Let's Save the Planet Together for Earth Day 2008 - April 22, 2008
Apr 22, 2008
6 a.m.-7 p.m.
Holland Zeeland Area
6 a.m.-7 p.m.
Holland Zeeland Area
Max Transit is committed to helping preserve the environment and fostering greater sustainability. That’s why we always offer FREE fixed route rides on Earth Day and on designated Ozone Action Days during the summer months. We want to encourage the use of public transit to reduce traffic, pollution and fuel usage.
Earth Day offers a great opportunity to for adults and children to learn about the importance of conservation and recycling. Even small things can help make a difference, and teaching children at a young age helps them grow up to be responsible adults.
Here are 15 ways that you and your children can make the planet cleaner and greener together:
1. Walk or ride a bike to get where you need to go instead of driving. Increased physical activity also reduces obesity. If that’s not practical, carpool or take the MAX bus instead of using your personal vehicle. Make the bus ride a family outing by riding it to the mall, movie theater or ice cream shop on a Saturday afternoon.
2. Conserve energy by getting into the habit of turning off lights when leaving the room and unplugging TVs and computers when turned off (they still draw energy!)
3. Don’t let the faucet run while brushing your teeth or doing dishes. Michigan is blessed with its fresh water supply. Let’s conserve this valuable resource.
4. Start a compost pile in your backyard to dispose of yard waste and kitchen scraps to create your own natural fertilizer.
5. Pick out products at the store that have little or no packaging to reduce the amount of waste that goes to our landfills. Hint: Fresh fruits and vegetables are often sold in their own skins without packaging!
6. Take showers instead of baths because it uses less water, and install water-saving shower nozzles.
7. Buy or make your own reusable grocery shopping bags to take home groceries from the store and forego the whole “paper" or “plastic" dilemma! Keep them in a convenient spot so that you’ll remember to take and use them each time you buy groceries. Meijer sells reusable bags for just $1.
8. Find fun ways to reuse and recycle everyday items. Plastic milk jugs can be made into mole deterrent pinwheels that turn in the wind when placed on a pole in the ground. They also make great watering cans for plants. Use aluminum soup cans as baking tubes for banana bread or decorate them as pencil holders.
9. Recycle your old newspapers by bringing them to fundraising paper drives or taking them to newspaper recyclers, where you can actually earn a little cash. There’s a paper recycling center in downtown Grand Rapids.
10. Plant a tree. Trees naturally purify the air and provide housing for habitat. You also can purchase trees through the National Arbor Day Foundation to be planted in honor of someone. Each tree is only a $1 donation.
11. Stop buying individual bottled water at the store. Not only is it expensive, but it creates large amounts of container waste for landfills. Instead, filter your tap water and reuse those bottled water containers. Be sure to clean well with soap and rinse with water.
12. Recycle old electronics responsibly. “E-waste" from discarded cell phones, computers and MP3s is a growing environmental problem. This electronic refuge contains mercury and other toxic substances that leach into the environment. Keep your electronics for as long as they can be used, or donate them to worthwhile charities. The Center for Women in Transition in Holland accepts used and working cell phones. Most schools accept working computers.
13. Be a reuser instead of a consumer. Instead of buying new books, DVDs and other media, take the bus to the library to borrow these items. Shop garage sales and consignment stores for excellent preowned items sold at a fraction of the cost of new. Visit websites, such as Craigslist and Freetrader, to find items given away for free.
14. Switch to CFL lights. Compact flurescent bulbs use 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last about 10 times longer. They’re more expense, but you’ll pay for the cost and begin saving on energy within just three months time. Over thelife of the bulb, you’ll save about $85 for each 60 watt bulb replaced with a CFL.
15. Install a programmable thermostat. Home heating comprises almost half of the average household’s annual energy bills. Lowering the temperature by just one degree in winter can save you 3 percent on your heating bill. A programmable thermostat can save you a bundle by automatically turning down the heat when you’re at work or school all day or at night when you’re sleeping. Best of all, it can turn up the heat so that’s warm when you arrive home. Programmable thermostats start around $30, but can save about $100 in energy cost each year.
Earth Day offers a great opportunity to for adults and children to learn about the importance of conservation and recycling. Even small things can help make a difference, and teaching children at a young age helps them grow up to be responsible adults.
Here are 15 ways that you and your children can make the planet cleaner and greener together:
1. Walk or ride a bike to get where you need to go instead of driving. Increased physical activity also reduces obesity. If that’s not practical, carpool or take the MAX bus instead of using your personal vehicle. Make the bus ride a family outing by riding it to the mall, movie theater or ice cream shop on a Saturday afternoon.
2. Conserve energy by getting into the habit of turning off lights when leaving the room and unplugging TVs and computers when turned off (they still draw energy!)
3. Don’t let the faucet run while brushing your teeth or doing dishes. Michigan is blessed with its fresh water supply. Let’s conserve this valuable resource.
4. Start a compost pile in your backyard to dispose of yard waste and kitchen scraps to create your own natural fertilizer.
5. Pick out products at the store that have little or no packaging to reduce the amount of waste that goes to our landfills. Hint: Fresh fruits and vegetables are often sold in their own skins without packaging!
6. Take showers instead of baths because it uses less water, and install water-saving shower nozzles.
7. Buy or make your own reusable grocery shopping bags to take home groceries from the store and forego the whole “paper" or “plastic" dilemma! Keep them in a convenient spot so that you’ll remember to take and use them each time you buy groceries. Meijer sells reusable bags for just $1.
8. Find fun ways to reuse and recycle everyday items. Plastic milk jugs can be made into mole deterrent pinwheels that turn in the wind when placed on a pole in the ground. They also make great watering cans for plants. Use aluminum soup cans as baking tubes for banana bread or decorate them as pencil holders.
9. Recycle your old newspapers by bringing them to fundraising paper drives or taking them to newspaper recyclers, where you can actually earn a little cash. There’s a paper recycling center in downtown Grand Rapids.
10. Plant a tree. Trees naturally purify the air and provide housing for habitat. You also can purchase trees through the National Arbor Day Foundation to be planted in honor of someone. Each tree is only a $1 donation.
11. Stop buying individual bottled water at the store. Not only is it expensive, but it creates large amounts of container waste for landfills. Instead, filter your tap water and reuse those bottled water containers. Be sure to clean well with soap and rinse with water.
12. Recycle old electronics responsibly. “E-waste" from discarded cell phones, computers and MP3s is a growing environmental problem. This electronic refuge contains mercury and other toxic substances that leach into the environment. Keep your electronics for as long as they can be used, or donate them to worthwhile charities. The Center for Women in Transition in Holland accepts used and working cell phones. Most schools accept working computers.
13. Be a reuser instead of a consumer. Instead of buying new books, DVDs and other media, take the bus to the library to borrow these items. Shop garage sales and consignment stores for excellent preowned items sold at a fraction of the cost of new. Visit websites, such as Craigslist and Freetrader, to find items given away for free.
14. Switch to CFL lights. Compact flurescent bulbs use 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last about 10 times longer. They’re more expense, but you’ll pay for the cost and begin saving on energy within just three months time. Over thelife of the bulb, you’ll save about $85 for each 60 watt bulb replaced with a CFL.
15. Install a programmable thermostat. Home heating comprises almost half of the average household’s annual energy bills. Lowering the temperature by just one degree in winter can save you 3 percent on your heating bill. A programmable thermostat can save you a bundle by automatically turning down the heat when you’re at work or school all day or at night when you’re sleeping. Best of all, it can turn up the heat so that’s warm when you arrive home. Programmable thermostats start around $30, but can save about $100 in energy cost each year.