Countdown to Earth Day (oh and that’s my birthday too!)

Five green things you can do with your students/children starting TODAY:
1. Email notices….9 times out of 10 they are created on a computer in the first place, but somehow they wind up in a copier.
a. If you are a teacher think how easy it would be to create a distribution list in your email address book and send home all notes in one attachment. You can do this quickly and efficiently and save paper.
b. If you are a parent, ask schools to stop sending paper notices home. Offer to create a distribution list for those parents who want less paper (I’m thinking PTA can be really helpful here) and offer to be the point person to email out the notices. It might make sense to break your distribution lists up by grades, that way if you have a grade specific notice it is real easy to send.
2. Take a look at your technology in your home, office or classroom. Are your devices plugged directly into the wall. If they are they are most likely draining electricity. It’s estimated that about 40% of home use electricity comes from this slow drain. Instead, plug all your devices into surge protectors-after you power down all of your devices turn the surge protector off as well to stop the drain.
3. Recycle those ink cartridges (and now cell phones, PDAs, laptops, DVDs, iPods).
a. If you are a teacher go immediately to http://www.cartridgesforkids.com/ and sign up your school. I always participated in this at my schools where I taught and it was easy, free and we always got lots of points to buy things we needed. Enough said.
b. If you are a parent go to http://www.freerecycling.com/ and turn your cartidges, PDAs, Cell Phones into cash. I live in a building, so I signed up. I figured I’ll put the box in the clubhouse, post a sign and collect some old recycled stuff. Send it and use the money to buy plants for the neighborhood, can’t get more green then that. (I’ll keep you informed about how much money I collect to beautify my neighborhood.)
4. Reduce your cell phone time…there seems to bee a link to the radiation given off by cell phones and the reduction of honeybees. Try SKYPE as an alternative when you are at your computer.
5. Try a solar charger. This particular company sells them rather inexpensively, and think of how convenient it would be to charge your phone, PDA or Laptop whenever there is sun!