tips were found here on Greenwala, so just your the new search feature in the menu bar for all your green needs!