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.

The Best Trees For Landscaping by Carrie Cole 

There is no greater approach to spruce up a new home, or an old one for that matter, than to make use of a landscaping tree or two. These trees can add so much to your house, in fact they can even add to the value of your house when it comes time to sell. 

There are several various kinds of tree for you to use whenever you are in want of a landscaping tree and the selection is all yours. The very best location for you to come across what type of landscaping tree you need to use is the web. On-line you will have the ability to find out everything that you need to know about every type of landscaping tree that there is on the market. (I recommend starting at the Arbor Day Foundation. They list nearly every available tree species along with their growing requirements, and sell them for affordable prices.)

Everyone will have different tastes in landscaping trees and that is why it really is so crucial for you to find out what yours in fact is. Should you not take a take a look at all the landscaping trees that are out there, how will you know which one is the proper landscaping tree for you? 

The kind of landscaping tree that you will choose will have some thing to do with the area you live. Some trees do not do well in particular places and specific climates. You will have to make sure that the landscaping tree that you decide on can grow and flourish where you live. 

There's no point in spending money on landscaping trees only to discover that it might die in just a couple of months. So ask the seller and do some of your own study to discover out just what you ought to be obtaining for your yard. 

Trees matter to the look of your property. It's with trees that you'll be able to give your property a pretty garden feel; trees are significantly simpler to deal with than flowers or other landscaping plants. There's practically no maintenance for most trees. It will not be difficult for you to find a fantastic landscaping tree that can require very little work. 

The Mimosa tree makes for a wonderful landscaping tree due to the fact it's so gorgeous and lovely. The foliage on this gorgeous tree is like fern in its delicacy. It'll make any house immediately far more lovely with its addition and they're deciduous. This is really a perfect landscaping tree for any property including yours.    

Go to outdoorfountains.com to find the best deals on a Outdoor Fountain and Wall Fountains.

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!

Today, I just want to remind you that the easiest thing you can do for the environment is - PLANT A TREE!

Think about it - most of Planet Earth was covered with trees before human kind decided to use the trees as resources to conquer the Planet.

England and the surrounding countries used the trees to fuel the industrial revolution. America has used 90% of its forests to build housing and cities. The Amazon forest is being cleared at a phenomenal rate so that charcoal can be created.

We can't go a day without hearing about climate change and CO2 levels - and how we "have to do something!" and yet, the simple solution of replanting the Planet with trees is rarely mentioned.

Why is that? In my opinion - it's because there's no money in it.

Consider this - who profits when technology "solves" a problem? There's the answer. Just like every other case, if you follow the money, you get the answer.

Who would get rich by planting trees? Especially if those trees belong to everyone?

My next post will detail the value of trees - be prepared to be surprised. Trees are more valuable and beneficial than you know!

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!

There is some good news in the world of going green - one of the world's largest energy consumers is accelerating its efforts to transform its economic growth pattern by conserving resources and aiming to become an environmentally friendly society.

Can you guess who? China! Yep, China will be holding an international green industry expo from November 24 to the 27 in Beijing! How cool is that?

According to Vice Minister of Commerce Jiang Yaoping, "The expo would also provide precious opportunities for foreign companies to get to know and explore Chinese green markets."

China also intends to double its capacity for producing solar power. In an effort to spur renewable energy - China is also offering subsidies, loans, tax breaks and premium rates to solar energy development companies.

Good Going China! We applaud your efforts to go green!

With China and Wal-mart - two powerful sources - going green - there is a lot of hope for improvement in our environment. And, that's something to celebrate.

There was some mixed good news in an article on Yahoo! - "The Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency says last year was the first since 1992 that registered no growth in carbon emissions from fossil fuels, cement production and the chemical industry, the main sources of greenhouse gases."

Sounds like all good news, but the lack of growth is due to the recession and decreased manufacturing. The other troubling issue was that China and India both increased output.

We need to find better ways than a recession to reduce carbon output! So what can you do?

Here are a few ideas:

Borrow instead of buying. How often are you going to use that extra large roasting pan? Ask around before purchasing to see if someone you know has one you can borrow. You will be amazed at how much stuff someone else has lying around waiting to be used, again.

Make a compost pile. Super simple and effective. Transporting kitchen and yard waste to landfills takes energy - usually in the form of fossil fuels. Turning waste into soil at home eliminates that energy use.

Reuse items instead of tossing them. You probably already knows about reusing plastic bags and plastic containers, but how about reusing items in a completely different way. I reuse empty toilet tissue tubes to hold string and small cords. I wrap the string around the tubes to keep it from getting tangled. Plastic lids make great liners for plant trays.

If you use your imagination - you'll find lots of ways to reuse throw away items. Which will also ease the burden on our over flowing landfills!

Stay tuned for more ways to tread lightly on our home - Planet Earth.

You can read the full article about carbon reduction here:
http://green.yahoo.com/news/ap/20100701/ap_on_sc/eu_netherlands_co2_emissions.html