To be more eco friendly, here’s my 21 changes.

Recycling Plastic Bottles

I have begun recycling plastic bottles and I’m getting my mom to recycle too. In the U.S., citizens throw away 2-1/2 million plastic bottles EVERY HOUR!

Water Saving

When I brush my teeth I am able to save water. I fill up a glass instead of constantly running the water. If I ran the water the whole time it would have filled up the sink to about 8 inches. Since I don’t do that I only use 3 inches.

Just Say NO to Plastic Bags

With the new BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) campaign of the Villa grocery store, I have begun using the reusable cloth bags instead of the environmentally unfriendly plastic bags.

FACT: Every year, over 500 billion plastic bags are passed out to the consumer and less than 3% are recycled. They can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.

Air Conditioning is Cool

I turn off the air conditioning when I’m not in the room. By doing this, I save electricity and help save the ozone layer. I also turn it off when I leave the house. The air conditioners in the house are in the ceiling and are not blocked by anything.

Riding My BikeI have chosen to not have the school bus pick me up and take me to and from school. Because of this, I help the environment by not spreading harmful gases from the bus by riding my bike to school.

CarpoolingMy mother chooses to carpool everyday with a Nichadashuttle to work. The shuttle holds ten people and it is always full. If our neighbors did not use the shuttle, there would be ten more cars on the road everyday. By using the shuttle, she and her neighbors save the environment by not producing more harmful gases from their vehicles.

Easy Green

I use dishwashing liquid that’s better for the environment. The recycled bottles have 100% natural ingredients and are non-toxic. The bottle is biodegradeable and the liquid has not been tested on animals.

Saving Bottles of H2O

I refill used bottles with our water dispenser instead of buying lots of bottles of water everyday. This saves the environment by throwing less empty water bottles away.

Microwave Ovens

By using the microwave oven for small portions like warming up pizza, it saves on electricity. I don’t have to turn on the oven to warm up or cook small portions of food.

Electronics

By totally turning off the laptop or computer instead of putting it on standby, will help save electricity. As much as I like to leave the computer on standby, it wastes energy. 75% of all electricity in the house is used up by machines on standby mode.

FACT: The average desktop computer, without a monitor, uses from 60 to 250 watts of power a day. Totally shutting it off will reduce the CO2 emissions by 83%.

Unplugging the Gameboy!

I always unplug my Nintendo or Gameboyafter I have charged it up. I don’t leave it on the charger after it is fully charged. This saves on electricity and from keeping it from standby mode.

Sleepful Paradise

By leaving the windows and doors closed with the air conditioning on while I sleep, it saves on electricity. The air conditioning is not allowed to leave the room and cool off the outside.

Closed Doors!

I always keep the door closed when I sleep to keep the air conditioning inside my bedroom, as well as to keep my dog Zeus inside.

Saving Paper

By printing on both sides of paper, I am saving trees. It takes about 24 trees to make 500 sheets of paper. The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper every year. One tree makes $31,250 worth of oxygen, $62,000 worth of air pollution control, recycles $37,500 worth of water, and stops $31,250 worth of soil erosion during it’s 50 year life.

Aluminum Tabs

By recycling aluminum tabs instead of just throwing them away, I help the disabled. The tabs are melted down and made into prosthetic limbs.

Recycling Batteries

I take my used batteries to ISB to be recycled. Batteries contain many chemicals like cadmium, alkaline, nickel and mercury and are dangerous to the environment. It is estimated in the U.S. that 350 million batteries are used yearly and thrown away or recycled. The batteries thrown away in the landfills will leak and get into the soil and water supply.

Fluorescent LightbulbsI have begun using fluorescent lightbulbs at home especially in my bedroom. Even though they cost 3 to 5 times more than a regular lightbulb, they use a lot less electricity and last for several years. A 26 watt fluorescent lightbulb is equal to a 100 watt regular lightbulb.

FACT: If every U.S. home used one fluorescent lightbulb, it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes a year, save $700 million in energy costs, and stop 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions every year.

Soapy Goodness

Instead of throwing away the empty dishwashing liquid bottles, I refill them from larger bags of dishwashing liquid. This reduces the plastic bottles at the landfill. The plastic bags can be flattened which is better than throwing away a bottle.

The Grateful Bars

We have several power strips in my house. This one is used for the computer and is switched off when not in use. By using a power strip I can switch off several appliances at the same time instead of them being on standby mode. I put less CO2 in the atmosephere.

Money Stealers

My mom pays all her bills on-line. It saves trees because she does not have to write out a paper check and does not use an envelope. It reduces fuel use of the truck and planes that have to transport the check to the company. If every U.S. home paid their bills on-line, it would save 1.6 billion tons of solid waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2.1 million tons a year.

Protecting the HeatI try to make sure to use the correct pot or pan for the right size burner on our electric stove. A lot of people use the wrong burner and waste heat. If you put a small pot or pan on a larger burner, 40% of the heat will disappear in the air and not used to warm up your food. I also try to turn off the burner before the food is done, because it takes awhile for the burner to cool down anyway. It will still allow the food to cook even though the burner is turned off and wasting less energy.