Happy Earth Day! (Ten Tips)

Hello Friends,

Hope all is well. Happy Earth Day. Today is the day to celebrate our planet. We need to be mindful of the place that we call home. We must take better care of our habitat. If we don't we will soon have to find another place to live.

Use this day as a reminder to take care of the earth. It should become a daily practice. The following are some great tips to help preserve the earths' resources. Begin to employ these energy saving tactics. If enough people adhere to these practices, the planet will be a much cleaner and safer place to live.

Remember that we are connected to nature. There has to be a balance between humans and nature. If we exhaust the planet of its resources it will no longer be able sustain us as a people. Love your planet. Respect your planet. Give back to your planet. Mother Earth will certainly return the favor ten fold. Have a great afternoon and thanks for listening. Blessings!

Ten things you can do this Earth Day
Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Wondering how you can make a difference? Here are 10 things you can do to help the planet, whether it's Earth Day or not.

1. Leave your car at home for a day (or a week or a month) and try walking or biking. If work is too far away to walk, take public transit or carpool. One city bus eliminates the emissions of 40 cars.

2. Turn off the lights, the computer and the television when they are not in use. Using only highly efficient and money-saving appliances can reduce the electricity consumption of an average household to one-10th of the national average.

3. Try eating meat-free at least one day a week. A meat-based diet requires seven times more land than a plant-based diet. Livestock production is responsible for more climate change gasses than all the motor vehicles in the world.

4. Choose foods produced organically, locally and in season. Support your regional farmers and farming industry: buying locally and in season is better for the environment than buying foods that have been shipped hundreds of kilometres to your local market.

5. Put a composter in your backyard or use your green bin to reduce household waste. Composting organics has two key benefits: it reduces the amount of waste going to landfills and when added to your garden, helps nourish soil and plants.

6. Turn off your car's engine if stopped for more than 10 seconds. If every driver of a light-duty vehicle avoided idling by five minutes a day, collectively, we would save 1.8 million litres of fuel per day, almost 4500 tonnes of GHG emissions.

7. Set your thermostat above room temperature in the summer and below room temperature in the winter. For each degree you adjust, you can save 5% on your utility bill and 1% on your energy use.

8. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). A CFL uses only 25% as much energy as an incandescent bulb and lasts 10 times longer.

9. The simple act of recycling has more impact on the environment than the average Canadian thinks. The amount of wood and paper North Americans throw away each year is enough to heat five million homes for 200 years.

10. This is a great opportunity to brag. Tell someone what you're doing to make the world a better place. Support the cause. Encourage them to get involved too.

Source: Earth Day Canada

My 3 Favorite Quotes

Hello Friends,

Hope all is well.

Ok, lay it on us...what is the best quote ever in your book...or is it somewhere on your blog already?

This was a question I was asked a few days ago from my friends at the Earth & Economy blog. This is a blog in which they "Find, Review, and Share Green Content." They have tons of excellent information pertaining to living a green lifestyle. The following is the categories that they cover on there blog. When you click on these tabs you are treated to a ton of articles on that particular subject.
Building, Business, Directories, Education, Energy, Jobs, Law, Living, Media, Organizations, Politics, Products, Resources, Science, Technology, Travel. Be sure to visit them for all things green.

So back to the question. First of all. I have not written a book(yet). I hope I didn't say that I did somewhere. I am still growing. I'm more into reading books at this point. Maybe the inspiration for a book will hit me one day.

So what is my best quote...? I have three that I say to myself daily and really try adhere to. These three quotes keep me grounded throughout my day to day activities.

Quote #1

Focus on what you want, rather than what you don't want.

The reason many of us don't get what we want out of life is because focus we on what we don't want in life. A lot of say, "I don't want to be broke." "I don't want to be sick." "I don't want to be in this horrible relationship anymore." These words and thoughts have very strong negative emotions attached to them.

The Universe gives you what you thinking and feeling about the most. It may seem like you're are doing the right thing by saying that you don't want something, but the Universe will simply give you more of what you don't want because that is where your focus is. If you focus on the mounting bills, the poor health, or unhealthy relationship, this is what you will get more of.

Start to focus on what you do want. Change your words and thoughts to "I want to live abundantly." I want to live a healthy lifestyle." I want to be in a loving relationship with a partner who accepts me for who I am." Put all your energy and emotions into this way of thinking. You will begin to see how the Universe will begin to place situations in front of you that will be alignment with what you are wanting.

Be sure to act when these opportunities arise. If you get a million dollar idea, that's the Universe working in your favor. Act immediately. Many times we get paralyzed or scared when the opportunity presents itself. Don't hinder what the Universe wants you to have.

Quote #2

The Power Of Attitude.

"Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but how we react to what happens. Not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thought, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst...A spark that creates extraordinary results."

I found this quote in an airplane magazine. I always try to keep a positive attitude. When you have a positive attitude, positive things happen to you. We are all going have trials and setbacks. That's just life. The true measure of our character is how we react to what happens to us. When negativity arises in your life squash it immediately. How do you that? Go back to the first quote and focus on what you want.

People will notice something different about you when you take a positive attitude. They will notice that you dictate what you want out of life instead of just letting life beat you down. People will want to be around you. They will feel comfortable around you. You will still get those people that will try to bring you down, but if you stay positive and true to yourself and your goals, amazing things will happen. Be ready to ride the wave of positive momentum.

Quote #3

"We must become the change we want to see in the world." Gandhi

This quote is very important to the times in which we are living. Gandhi advises us to change ourselves before we try to change the world. Gandhi understood that we create our reality through our thoughts. Whatever is happening on the inside is what will be projected in the physical world.

We have so many wars going on right now. The war against drugs. The war against crime. The war against terrorism. All of these wars are being lost because the focus is on war. War begets more war. In the movie "The Secret", it was mentioned how Mother Theresa refused to go to any anti- war rallies. "Show me a peace rally and I'll be the first one there." Mother Theresa knew that the "more you resist something, the more it persist."

We must change our thought to that of peace, love, and compassion. That is the only way to bring about peace in the world. There has to be a collective rise of positive consciousness. Start by being courteous to your neighbors, coworkers, and people that you meet in the street. I always get a kick out of the reactions of some people when I say hi or give them a compliment. They sometimes don't know how to react to niceness. It's almost like they are surprised.

So those are the three quotes that I try to live by everyday. As a bonus I'll give you one that I recently added to my daily reminder.

Bonus Quote

"Thank you for the gift of abundance!"

I say this to myself constantly. I say it if I find a penny on the ground. It is only a penny, but it a reminder to be thankful for what I already have and what is on the way. I say this not only for money but for all aspects of my life. Abundance can come financially, through good health, positive relationships, ideas, love, compassion, thoughtfulness, creativity, confidence, etc...It's easy to see how much abundance is really around us which takes us back to the first quote. Be thankful and focus on the abundance that you already have and the Universe will give you more to be thankful for.

Have fun with life and stay focused. Many blessings!

3 Of My "Green" Friends

Hello Friends,

Hope all is well. I added to two widgets to my site recently from GREENPEACE. A lot of talk has been made of "Going Green." I'm all for this movement. We have to start becoming more conscious of what is happening to our planet. The widget(one at the right and one at the bottom of the page) gives us ways in which we can do are part towards cleaning up our planet.

I hear a lot of people saying that we need to take of our planet but at the same time they aren't even recycling. If you aren't at least recycling, please start. That's the least anyone could do. Most cities have programs and recycling plants to handle the plastics and other items that are harmful to nature if not disposed of properly.

There are plenty of ways in which you can make a difference. These are three of my "Green Friends". They decided to make a difference not only in the products that they use and the lifestyle that they lead, but also decided to each author a blog to educate others about being "green friendly." Here are my new friends.

www.greenhomeimprovements.info
This blogger didn't leave his name but describes his blog as Green building, Green remodeling, Green design, Green living, green Options. A blog about green home improvements and green projects.

www.coolgreengadgets.com
Sasha gives us daily news about green and eco gadgets!

www.bestgreenblogs.com
Timothy's blog features a directory of green and sustainable weblogs, and interviews with people who blog green. They also feature an updated green meta with the latest postings from those green blogs listed in our directory.

Take the time to visit these sites. They will lead you to other sites as well with many great ideas on how to preserve the planet. This is a very important issue that needs many supporters. I should say EVERY PERSONS support. This is the planet we live on. We have to start taking care of the planet today or else our children and grandchildren will have no place to call home.

Go Green. Thanks to my three new Green friends. Keep educating the world. To the rest of you I say, thanks for listening and many blessings!