The Nature Conservancy "Blog Action Day"

by Nick Throlson | Oct 15, 2007 | Off Topic

• Slowing the rate of global warming and finding viable options for the Earth?s natural diversity, human communities and economic investments to survive its inevitable impacts;
• Linking innovative land and sea conservation strategies to improve survival of our coasts and oceans now and for future generations;
• Advancing responsible forest management practices, high-impact conservation transactions and public policies that protect, restore and manage the world's forests, including rainforests in South America and Asia.
• Building freshwater conservation approaches and policies so that human needs for water can be met while sustaining healthy freshwater ecosystems;
• Developing solutions that allow fire to play a role in places where it benefits nature, and keep fire out of places where it is destructive; and
• Stopping the threat to Earth's diversity posed by invasive non-native plants, animals, and diseases through a combination of prevention, early detection, eradication, restoration, research and outreach.

Pick one, and start today.

1. Take a shorter shower. If you take long showers, consider cutting it short by a few minutes. You?ll conserve water, and the electricity needed to heat up the water, lowering your utility bills and reducing your energy consumption at the same time.
2. Use a rag or hand towel instead of napkins or paper towels. Reusing items instead of using disposable items is almost always a better thing for the environment. Reduce the need to cut down trees, the power needed to turn them into napkins, and the space in the landfill once you throw them away.
3. Don?t print at least once today. Instead of automatically hitting the ?print? button, think of whether you really need a hardcopy of that document. Can you email it instead? File it on your computer instead of your file cabinet? Read it on the computer instead of on paper? You don?t have to eliminate printing entirely, but holding off on that ?print? button once in awhile could greatly reduce your paper consumption.
4. Carpool once this week. Have a friend or family member or co-worker who makes roughly the same commute as you? Try riding together at least once. It save on fuel consumption, cuts your fuel spending, reduces greenhouse emissions, and you can get a good conversation at the same time.
5. Turn off the TV for an hour. Reduce your energy consumption and get outside and play a sport. Or garden. Or just take a walk. You get healthy and enjoy the natural beauty of your surroundings.
6. Turn off the lights. If you leave a room, even for a little while, turn off the lights. You don?t need it, and it?s wasting energy.
7. Use a coffee mug instead of disposable. If you routinely use disposable cups at work or on the road, use a ceramic coffee cup or a travel mug, reducing the amount of trash you throw away.
8. Use CFC light bulbs. If your light bulb burns out, replace it with a Compact Flourescent bulb (those spiral-looking ones). They?re more expensive, but if you just replace them one at a time, it doesn?t cost much, and the energy savings is great. And as they last longer, over the long run, you?ll save money.
9. Skip the foil and plastic wrap. Use reusable plastic food containers to store leftovers or other food in the fridge and cabinets, instead of disposable material.
10. Inflate your tires. Many people don?t realize that their tires are under-inflated. Check the recommended pressure for your tires, and fill them up to that pressure. It only takes a few minutes, but it will save you on fuel consumption (a little) and more importantly, make your tires last longer and reduce the rubber that?s worn off your tires.