Did you know that less than 2% of the Earth’s water is fresh? Why conserve it? Well, the plants and animals need it. We do not replace the fresh water that we consume as fast as it is used. When you use water wisely you save money and you save energy. Aren’t these great reasons to cut back on your usage?  

This product is great to teach youngsters to conserve water. Build these habits early on and our children will hold onto them for a life time.  Conditioning our kids to live a green life and do their small part can make a significant difference for their own future and their kids and their kids… you get it.

This device is easy to use, contains a mini hour glass and teaches young and old alike to conserve water in a fun way!  All you have to do is rotate the timer and when the sand runs out you stop your shower. After a few times, you will know exactly how long it will take to wash your hair!

Here are some websites that you can buy this item:

• http://letsgogreen.biz/pages/water.html
• http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/shower-coach-shower-timer
• http://www.yeebiz.com/c/17/666-173/Promotion-Gifts.html
• http://www.amazon.com/ChangeForGreen-Niagara-Shower-Coach-Timer/dp/B004HEBTH8

By Dena Fritz

WCAFI  (World Clean Air Forest Initiative) offers an incredible deal if you care about our earth’s environment. There is not much to do, just by a Clean Air Tree Kit. Inside the kit, there is a growing pellet, pot, tree seeds and instructions. Several trees can even grow from one kit! The kit contains the best local seeds for the area you live in so that when you plant your tree, it has the best chance of growing. The kit packaging is 100% biodegradable, made out of potato waste, is completely compostable. Name your tree, register it, place it on their map to see how many trees have been purchased and planted. The best part about this program is that when you plant a tree, they plant a tree.

Communicate your company’s values with a unique green gift. Use the Clean Air Tree Kit as a promotional product. Plant a tree in memory of a loved one or as a gift. For every Clean Air Tree Kit that you buy WCAFI will plant another tree with their tree planting partners around the world and invest in Local Forests to extend the life of your campaigns.  

By Dena Fritz

Recycle, reuse and reduce. That is the mantra of anyone who is environmentally conscience. There is no better way to to be eco friendly than to recycle old goods into new decor for your home. Antiques are an excellent way to reduce your carbon footprint, you know, someone’s trash can be someone’s treasures and all that…. Possibilities are endless when it comes to antiques and that shabby chic vintage look which is so “in” right now. The lovely patina (wear and tear) that antiques hold is what makes them so desirable. Shopping for antiques can be tons of fun and educational too. You can learn much from things that are old, they represent a different era, a time in history, sometimes more than 100 years old.  Craftsmanship is another reason that antiques are so alluring, made from a time when manufacturing with quality and a personal stamp on an item meant great pride. Antiques are almost always unique in their making, some handcrafted and one of a kind. Usually the more unique, the more expensive an antique is. Get started, begin small, take your time and look around. There is something out there for everyone. Good luck!

 The Nature Conservancy offers 5 practical steps to prevent nutrient pollution

Harrisburg, PA – (May 12, 2011) – Everyone needs clean, fresh water. Keeping our water clean is crucial to supporting life, for both people and nature. As spring weather spreads across North America, The Nature Conservancy wants consumers to know that the decisions they make about lawn and garden care can affect the fresh water in your local river and everything downstream – all the way to the ocean.

Hundreds of millions of people across the country rely on fresh water for drinking water and recreation, and these sources need to be protected so they can stay clean for us and for future generations. One frequent way that water becomes polluted is through excess nutrients – fertilizers, both chemical fertilizers and manure, running off farm fields and suburban lawns.

 “Every living thing needs nutrients, but overloading a freshwater system with nutrients can be disastrous,” said Jeff Opperman, a senior freshwater scientist with the Conservancy. Too many nutrients cause algae to grow in unnaturally high quantities, leading to fish kills, drinking water problems and “dead zones” in places like the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico.

“Globally, agricultural chemicals are a primary source of these nutrients, but the way people manage their lawns and gardens has a real effect on the streams and lakes in your neighborhood,” Opperman said.

What can you do to make your lawn truly “green,” and not just lush?

Five Ways to ‘Green” Your Lawn and Garden Care

Use Less Fertilizer
Excess fertilizer flows off your lawn and garden and ends up in nearby rivers and lakes and eventually make its way to the sea.  If you must use fertilizer, get a soil test first. Find out what your lawn needs.    Many lawns don’t need phosphorus, for example, so phosphorus-free fertilizers might just work for you. Use only what you need, and make sure it stays on the lawn. If you spill some on the sidewalk, sweep it up. And only use it when the lawn is growing.  Remember that any kind of fertilizer, organic or chemical, can be over-used.

Slow Your Runoff
We all want to keep our properties from flooding, but when all the water washes off city streets and our rooftops and yards, it carries a lot of nutrients and sediment with it. These materials can be harmlessly processed by the soils and plants on your property, but in a lake or river they can cause real problems. To slow that water down, don’t cut your grass along a creek or drainage swale.  Better yet, replace grass with native plants that will bind the soil and slow down the water. Or maybe create a water garden, which is both functional—it holds and slows down stormwater—and an attractive landscaping feature. Or buy a rain barrel for the water coming off your roof.  The rain in the barrel can then be used to water your gardens and lower your water bill.

Create Less Waste
Grass clippings are high in nutrients so you want to keep them out of the water.  Use a compost bin or use a mulching mower or both. Often, mulching your grass clippings can help reduce the need for fertilizer. And it’s good to keep the nutrient-rich grass clippings and leaves out of storm drains and of ditches.  Cutting your lawn high (3-4 inches) also increases its vigor, shades out unwanted weeds, and requires less water.

Use Native Plants
In general, using more native plants that are right for your part of the world reduces the need for fertilizers, pesticides and watering.  Replace some of your lawn with wildflower gardens, for example.

Buy Sustainable
Although home lawn care can play a significant role in keeping fresh water clean, you can also help promote healthy land and water with your food choices: what you buy, when you buy it, and the producers you support with your purchases. You can make choices about food that support the kind of farmers who work to minimize water pollution. Organic farms, for example, don’t use chemical fertilizers and are required to demonstrate that they are protecting their watershed.

For some practical steps consumers can take to reduce the amount of excess nutrients they add to the watershed where they live, see the video “Green Choices for Lawn and Garden, by visiting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWey6JtlTEY

Read more about protecting fresh water resources at www.nature.org

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org/pennsylvania

By Dena Fritz

Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Dish Soap is great! I use this on our boat to be environmentally friendly on the bay. It smells good, like lavender, which is what it is. I was surprised at how sudsy this soap was. A little goes a long way, lasting through more than a sink load of dishes. In a bucket, this soap was excellent for cleaning the bathroom, the hallway walls and the bedroom laminate and it still was sudsy. Easy to rinse, clean feeling, it left my hands feeling soft and supple. Mrs. Meyers is a green cleaning product and not tested on animals. It comes in a recyclable container and the ingredients are biodegradable and free of petrochemicals. All information of their products are listed on their website.  At only $3.99 per bottle, this product is clearly a great value.

Did you know that some of your  power cords continue to draw energy even when you are unplugged or not using your electronics? It is true. For your electronics that need charging, unplug your cords when not using them.

As far as appliances and electronics that are always plugged in, there is a solution, it is called a smart strip. As well as acting as a surge protector, this strip has a feature called “AutoSwitch Technology,” shutting down devices that are not being used. Not only does it save you money but it saves our environment. This is the kind of tool/technology we need in our every day life to help us do our little part in conserving energy.

This strip uses very little energy and is clearly marked on each outlet for those items that you want to use the AutoSwitch on and the ones you always want hot. With a wall mountable design, an angled space saving plug and a six foot cord , this strip is versatile and convenient.

By Dena Fritz

Great idea founded in 2008 by Mike Marone in New York, the world’s largest recycling event on May 14th in North Chili, NY. Kudos to Mike for coming up with this idea! It is an event held to give away your goods to save them from ending up in a landfill. Are you a hoarder or on you way to being one? This event can help you help others! Wouldn’t it be great if the idea spread to more neighborhoods? How about a national event? This is what I am talking about. Your trash is almost always someone else’s treasures. All you do is place your items on the curb for others to take away free. It’s like a “curb alert” for all in the neighborhood. No cost and very little effort, you can clean out your junk and help out someone who may need that item. I do this all the time with craigslist offering things for free that I would have to pay to have hauled away, you wouldn’t believe what people look for. Start an event in your neighborhood or just give it away on a site like craigslist, you will be happy you did!

Protect the future of nature by signing up for a Visa Signature Credit Card. It benefits the World Wildlife Fund because they receive a contribution every time you purchase with your card. With your Visa Signature Credit Card by Bank of America, you can accumulate WorldPoints. You can earn a WorldPoint reward point for every dollar in net purchases and then redeem them for cash, travel, merchandise, gift certificates and more. The best part is that you can earn rewards and redeem them for “green” purchase.

Choose your own card design with either the WWF panda bear image, a tiger or a polar bear. You can take advantage of their special offer of a plush stuffed animal to match your card design (free after qualifying transactions).

Shirley and Eugene Goles and their family, from Baltimore, Md., have camped at the Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Quarryville, Pa. almost every Easter for nearly 40 years.

 ”That’s when our family starts our summer camping trips,” Shirley said, adding that the tradition started even before the 175-site campground joined the Jellystone Park chain in 1991.

“We just love the park and the area that it’s in,” Shirley said, adding that their children, grandchildren and many other family members have all grown up having their Easter egg hunts and other holiday activities at the Quarryville Jellystone Park.

Jellystone Parks are nationally famous for their family friendly activities, which take place most weekends throughout late spring, summer and fall.

But while most activities are geared toward children and teenagers, some Jellystone Parks also have Easter activities specifically for adults, including the Jellystone Park in Hagerstown, Md., which holds separate egg hunts for men and women with about 200 to 300 plastic eggs that are stuffed with coupons that can be redeemed for soda, candy, game room tickets and other assorted adult beverages.

“We have to hold these egg hunts separately. Otherwise, the men will push the women out of the way to get the eggs,” said park co-owner Vicki Vitkun.

The Quarryville Jellystone Park also offers separate Easter egg hunts for children and adults as well as an egg rolling and decorating contest, a visit by the Easter bunny, and nighttime DJ dancing with a light show.

•  Here’s a sampling of what’s being planned at Jellystone Parks in several cities east of the Rockies: Bremen, Ga.: This park’s Easter egg hunt involves hayrides with an antique tractor and real bunnies. The park is also planning train rides, Easter egg basket making and other children’s activities. www.georgiajellystone.com
• Burleson, Texas: Activities include making an Easter basket, and parents will have the option of filling them up or having Yogi Bear deliver them to their children. A big egg hunt is also planned. Additionally, a local church hosts a live Easter Pageant, and they will send their cast members – including a high priest, a blind man and Jesus – will come to the park in costume to share their experiences.

www.rusticcreekranch.com

• Canyon Lake, Texas: Activities at this park include a nighttime flashlight Easter egg hunt for the older kids with thousands of eggs and a church service on Sunday. www.jellystonehillcountry.com
• Frankenmuth, Mich.: This park mirror’s the Osterbrunnen Easter decorating traditions of Franconia, Germany, and decorates the park with thousands of eggs and ribbon. The park will also have an Easter egg hunt, Easter decorating, movies, games and crafts. www.frankenmuthjellystone.com
• Fremont, Ind.: This park will have egg dying and an egg hunt as well as other activities, including bingo, cartoons, wagon rides and free pancakes. Real baby chicks and bunnies will also be on hand. www.jellystonesbest.com
• Horn Lake, Miss.: This park is planning egg dying, an Easter egg hunt, spoon races and a coloring contest. www.memphisjellystone.com
• Nashville, Tenn.: This park’s activities include crafts, such as decorating you own Easter basket, egg games and an Easter egg hunt. www.nashvillejellystone.com

The Goles Family doesn’t limit their Jellystone camping to the Quarryville Park at Easter. They also visit the Jellystone Park in Hagerstown, though they have a tradition of closing out the camping season with a visit to the Quarryville Park in October, when the park hosts its Halloween themed weekends, with costume contests, trick or treating and campsite decorating.

“About 15 families will join us for camping for Halloween. At times we have had as many as 65 in our group,” Shirley said. For more information on activities and events at the Quarryville Jellystone, visit www.jellystonepa.com. Activities listings for the Hagerstown Jellystone is available at www.jellystonemaryland.com.

About Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park™ Camp-Resorts

Launched in 1969, the Jellystone Park system now boasts 75 campgrounds with more than 15,000 campsites in 30 states and three Canadian provinces.  Its Camp-Resorts are among the best campgrounds in the industry with a quality reputation for being fun, friendly, clean and customer service-oriented parks. Additionally, each Jellystone Park is themed with Yogi Bear elements providing instant recognition and consumer appeal.  It is truly a place “Where You Camp With Friends.”®   

Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts are franchised through Leisure Systems, Inc. (LSI), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Park River Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, visit www.campjellystone.com.

Some make Earth Day part of their lives everyday. For those of us that do our little part and would like to do more, there are things you can do to make a difference. Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd and it is an opportunity to join in various special projects around your community to help with the preservation of your environment. On the EPA website there are several things that you can do to join in. Submit a video for “It’s my environment”, submission deadline is April 15th. This is your part to show your commitment to environmental protection part of your life. Other things you can do and on the EPA website you can click on 5 different categories to view the many actionable items from using pesticides wisely to organizing a local event. You don’t have to go crazy,  just do your little part, start small and go with it. You will be proud of yourself and it will motivate you to do more!