Aid The Earth By Being More Environmentally Aware by Aaron White 

Let's face it, we are all responsible in small part for climate change. And what's more, the problems are bad, we have to admit. Maybe you deny this, well, what about all the bottles you threw out, or the glass that you didn't drop at the recycling depot, or even just the light bulb you forgot to turn off? 

The fact is, unless you've been living like a hermit, holed up in the woods and surviving on cold scraps of meat and vegetables, then you are part of the problem. It is not too late, though, in fact, now is the best time for you to make an effort. 

The simplest thing to begin with is saving electricity by unplugging your appliances when you're not using them. Believe it or not, when appliances are left plugged in they remain in a standby mode and continue to consume electricity. Unplugging will save energy for the earth and save money for you. 

Try to not use plastic straws. Have you ever asked yourself where the plastic straws go after you drink them? Definitely, no one would use them again. Their ending would be in the dump, accumulating tons and tons over the years. 

Sometimes the oldies are the best, and this is true here too, you should adhere to the three Rs- reduce, reuse, and recycle. Reuse old newspapers for lining or cleaning, reduce the amount of plastic bags you use, and recycle glass. These are just some of the ways you can bring the three R's to life. 

If you run an office, you can certainly recycle any paper products that are not needed anymore. Setting up a workplace policy will make this an effective measure. 

There are still a lot of ways on how you can help Mother Nature heal and most of them are quite easy, actually. The trick here is to feel the effects of the climate change, the need for cleaner water and the responsibility to contribute to change. 

See more of this writer's articles on things including strawberry blonde and dye gray hair.


Get green office supplies without driving to the store - visit Amazon.com.

Trees can save the world? Yes, read on to find out why.

To quote ColoradoTrees.org: "Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits, trees within our urban forest improve our air, protect our water, save energy, and improve economic sustainability."

That quote pretty much sums up why trees are so important. The other benefits include providing food and increasing property values. 

Here is a list of that should prove how I have come to the conclusion that trees are the most important thing you can do to go green and protect the environment. All quotes are from ColoradoTrees.org from the research the organization has done in regards to the value of the urban forests:

"If every American family planted just one tree, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere would be reduced by one billion lbs annually. This is almost 5% of the amount that human activity pumps into the atmosphere each year.

One tree that shades your home in the city will also save fossil fuel, cutting CO2 buildup as much as 15 forest trees.

Planting trees remains one of the cheapest, most effective means of drawing excess CO2 from the atmosphere.

Over a 50-year lifetime, a tree generates $31,250 worth of oxygen, provides $62,000 worth of air pollution control, recycles $37,500 worth of water, and controls $31,250 worth of soil erosion.

One sugar maple (12" DBH) along a roadway removes in one growing season 60mg cadmium, 140 mg chromium, 820 mg nickel, and 5200 mg lead from the environment.

Each person in the U.S. generates approximately 2.3 tons of CO2 each year. A healthy tree stores about 13 pounds of carbon annually -- or 2.6 tons per acre each year. An acre of trees absorbs enough CO2 over one year to equal the amount produced by driving a car 26,000 miles. An estimate of carbon emitted per vehicle mile is between 0.88 lb. CO2/mi. – 1.06 lb. CO2/mi. (Nowak, 1993). Thus, a car driven 26,000 miles will emit between 22,880 lbs CO2 and 27,647 lbs. CO2. Thus, one acre of tree cover in Brooklyn can compensate for automobile fuel use equivalent to driving a car between 7,200 and 8,700 miles.

Trees also reduce the greenhouse effect by shading our homes and office buildings. This reduces air conditioning needs up to 30%, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned to produce electricity. This combination of CO2 removal from the atmosphere, carbon storage in wood, and the cooling effect makes trees a very efficient tool in fighting the greenhouse effect.

A total of 300 trees can counter balance the amount of pollution one person produces in a lifetime."

Now imagine if everyone planted just one tree how much air pollution, soil erosion, and heat could be prevented. And, that's just inside a city!

If we reforested the land, global warming could be stopped without creating additional pollution. And, that makes planting trees the most important thing you can do to go green!

Here is an amazing resource - "green.tv" - check it out. You'll get Green news from all over the world in one location. This week is about the World Heritage Committee and natural sites being added to their list.

Go to http://www.green.tv/news_aug11_10?set_location=en

The World Heritage Committee is part of UNESCO.org and they search properties around the world that have outstanding universal value. You can see the list of 911 sites at whc.unesco.org/en/list and "visit" the natural resources by clicking on the provided links.

UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and their mission is to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world. Learn more about UNESCO by visiting their site.

Also check out this cool green information resource: EcoSeed magazine - "bridging environment and economy." They have an online magazine - you actually can turn the pages!

You can research going green by business, technology, politics, finance and living green. Highly recommend the site.

I hope you find these two going green resources useful!