Happy Anniversary, Mother Earth!

Today is the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day. I propose a toast! While you sip your champagne, why don't you look over my annual list of green tips and see if there are some ideas in there that will work for you?

1.Take shorter showers (or shower with a friend!)

2. Switch to washable dish cloths. They can be used a lot more times than sponges before they need to be discarded.

3. Buy as many things second-hand as possible.

4. Use a reusable coffee filter or tea ball rather than paper filters or teabags.

5. Raise the thermostat a few degrees in summer, and lower it a few in winter.

6. Reuse towels many times before washing (make sure you hang to dry thoroughly in between uses!)

7. Use junk mail and computer misprints for scratch paper (use both sides!)

8. Save veggie and pasta cooking water to water plants (make sure to cool it first!)

9. Reuse "trash" around the house (ripped pantyhose to tie up plants, pill bottles to store buttons, screws, etc., plastic knives written on with Sharpie as plant markers).

10. Send e-cards rather than paper greeting cards.

11. Buy more food locally and in season.

12. Bring packing peanuts and air pillows to your local UPS store for reuse.

Hope this list has given you some new things to try. See you next Earth Day for the next installment!