A call to action for Earth Day

photo by Christian A. Lopez

This Monday, the nation will once again begin to celebrate one of its biggest holidays. People will flood malls and shopping centers in a last minute attempt to grab gifts for loved ones to celebrate this special occasion.

In America's preparations to celebrate Christmas, oh wait! This Monday is actually Earth Day. Whoops, the two are so alike they can be very easily confused.

Sarcasm noted and all, Earth Day is a very underrepresented holiday. As sad as it may seem, people just do not seem to care about their home enough to promote a holiday actually worth celebrating it. Honestly, before reading this, were you aware that Monday was Earth Day?

All of that aside, the Campus Times would like to offer a few suggestions to help fellow students, faculty and staff alike properly celebrate Spring's biggest event (wink, wink).

1. Turn off the faucet while brushing teeth. Up to a gallon of water can be saved every time. Other water saving techniques to be followed include taking quick showers instead of baths, installing a water-saving shower head and only turning on the faucet when washing dishes to rinse them.

2. Use the car's air conditioner only when exceeding speeds of more than 40 miles per hour, or when on the freeway. This conserves fuel because driving at a higher, constant speed require far less fuel than 'stop and go' driving with the air conditioning on.

3. Wash clothes in warm water instead of hot when doing laundry. This reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 500 pounds per year.

4. Donate old clothes or belongings to a local Goodwill or Salvation Army. To help on both sides of this issue, purchase clothes from thrift stores also. This is a form of recycling involving clothing.

5. Be a smart consumer. Try to buy recycled products and refrain from buying products like styrofoam. Also buy rechargeable batteries and energy-saving light bulbs.

6. Walk to school with friends or ride bikes. This would obviously cut down on fuel emissions from the automobile that would have been used.

7. Carpool when travelling in groups. Most of the time, driving is more enjoyable when other people are in the car.

8. Print on both sides of the paper. Professors should even allow papers to be accepted printed on both sides of the paper. The same goes for writing papers longhand-use both sides.

9. Stay up to date on environmental issues. Check up on the news by visiting the Environmental News Network website at www.enn.com.

10. Air dry clothes on laundry racks instead of using the dryer. This will help the environment and also help to reduce your electricity bill.

11. Start a compost bin for your yard or garden if you have one. A lot of garbage like vegetable and fruit peels and coffee grounds get tossed out unnecessarily. These organic wastes can go into the compost to help reduce garbage output.

12. Be on the lookout for organic foods. While a little more expensive, doing so will cut down on pesticides and are also beneficial to your health by reducing your chances of cancer from chemical ingestion.

13. While buying a car, consider gas mileage. Fuel emissions can cause acid rain and smog.

14. And the most obvious suggestion, simply put: RECYCLE!