Word Up Mother Earth

Happy Earth Day!

While I think things like Earth Day and Earth Hour are kind of useless on their own I do like the idea of them. I know they are more about awareness and public education but just like throwing a non-perishable in a donation bin at Christmas (to reference the Matthew Good, 2003) it's not going to do much on it's own. 

I'm not a perfect greeny by any stretch but I've taken steps to be more conscious of what I'm putting down the drain. One of type of those things are the cleaning products I use on me! I'm a big fan of the products that Kiss My Face makes. They are natural and therefore better for me and the environment. Their packaging is fairly minimal and recyclable from my experiences. They also smell REALLY yummy which is a bonus. 

Another kind of product I use is Nature Clean. Their laundry detergent might not be as fragrant but it gets the job done (really well) and all the while with ingredients that are safe for the drain. Another great cleaner is my smelly pal Vinegar. On CBC Radio 2 this morning I was instructed to check out the many uses of acetic acid, you can check them out and how distilled vinegar is actually made here.

Switching gears and getting away from the irony of buying things to be green (which is growing in popularity everyday) I need to take a minute and point out one of the favorite things in my apartment - the powerbar. Now it's probably because I live by myself in a bachelor apartment but each month I have challenged myself to use less and less energy. I'm keeping track of my use through my power bill. So far so good, I've even managed to keep up this trend throughout the winter with its cold days and less light. I give much of this credit to my wonderful power bars. 

My 'electronics hub' which consists of speakers (with sub), TV, external harddrive, laptop cord and occasionally a iPod charger is all hooked up to a power bar. Every day before I leave for the day and before I go to bed I make sure my power bar is turned off. With one simple flick of a switch I've turned off up to 4 things. Success!

I'm also pretty nut-so about unplugging things when I'm not using them, but again this isn't that hard since I'm in a bachelor apartment. It includes lights, coffee maker and umm, anything I have in the bathroom (hair drier/straightner). I think my diligence towards turning off and unplugging electronics comes from my dad's stingy-ness growing up combined with my personal power bill challenge. 

All in all I'm trying my best to minimize my footprint and while it's nice to have a day to remind everyone that the earth is something we should take care of it should be at the forefront of our minds all of the time. 

Thanks Earth for tolerating us for so many years especially when things like this happen. We are a gross species.