It's not something we set out to do, at the beginning of the day; the thought isn't, "Hmmm, how can I hurt the Earth today?" It probably sounds something much more like, "Gee, I need to clean today, let me reach under the cubboard and see what I have," not realizing that whatever is done with the products I use to clean, once I've cleaned, can be harmful to not only the earth
itself, but any living things that may come in contact with the wash
off. We live in a sterilized world, where the idea of a clean home,
clean work place and clean where ever we take our children is the first
order of business. But we need to stop and think about what harm we may
be doing in our quest for the cleanest living area.

We need to be careful with the chemicals we have easy access to and become more responsible for what happens as the result of our choices. It really isn't all that hard to make an informed choice and help the Earth; we certainly don't want to hurt it but being irresponsible with basic cleaning products
can do just that; we can end up causing great harm to the planet on
which we live. Remember, it doesn't take much more than a little
awareness to be an advocate for the health of the place we call home.

Are you doing everything you can for recycling?

It may come as a surprise to you, but there is a really good chance
that the town or city you live in offer a service you may not have
heard of; an energy audit. Cities and towns all over the country have
started doing this, where an auditor comes to your home and goes
through your living space and helps you to see where you could make
changes that will not only help you conserve energy but will help you
save money! What a bonus it is to save money by doing the right thing.

Don't run the dishwasher or the washing machine unless they are full.
It's a waste of energy and water to run a cycle through the dishwasher
when it's only half full. Don't turn it on until you have a full load
to wash and then just wash them all at once.

Take shorter showers and see if you can pick up a shower head that is a
water-conserving item, already in place, that will save you money and
you'll never even notice the difference during your shower.

Easy ways to recycle

Mind you, I've had 43 years of doing things the way I'd been doing them
and the change didn't happen overnight, but it did happen. There hasn't
been a doorway I've walked through in the past 6 months or so that I
haven't given a quick inventory before passing through the threshold
and thinking, "Did I leave any lights on?" The great thing is, the
times that I have left a light on, I'm given the final opportunity to
stop and turn around and turn off the lights before leaving the room
for good. Is this a difficult change? Like I said, it didn't happen as
soon as I thought about my part in the effort to recycle, but it is
something I have allowed myself to consider on a daily basis.

People can reuse the bags as lunch bags, rather than the old way of
using a new "brown bag" for lunch carrying purposes. It may not seem
like a great effort but each and every effort, no matter how little, is
having an impact.