Some little boys want to be President, some little girls want to be astronauts, and some kids want to grow up to be super heroes.  The most probable of the three could turn out to be the latter. Here are some environmental careers for those who have a passion for saving the world.

AIR QUALITY SPECIALIST Are you constantly riding your bike to classes and posting flyers for car pools? An air quality specialist works on testing the level of emissions, sources, and new technologies to stop emissions eventually.  Working in this field can range from sciences, technology, to public speaking.

ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGNER Are you front and center at all social functions on campus? An environmental campaigner does the dirty work to get environmentally friendly bills passed, foundations endorsed by famous names, financial loans, and other support for Earth-friendly projects.   Think of this position as a talent manager for Mother Nature.

SAVE THE RAIN FOREST Are you studying abroad? Rain forests have had the world’s attention for decades now, and they still need saving!  Many worldwide foundations like The World Resources Institute have active offices all over the world.  Positions can range from door-to-door petitioning with locals to speaking in court houses with international governments.

If you have an enthusiasm for saving the environment, but have yet to find a major, one of the above could be for you!  If you are already active in the green community, why not get paid for it?  These are ways to turn your hobby or interests into a career!

(Image source: http://bioliberty.ning.com)

Joy to the world because Christmas is near. Reindeer and manager scenes litter the yards, Christmas stockings hanging from the fireplace, and who can forget the red, green, and white Christmas lights that cover the house. No doubt the electric bill will be sky high, not to mention all the energy and resources wasted during the holiday season. Some might say that Christmas is bad for the environment. That could be true if people don’t realize the repercussions of their festivities!

According to the National Geographic News, Robert Lilienfield states, “Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s day, Americans throw away a million extra tons [900,000 metric tons] of garbage each week, including holiday wrapping and packaging.” Lilienfied is co-author of the book Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are. With the amount of money wasted on gift paper you could buy extra gifts.

Being eco-friendly is about reducing, saving, and recycling. Christmas time is no different. As a matter of fact, this time can be used to share and use the eco-friendly tips we come across all year. Many people are unaware of simple and everyday ways of incorporating green living. So in the midst of tis the season to be jolly, here are a few tips to an eco-friendly Christmas:

• Use LED lights – Use 90 percent less energy, meaning they are energy efficient and approved by Energy Star. According to HolidayLEDs.com, “Energy Star qualified products and practices help you save money and reduce greenhouse emissions by meeting strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE. The ENERGY STAR label also designates superior energy performance in homes and buildings.” According to one U.S. Department of Energy study, if everyone replaced their conventional holiday light strings with LEDs, at least TWO BILLION(!) kilowatt-hours of electricity could be saved in a month.
• Refrain from using paper plates and plastic cups and silverware – Spread the chores by asking people to help with the dishes. Imagine all the paper and plastic that can be saved during this time alone!
• Recycle — Get out last years bags that someone gave you and reuse them. Instead of fully wrapping a gift use a little ribbon to tie around the present…REDUCE!
• Recycle – Get those creative juices flowing and combine different wrapping paper scrapes that are left lying around.
• Conserve — Unplug lights during the day. Lights that are cut off but still plugged in is still considered waste energy.

(Image source: stanzapub.com)

We’re well into Autumn, now, what with Halloween being this weekend. Most people don’t realize it, but this time of year is a key for practicing being ecofriendly with all the parties and festivities going on! Why not celebrate this colorful time the green way? Get the whole family involved and start planning now. Here are few ideas:

1) Throwing a Party – Send out invites via evite.com to cut down on paper. Host the party the pot luck style and reduce the waste of bags, cans, plastic, and paper plates. This also saves you money on food (remember the 3 Rs). Provide beverages in a punch bowl, served with glasses, to reduce bottle waste. Make homemade candy, rather than passing out store brought candy that can leave a long trail of wrappers. This also reduces the clean up time, perfect for busy families everywhere!

2) Trick or Treating – Buy reusable buckets, bags, or pillow cases. These items are eco-friendly and can hold more candy. Save gas and sneak in some exercise by staying in your neighborhood to collect goodies. Get your creative juices flowing and try designing costumes with unused items in the house or patching up old clothes for a unique style. It beats buying new costumes from year to year. In 2008, the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey predicted Halloween spending to reach 5.77 billion dollars. This year, try something new!

3)  Host a Neighborhood Cleanup – Let’s face it, no matter how much you put into your green efforts, not everyone will follow suit. But their environmental reluctance doesn’t have to result in negative repercussions for the whole community—not if everyone pitches in! After the Halloween and other parties, plan a cleanup team.. Invite the kids to help, this will teach them about community service and give them another chance to see their friends.

Still unsure what you should be this year for Halloween? Green is the way to go!

(Image Source: ursispaltenstein.ch)

The focus of my blog is how the individual’s efforts can effect a situation dramatically. Much of what I focus has to do with simple solutions. However, I wanted to take a second to recognize the entertainment industry for its steps for creating a more environmentally aware culture. Award shows are gearing up to make 2009 the most ecofriendly year imaginable. Celebrities promoting the ability to reduce their carbon footprint at highly profiled events are guaranteed to target the correct audience; the teen generation.

In August, the Teen Choice Awards, sported a green carpet made out of synthetic grass, which musicians, such as Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears walked. This support was just enough to promote the go-green theme to a young audience.
The 2009 Tony Awards aimed their go-green message towards a different demographic. Throughout the event, related theatre telecasts were broadcasted, to motivate theater communities to adopt environmental friendly practices in their production.

At the 2009 Emmy Awards, producer’s announced their “Green with Emmy,” campaign. Their production consisted of lighting that reduced energy, tickets printer on tree-free paper, and catering with recipes made with local produce.
The Grammys also made their first step to changing the environment. Winners and nominees were given gift-bags made with eco-friendly material and program books made from recycled paper.

It’s important for highly anticipated and televised award shows to promote their audience to become more environmentally aware. Music and entertainment are the best way to reach many different demographics to reduce their carbon footprint. Congrats and thank you to the forces behind these insightful programs and efforts!

(Image source: bryan-brown.com)

The only way you haven’t heard of solar energy is if you’ve been living under a rock for the past 20 years. The question is, have you ever thought about the impact that solar energy has on the environment? Ever thought why it’s was important to conserve solar energy? Well, solar energy is energy from the sun that is transformed into thermal or electrical energy, and converted into heat once it hits a surface. Without the sun we could not survive on earth, because enough heat would not be produced to keep us warm.

We use solar energy to grow plants, cook food, warm the house, run the car, and make electricity. Solar energy also makes rain fall and the wind blow. We collect energy through dams and windmills. Solar energy produces no air or water pollution and no greenhouse gases. Despite the initial substantial amount, solar energy is cheaper over time. Solar energy is renewable and clean, plus it is free as long as the sun shines.

Knowing this will allow everyone to partake in being ecofriendly by incorporating the three “Rs” (reduce, reuse, and recycle) and conserving solar energy. Here are seven ways to reduce your use:
1. Turn washer to cold or warm water—not hot, switching can save 500 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

2. Buy compact fluorescent bulbs—they use only a quarter of the energy from regular bulbs, plus they are much brighter.

3. Walk or ride a bike instead of driving—save money, gas, and drop a few pounds while conserving energy.

4. Avoid over checking food while it’s cooking in the oven—each time the oven door is open, the temperature drops, which makes the energy expend to increase the temperature.

5. Take a shower over a bath—showers use four times less energy than a bath.

6. Use less hot water—enough said.

7. Plant a tree—maximize the energy generated from the sun. This also helps plant growth and produce harvest.

(Image source: solar.envirohub.net)

Thousands of important items are trashed instead of recycled each day—mostly because people don’t know their options. According to the Toxic Substances Control Program in California, “Americans throw away about 35 billion aluminum cans every year.” RAYS, also known as Recycle and You Save, states, “A recycled six-pack of aluminum cans could save enough energy to drive a car five miles.”

Glass also can be recycled, despite minimum advertising, “Most bottles and jars contain at least 25 percent recycled glass. Glass never wears out and it can be recycled forever” (The Recycler’s Handbook). Steel is another item that’s hardly mentioned when discussing recycling. “Americans use 100 million steel cans a day. We throw away enough steel every year to build all the new cars made in America” (50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Recycle). So what other type of items can be recycled besides paper, water bottles, cans, and plastic? Here is a list of nine creative items to recycle:

• Wrapping paper – Use as a packing tool, as animal bedding for small pets, scrapbooking material, or spitballs.

• Eyeglasses – Maybe that Lasik has worked and you no longer need those glasses. Why not give them to organizations that help the needy. Contact (800)-CLEANUP to find a list of drop-off stations.

• Old Jeans – Have some free time on your hands and a creative itch? Use your old fabrics to make quilts, pocket books and backpacks, dress up scarecrow, book covers, and whatever else you can think of.

• Bottle caps – How often have you recycled a plastic bottle but tossed the lid? Aveda has a program called Recycle Caps with Aveda, which encourages schools to get their students involved in the program. It’s a great educational tool.

• Carpet – Sure, there may be pet stains and all kinds of odors, but your old carpet is someone else’s steal! Take old carpet to a local charity or used building materials recycling center. It could as floor mats in the car or laundry room.

• Aerosol cans – take the cap off and make sure the can is empty, then place them on the curbside alone with the other recycling items.
• Computers – Every two to four years Americans upgrade to a faster, better computer. The leftovers can be cleaned up, erasing the hard drive, and donated to local organization and charities.

• Cellphones – This month it’s the iPhone. Next it’s the Storm. We go through phone so quickly, because just like computers, we want the most up-to-date software. If you’ve got phones making paperweights, try donating them to organizations that recycle them. Or, if it’s in usable condition, try reselling it online.

• VHS – Have you even heard of this? Guaranteed there is someone out there who has a VHS machine collecting dust. Free up the clutter and place them in the mail to Alternative Community Training, a nonprofit company that provides jobs to people with disabilities.

(Image Source: inhabitat.com)

Granted, I’m not suggesting that water bottle sandals are for you, but there are a number of uses for the plastic that go beyond attire and water containers. Americans purchase an estimated 34.6 billion single-serving water bottles each year. Bottled water is the single most used among all beverages, which includes alcohol, juices, and soft drinks. The growth of water bottles has increased greatly from 3.3 billion in 1997 to 15 billion in 2002. Now that’s a lot of plastic. Most bottled water is consumed away from home, normally at the park, at the gym, in the office, and while driving—areas where there is no recycling. There are hardly any areas to recycle outside the home.

About eight out of ten bottles make it to a landfill or incinerator. Hundreds of millions find destinations as litter on the roads, parks, beaches, in streams, and other waterways. Taxpayers pay numerous dollars each year in disposal and litter cleanup cost. Many people throw away water bottles after using them, because they find no need to reuse them.

Here are eight ways to reuse water bottles:
• Refill bottles with water and freeze to use as an ice package for lunch boxes
• Refill bottles with your favorite beverage or protein shake
• Refill bottles with sauces and salad dressings
• Refill bottles with water and poke holes in the top to sprinkle plants.
• Keep them and use them for students’ science projects
• Save money for a rainy day
• Reuse bottles for weights—refill different size bottles with sand or water.
A liter bottle filled with dry sand weighs about 2.6 pounds!

Whether you’re sad the kiddies are heading back to campus, or you’ve got brew on ice (mostly the latter?), either way they’re going to head off. The following ideas can help you save over $500 dollars an year and still help the environment!!

1. Britta filtration system or something similar—Have you seen some of the brown sludge that comes out of the faucets on some campuses? Just nasty. The only other alternative? Bottled water? But let’s say that your kid drinks two bottles a day (not nearly enough, by the way) at a buck each, and he’s in school for nine months (on average). That’s 270 bottles a year….AND $270 dollars! $270! On something that you already pay for! And if they complain, there is always healthier water in the cafeteria!

2. Water bottle—A necessary item when you buy the filtration system. This $12 dollar item (if she says she needs a fancy one with cool designs) will allow her to get the eight cups a day, keep her awake (hydrated individuals are more alert and healthy), and giver her something to play with during physics when the teacher is droning on and on.

3. Energy-saving light bulbs—Late night cram sessions require lots of light. Why spend money on nine light bulbs a year when one energy-saving bulb will last longer and cost you and your kid less in the long run?

4. Canvas bag—This will come in handy when he goes to the school store, either for books or groceries. This will reduce Junior’s waste, because he won’t bring the items home and trash the paper/plastic bags. And, now there are great options for something he’d actually want to be seen in public with. I mean, you could torture him and go to extremes, with and put puppies and hearts on it, but the point is for him to use it!

5. Notebooks of recycled paper—Really, this is just an obvious one. No need to go into detail here!

6. Timer for the house lights—Especially if it’s your daughter at school, you don’t want her coming home to a dark house. It’s just not safe. But leaving the lights on all day (because she’s a rock star and taking 5 classes a day and working) wastes electricity and sends the energy bill skyrocketing! Instead invest the few bucks in a light timer. She’ll save money. You’ll feel comforted that she’s not walking into a pitch black house!

7. A bike—If Junior doesn’t have a bike already, now is the perfect time to set him up. For large campuses, like Penn State, getting from one class to another can be a real hassle. This is especially true when the university limits how many cars can be on campus. By using this alternate mode of transportation, you save gas money, parking fees, and his stress of finding a spot! (Oh and don’t want to spend a fortune? Check out the many police auctions that have very nice bikes for really inexpensive prices!!)

8. A basic dish set—Maybe she’ll wash it, maybe she won’t. But giving your student a couple bowls, plates, and utensils will come in handy when she wants to make a sandwich or heat up takeout (microwaving those Styrofoam containers releases all those plastic chemicals!). This is a better alternative to plasticware, as she won’t be loading up the landfills, and you won’t be shelling out $20 bucks a month. You easily save $240!! Pretty much cost of one textbook!

9. Surge protector—Not so much about saving energy as saving the life of his computer, though not an issue on a global scale, still important, nonetheless.

10. Clothes drying rack—This especially works well if your kid is living off campus and has his/her own washer and dryer (yes a miracle in the college scene but not unheard of). Energy bill amounts will lessen. Good for your wallet. Good for the environment!

Ah, tomorrow is September 1 and while the kids will be gearing up for school, the adults will be bracing themselves for the ever-increasing costs of running a home during the cooler months. With rising unemployment and decreasing job opportunities, everyone will be looking, even more than before, to save month without layering themselves in 12 sweaters. While some of you may like this over-zealous, cash-saving approach, there are other ways of saving money without turning yourselves into a waddling pumpkin.

Try these 5 no-brainer tips this autumn to not only save energy, but save money!

1. Use Energy Star-approved energy-saving light bulbs: According to It’s All Green (www.itsallgreen.wordpress.com), if every home in the US replaced just ONE incandescent bulb with a low-E compact fluorescent bulb our nation could cut the emissions of greenhouse gases to the equivalent of 800,000 cars. Not to mention that the bulbs last more than 9x longer than the standard bulb!
2. Use your ceiling fan to circulate to push down the rising heat and circulating it around you by putting it on the lowest setting instead of turning up the thermostat!
3. Put heavy door jams in front of all the exits, where door seals may not be in the best condition. This will prevent hot air leaving through the imperfections of construction.
4. Close blinds and curtains at night. If possible, hang heavier material during the cooler months.
5. Check the seams of the window to ensure no air is escaping. A simple caulking job will fix this!

Home offices are one of the major culprits of wasting energy. Even when we aren’t using them, computers and printers suck up energy and money! Follow these tips and techniques to slash your spending!

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