The celebration of Earth Day yesterday made me think through all the ways we, in our own lives, can help the environment and be greener, and here are some small ways we can make changes to become more earth-friendly.
1. Donate your time or money to Green causes: buy from green-friendly stores, like Ben & Jerry's or Patagonia, that give part of their sales to earth-friendly causes, buy gifts from companies that use organic products such as coffee or chocolate, or volunteer in your neighborhood or the greater Daytona Beach area to save plants or beach habitat.
2. If you are fortunate to still have enough money left over to invest, consider the many Green mutual funds available. As reported in RisMedia, "The GreenMoney Journal recently released its new Top 10 list of mutual funds that invest in companies devoted to alternative energy, clean water, organic products and those that avoid alcohol, tobacco, gambling or weapons. The annual list is a mix of new funds and those that have changed or enhanced their investment mix to be more environmentally conscious, said Cliff Feigenbaum, founder and president of the Green Money Journal, based in Santa Fe, N.M. 'The funds represent different ways people can align their money with their values,' said Feigenbaum, who has published the journal since 1992. 'Our goal is to make money and make a difference.'”
3. In your personal finances, use estatements, ebanking, ebilling, PayPal - there are many options. PayItGreen is a coalition of financial services companies that promotes electronic billing. According to the coalition, if the average U.S. household switched to electronic payments, it would annually:
-Save 6.6 pounds of paper.-Save 0.079 trees.
-Eliminate 4.5 gallons of gasoline (consumed by mailing and delivering all those paper payments).
-Prevent 63 gallons of wastewater released.
-Eliminate 171 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions (the equivalent of 169 miles of driving or conserving 24 square feet of forestland).
4. Have plastic cards around the house unused or out of date (those gift cards, phone cards, etc. you never used)? Mail to Earthworks System in Solon, Ohio. The company "gathers up millions of pounds a year of scrap PVC card plastic and reprocesses it into '100 percent recycled sheets' that are sold back to credit card manufacturers. Most of the material comes from 'skeletons, overruns and obsolete' stock left over from plastic card manufacturers. Other contributors are retailers like Rite-Aid, GAP, Applebee’s and Whole Foods, as well as movie theaters, hotel chains, even universities that ship him leftover student IDs."
This is just a short list - watch your habits for a day or two, and you'll see many ways you can become more earth-friendly.
As Relocation Expert for Daytona Beach, I help folks moving here become aware of our resources and the beauty of our area. We all need to help keep it a great place to live by doing our share to protect and value our Daytona Beach real estate.
Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
sherry@sherryarmstrong.com
http://www.sherryarmstrong.com/
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