Spring Cleaning – Green Cleaning,
Ways to Lessen Your Family's Carbon Footprint

April is historically the month we celebrate Earth Day nationwide and also the time we are reminded to do our annual Spring cleaning. While we clean up and put away our winter gear, it‘s also a great time to sit down with the family and review a "green" checklist (or create one if you are new to green home solutions). As we know, our children are learning more about being good stewards of the planet through school and extracurricular activities, so this would be a great empowerment exercise – not to mention a practical way to help put their learning into practice.

Simple tips for you to include on your green home checklist:

• Perform a home energy tune–up. Refer to websites from your local utility company or the Department of Energy and click on home energy–saving tips to get guidelines. It is good to visit these sites periodically as there are frequent updates about renewable energy resources.


• Opt out of junk mail. Research how to remove your name from the deluge of catalog mailing lists and credit card and bankcard statements you receive. Below are two good companies that can help. It is best to see which ones serve your needs or region.
  www.newdream.org/junkmail
  www.greendimes.com


• Stop vampire power. Consumers can reduce their energy bills by 20% if they use power strips for household appliances and turn the powers strips off when the appliances are not being used.


• Look for shopping bags made out of recycled materials at your local grocery store or use canvas bags for your trips to the supermarket. Make a pledge to only use recycled bags by a certain date.


• If you are recycling your batteries, look for those that are rechargeable. There are a number of new rechargeable batteries on the market that are sold with chargers.


• If you have not done so, switch to the compact fluorescent energy–efficient light bulbs. They can now be found at most stores where housewares are sold.


• Organic farming is good for the earth as it builds healthier soil as a foundation for producing better crops. Affordable choices are now widely available in most supermarkets. Try incorporating some organic versions of your daily foods such as milk, fresh fruit and juices. If you haven‘t seen it already, look out for new Sesame Street Organics juice boxes, now available at Whole Foods, Costco and Toys R Us in three fun and great–tasting varieties: Big Bird‘s Apple, Elmo‘s Punch and Ernie‘s Berry.