Earth Day 2008 ~ Are you asking yourself “How can I help?”

I’ve always been an environmentally conscious person. I knew a lot of the things I was doing, purchasing and contributing to were harmful to the environment but until recently I wasn’t doing much about it. After my daughters were born and then seeing the film “An Inconvenient Truth” my eyes were opened and I started to really care and take note of the things that were happening to the planet. During a recent conversation with a friend, something in my mind was triggered. I realized that my daughters are going to grow up in a polluted world unless everyone starts to take steps in the right direction and that the first person that needs to change is me, their father. To get myself going in the right direction I started doing a lot of reading and research on the issues affecting the environment. Now my whole family is helping out. We recycle everything that can be recycled, all of our standard light bulbs have been changed out to more energy efficient lighting, we’re purchasing safer “green” products, I buy food and produce that is organic and we try to reduce waste as much as possible.

For my company Rainebrooke, I’ve also taken it down the “green” road with our new “Rainebrooke ~ Green” initiative. We’re recycling, being more energy efficient, shipping with recycled boxes, printing on recycling paper, reducing our waste and offsetting the remainder of our footprint with offsets that we purchase through Carbonfund.org.

So if you’re asking yourself “How can I help?”, the best thing is to first simply become aware. Once you’re aware of the fact that there is a problem, start taking some simple steps to help out. Recycle around your home …buy some containers to separate plastics, paper, aluminum, etc. Instead of throwing out all your junk mail, save it and recycle it. Purchase safer cleaning products and other household products. When a standard light bulb burns out, replace it with an energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb. Purchase organic foods. Support companies that protect the environment and buy products made by companies that are environmentally friendly. Purchase carbon offsets that support carbon reducing projects. Contact your local senator and representative and tell them you want tough climate change legislation.

With everyone doing their part, our world can be a safer and cleaner place for many generations to come.

Helpful sites:
Carbonfund – http://www.carbonfund.org
Earth Day Network – http://ww2.earthday.net/
LiveNeutral – http://www.liveneutral.org/
Earth 911 – http://earth911.org/
History of Earth Day – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day
EPA- http://www.epa.gov/earthday/
Eco Earth – http://ecoearth.info/
TerraPass – http://www.terrapass.com/