Water

Its amazing to see the number of ways we can buy water now a days. Bottled, flavored, vitamin and minerals added, sugar added etc. Millions of plastic water bottles are used everyday around the world. And these water bottles are often made of flimsy plastics. The plastics used in the water bottles are often questioned for its quality and a lots of warning is out there today about freezing the bottles or prolonged use of the water bottles.

Today, stop or reduce using bottled water. There are so many ways to reduce the usage of these bottles. Buy bigger water containers and refill a good quality reusable bottle. Use bottle filters (Fill& go from Brita is a good one)

With summer approaching and temperatures soaring, always be sure you have a reusable bottle handy at all times, so you don't end up buying bottled water when you get thirsty.

If you really like flavored water, try using some organic fruit extracts to flavor your water.

Food Waste

Millions of pounds of food is wasted everyday in America. We are all to blame when it comes to food wastage. Everyone of us, waste food in some form or the other, or at some level, directly or indirectly. Over buying, over consumption, over ordering are all to blame for.

Today - When you order lunch or dinner at a restaurant or take out - be sure to order only portions that you really can finish, and really 'need' to full fill your nutrition goals. If the place does not carry the portion sizes you want, make sure you order something that you can actually save for later. - A soggy sandwich will not make a good leftover. Think about all the food we throw out of refrigerators. All those leftovers from dinner and lunches, that we never eat. Best bet is to avoid buying too much food.

When you do carry out food, try to use places that offer paper or recycled paper food containers. If you bring your food in plastic containers, be sure to rinse them out and recycle them. Storing food for a longtime in plastic containers or reheating the food in the plastic containers in a microwave should be avoided as well.

Detergents

Reduce the use of harmful chemicals in the house. Start with the most used products - detergents, hand soaps, floor and surface cleaning products, cosmetics etc.

Lets look at Laundry Detergent today. Its not that expensive to go green with detergents - a lot of people think they have to go to some fancy green store and buy some fancy detergent - only to find out they paid tons of money for baking soda and water. But, there are reasonable products out there, you will surprised to see how much you will actually save by reducing the user of harmful chemicals - in terms of other costs like medical conditions and such.

Here is a resource to understand the Laundry detergent options out there
Comparing Green Laundry detergents

CFL Bulbs

The most common, effective and easiest way to reduce energy use, is using Energy saving light bulbs. We have heard this a hundred times, yet , we all sometimes miss out replacing a few regular bulbs around the house like inside appliances, closets or garage door openers, look for these spots that you may have missed and change them today!

An interesting and commendable approach by Mr.Sanjayan
Quote (Mr.Sanjayan's article on Nature.org)

"...So I take energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) with me on my trips, and I give them to someone at my destination — swapping them for existing incandescent bulbs that illuminate a small shop or local restaurant or school....."

Kudos to Mr. Sanjayan for taking this approach to replace light bulbs:
Read the entire article at :http://www.nature.org/activities/art23429.html

Material from one of our readers:
"Use Energy star light bulbs,Be aware of energy conservation.

Energy Star lights use low voltage, especially compact fluorescent, contributes more lights
using less power. By simply changing the light fixtures we can take a major step forward in the commitment and pursuit of energy conservation.

Changing the world starts with simple actions. If every American home replaces just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified bulb, We would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year and prevent green house gas emissions."

Phone books

Yellow and white books, are delivered to millions of American homes every year. Most of the people who receive these books have not requested for them, these books tend to just mysteriously appear on the front porch.

A lot of us, probably try to recycle them, that's a good thought, but the better solution is not to receive them at all. If you are not going to really use them as a yellow book, you do not need to receive them.

Here is a great resource to unsubscribe from receiving phone books.
http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/

Earth Day - Take a step!

Happy Earth Day everyone! A great day to remember our planet and appreciate what we have and also, feel a little responsible for why it may not be the same next year. The fate of the planet and our lives, is not that hard to change. All it takes is one small step a day.

It is a great day to start taking that ONE STEP to make a difference. Stay Green today - is just that perfect tool to help you take that ONE STEP towards a better and greener life.

Start today, One green act a day - next earth day, you will enjoy the day with a great sense of accomplishment of having done several green acts over the year. Stay green today provides you a daily tip, every single day of the year, to help you achieve your green goals and save the planet!

Toady's recommendation

Use the Stairs

Waiting for that elevator to get one floor up? Well, use the stairs please.

Use the stairs as much as you can. Do it today! try it. At least use it to get down the stairs, if you are unable to climb up. Use the stairs for many reasons, conserve power, burn some energy, improve your health.

If you are in a very high floor, go part way in the elevator and walk the rest! Its OK, if you can only do 2 flights of stairs, that still counts.

No act is too small, every single act, however trivial it may seem like, STILL COUNTS!

Helpful Links:
Benefits of taking the stairs
Stairway health program

Mobile Chargers

Do not charge your mobile over night. Leaving it on the charger for over 8 hrs is a waste of power, when most of the cellphones batteries get charged up in just a couple of hours or less.

Please charge your mobile today during the day and not over night. Leave it in the charger on your desk or somewhere you can see it when its done charging. If available, Use the beep option on your cellphone to indicate and remind it to unplug when done charging.

Earth day tomorrow! Lets use that as a bit of extra inspiration and start doing this daily commitment to a greener life.

Paper Towel Vs Cloth towels

There has always been arguments over which is a better choice? Paper towels are bad as they simply encourage overuse of paper, cloth towels are blames too for increased use of energy and water to clean and use them.

We have done reading to decide that Paper towels are a bad choice. But, considering the huge lifestyle of change and simply giving up those extremely convenient paper towels, but there is room some some adjustments we can do to make a lot better.

1. Use unbleached, brown colored, recycled paper towels. They are not fancy, but that is one step. At least use these better versions for high use areas.
2. Do not use paper towels in bathrooms!
3. Use a cloth towel as much as possible. Have enough to collect to make a decent sized dishwasher load to wash them.

So, today's green tip is - Replace bleached white paper towels with recycled paper towels or put it down on your shopping list. Buy a bunch of cloth towels and keep them handy in kitchens and bathrooms.

Spring Gardening - 1

Going to the nursery to buy a bunch of plants? Take a cardboard box or tray with you. Avoid getting the plastic containers. If you do end up bringing them with you, take them back to the nearest nursery or be sure to at least recycle them. Reducing the amount of plastic your bring back is always a good idea.

Always remember - Reuse, Recycle, Reduce.

Watch for a whole series of Spring Gardening tips this week.

Coffee Cups - overuse & abuse

A simple act, but great impact!

How many us wonder where coffee cups we get from coffee shops go? (as estimate 1.5 billion paper cups are used at Starbucks alone, per year) How much do we know about the cups and if its made from recycled paper? Or how many of these cups are even being thrown in recycle bins? Do we ever see recycle bins in coffee shops?

Well, one my friends, did think about it. She noticed that most coffee shops provide 2 cups if you ask for extra hot beverages. Yes, 2 cups! The one in the bottom is practically unused and thrown away by most people, a lot of them do not even notice the extra cup. She made it a point to collect these cups and return them for reuse. What a thoughtful way, and a simple act, yes powerful message to most of the onlookers at the store. In fact, this thoughtful person will soon be joining us to contribute to Stay Green today and share some valuable thoughts on leading a green life!

So few things we can do TODAY when we pick up that cup of Jo.
GREEN WAYS to enjoy a cup of COFFEE !

• Try to use reusable coffee mugs (there are tons of options out there.. and most are dishwasher friendly too)
• Sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee - like french people do (you will barely find to-go stuff in the city of Paris) and this will totally avoid use of to-go cups and the plastic lids. Hey, slowdown once in a while. Most coffee shops offer ceramic / porcelain cups if you sit down.
• If you still need to use the to-go cup, make sure you recycle them.
• If you buy a hot beverage - use the little sleeve and avoid using a second cup. The seleeves are mostly made from from recycled paper.
• Choose coffee shops that have a recycle bin, or choose coffee shops that use recycled paper to make their cups.
• Do not take more than one or two napkins. If you spill a lot of coffee, even a hundred napkins are not going to help. For practical reasons, a few drops of spill, just one napkin will do just fine.
• Use the sugar dispenser and avoid the packaged paper wrapped sugar. Do not open more than you need.
  
  Interesting reads:
  
  Starbucks recycle information
  
  Eco-tip: Coffee cups - Treehugger