What Earth Day Means to Me

The Earth and the environment have been important to me since I was a child. In middle school, we had a guest speaker come in one day and talk about things like waste, recycling, conserving water and so on and I was just hooked from that point on. While I do my best to be as green as possible and teach my children to care about the Earth, sometimes day to day life tends to put important things on the back burner. So Earth Day is a reminder to me to make sure I am on track with where I want to be as far as a green lifestyle and evaluate if I am doing all I can do.

While I am obviously a believer in the "Earth Day, Every Day" motto, I do like to put a little extra emphasis into Earth Day as a family. Preferably with some sort of outdoor, nature related activity. For Earth Day 2012 last year, we planted two apple trees in our front yard. While it will still be several years since we will get edible fruit from the trees, I can't wait for the day where I can walk into my yard and pick an apple off my tree to eat.

What does Earth Day mean to you?

Cascadian Farm Earth Day Blog Carnival
Want to hear what other green bloggers have to say about Earth Day? Check them out below!

• Cascadian Farm
• Green 4 U
• Mom Always Finds Out
• Don't Mess With Mama
• Pistachio Project
• Simple City Life
• Natural Intuition

Celebrate Earth Month with Whole Foods - $25 Gift Card Giveaway!

Happy Earth Day! I hope you are doing something special to commemorate this day. While last Earth Day we planted some apple trees, this year our day is filled with school and little league baseball. So I am hoping to make up for it over the weekend and come up with something really great to do as a family.

To celebrate Earth Month, Whole Foods Market is transforming into a hub for Earthlings so we can meet up, share ideas and celebrate the Earth both in store and at EarthlingMonth.com. Earthlings (that's you and I by the way!) are encouraged to celebrate the planet’s beauty and what it inspires by sharing images, tweets and videos. To join the fun, visit earthlingmonth.com/#/participate to upload a message, photo or video using Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Or, simply use the hashtag #WFMEarthling via Twitter or Instagram. Your photo or tweet will than instantly post to EarthlingMonth.com.

Whole Foods Market has also created The Earthling Guide with tips on how to maintain the planet’s beauty and minimize the human footprint. Plus don't forget to check out your local store to see what else is happening this Earth Month!

Giveaway
One (1) winner will receive a $25 Whole Foods Market gift card. Giveaway ends May 7, 2013 at 12:00 AM EST. Open to US residents only. Please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

I will receive a gift card for hosting this giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Go Green with NBC's Share and Tell App

Who doesn't like shiny new stuff all the time? However nice new things may be, the reality is that brand new isn't always necessary. A gently used item can work just as well while saving you money and helping out the environment. Did you know that for every pound of new goods produced, 71 pounds of waste are generated during manufacturing? So instead of running out to buy that new something, why not ask around to your friends to see if maybe someone is looking to get rid of one?

In honor of Earth Week, NBC has created the Share and Tell app to help you minimize your impact on the planet by sharing your stuff. Here is why you will love this:

• How Are You Green? Eco Quiz - It’s not easy being green…(or is it?) We all want to take better care of our environment and go green, but the question is... How are YOU Green? Take the Eco quiz to find out! • 7 Easy Ways to Start Sharing Now - Now, more than ever, sharing makes sense. Getting started sharing is simpler than you think! Read these 7 easy ways to start sharing now and create healthier, happier families and communities. • Real Life Share and Tell Stories - Read real life stories of how sharing on yerdle has helped people just like you get the stuff they need - without buying a thing! • Get Social - Tweet with the #ShareandTell hashtag to get your audience excited about NBC’s Share and Tell!

You can check out the Share and Tall Blog App right here on this page (below) or to learn more, check out NBC's Green is Universal Facebook Page. Happy Sharing!

Easy Tips To Help You Be Green Year Round

Being green does not have to be an all or nothing lifestyle choice. Even if you can't live off the grid growing all your own organic food, there are lots of little day to day things that you can do that will make a difference. And yes, even the smallest things make an impact, especially if we all start doing them. So here are a few of my tips on how you can easily be a little more green all year round.

Recycle. Most municipalities and private garbage companies include recycling with their garbage removal. If yours doesn't, call around to find one that does. Recycling your plastics, metals and paper takes little to no effrot but has a great impact on the environment.

Turn off the lights. During the day, open up all of your blinds to use natural light instead of electricity. When you leave a room, make sure you turn the lights off. Make sure you teach your kids this since they can be the biggest culprits of leaving lights on all over the house.

Switch to CFL or LED lights. CFL light bulbs use up to 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and can last up to six times longer. LED light bulbs use up to 80% less energy than incandescents and can last up to 25 times longer. While these bulbs are more expensive to purchase up front, they will save energy and money over the long haul. CFL vs. LED

Unplug appliance and electronics. Even when not powered on, plugged in appliances like toasters and coffee pots use electricity. So when you are not using them, unplug them. For electronics like your TVs, DVD players, game consoles, etc., plug them all into a surge protector strip and at the end of the day, you just have to flip one switch to cut off power to them all.

Compost. Instead of placing green waste like vegetable and fruit scraps in a plastic trash bag where they will sit in a land fill for ages, compost them. Compost bins can be very expensive, but you can make your own compost bin fairly easy and cheap. After a little bit of time and work, you will be left with wonderful fertilizer for your garden. Personally, I'm lazy, so in the warmer months I collect my green kitchen scraps in a large fruit bowl and at the end of the day, dump into into our woods.

Eat organic. Eating organic food is better for your body and for the environment. Even though organic prices have come down slightly over the years, they are still more expensive. So do what you can. I feel that the items you consume the most of, like maybe milk, peanut butter, bread, etc., are the things that you should change first. Check out the Environment Working Group's Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists to see which produce items have the most and least amount of pesticides. This will help you choose which produce you want to make sure are organic.

Buy local. During the winter months, there are really no farmer's markets available here in our corner of Connecticut. But in the Spring/Summer/Fall we are part of a local organic CSA plus there is a great farmer's market down on our town green. Buying local produce helps your local economy and community and gives you a chance to talk with the farmer's personally to find out about their farming practices. To find CSAs and farmer's markets in your area, visit LocalHarvest.org.

Do you have any easy green tips? Share them with us in the comments!

Celebrate Earth Day with BBC #Giveaway

For more than fifty years, BBC Earth has been capturing audiences with the natural world. With ground breaking series like Blue Planet and Planet Earth, they have brought the beauty and wonders of Earth right into our living rooms. In March 2012 BBC introduced Frozen Planet, which showed us the frozen wildernesses of the Arctic and Antarctic and gave us an up close look at fascinating polar animals like penguins and polar bears.

"Encounter spectacles that few of us will ever witness as the camera team goes deep under the sea-ice into a magical world of giants, plunge into the heart of an erupting polar volcano and fly to the South Pole across the Antarctic icecap, the largest concentration of ice on our planet, retracing the steps of the great polar explorers."

Just in time for Earth Day, Frozen Planet will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD tomorrow, April 17. This is a great series to bring home and watch as a family, especially if your kids love nature and animals as much as mine do! Every Friday night is pizza night in our house followed by watching a movie together as a family. So this Friday we will be popping some organic popcorn and sitting down together to enjoy Frozen Planet.

The Ultimate Polar Bear Adventure Sweepstakes
Ahead of the April 17 release of Frozen Planet, BBC launched the The Ultimate Polar Bear Adventure Sweepstakes where two pairs of winners (one in the US and one in Canada) will receive a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe these magnificent, endangered polar bears up close as well as discover the rich human and natural history of Manitoba, Canada.

This amazing six-day adventure includes:

• Round trip airfare to Winnipeg, Manitoba 
• Private charter flights between Manitoba and Churchill
• Local sightseeing and two full-day excursions deep into polar bear country
• A private cocktail party and dinner at the Manitoba Museum
• A storytelling session with a First Nation resident
• A dog sledding demonstration 
• And so much more!

This trip sounds so awesome, I have already entered myself!

Giveaway
I am so thrilled that I have a BBC Earth Day prize pack to giveaway! You do NOT want to miss out on this, in fact I am rather jealous of the person who will win it.  One (1) winner will receive the following:
1 Blu-ray Planet Earth Limited Edition Globe,
1 Blu-ray Frozen Planet,
1 Blu-ray BBC Natural History Collection

This is an amazing collection to have and its combined retail value is over $300.

I will be receiving a complimentary copy of Frozen Planet on DVD. All thought and opinions are my own. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to legal residents in US only, 18+ only and will end on April 30, 2012 at 12:01am EST.  Winner will be chosen at random using Rafflecopter and will be announced in the widget. Winner has 48 hours to claim his/her prize otherwise a new winner will be picked.  Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Prize fulfillment is the responsibility of the sponsoring company. This blog and its author are not responsible for giveaway prizes that are lost in transit or damaged. This blog is also not responsible if a sponsor/company does not send prize(s). Naturally, I will communicate with said company(s) several times, and make every effort to resolve the issue. Good luck!

Connecticut Earth Day Events 2011

I am hoping that we can get our boys out to attend one if not more Earth Day events this year. Two years ago we brought them to one at Beardsley Zoo and it was a lot of fun.

If you are looking for some events within your community to participate in this Earth Week and Earth Day, there are plenty out there! Many Connecticut towns are holding some type of event, try and see if you can attend at least one. Visit event sites or call for complete details including any possible fees.

Ansonia
Saturday, April 30
Earth Day Celebration
203-736-1053

Bridgeport
Saturday, April 16 & Sunday, April 17, 10:00am - 3:00pm
Party for the Planet @ Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo
www.beardsleyzoo.org

Farmington
Sunday, May 1, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Earthstock Celebration
www.earthstockconnecticut.com

Fairfield
Saturday, April 30, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Fairfield’s Earth Day Celebration
FairfieldEarthDay.Wordpress.com

Greenwich
Earth Day Clean Up & Hawk Release
April 15, 2011 3:00pm - 5:00pm
www.GLTrust.org

March 18th thru April 30th
Recycle Your Old Sneakers
www.greenwichct.org/recycle

More Greenwich Earth Day events.

Middletown
Saturday, April 30, 9:00am - 11:00am
Shredfest 2011
www.cityofmiddletown.com

New Milford
Saturday, April 23, 10:00am - 4:00pm
Pratt Nature Center Earth Day 2011
www.prattcenter.org

Newtown
Saturday, April 30, 9:00am
Earth Day Celebration
www.NewtownEarthDay.org

Norwalk
Saturday, April 23, 10:00am - 2:00pm
Earth Day Celebration at Stepping Stones Museum
www.SteppingStonesMuseum.org

Ridgefield
April 27, 30 & May 1
"Rotting Right in Ridgefield” Composting Lecture Series
GoGVI.org /GoPracticallyGreen.com

Stamford
Tuesday, April 19 - Thursday, April 21
Stamford Museum & Nature Center’s “Take a Hike” Week
www.StamfordMuseum.org

Storrs
Thursday, April 21, 11:00am - 2:00pm
Earth Day Spring Fling at UConn
www.ecohusky.uconn.edu/earthday.htm

Stratford
Saturday, April 30, 9:00am to 4:00pm
Habitat for Humanity ReStore’s Green Fair
www.FairfieldCountyRestore.org

Washington Depot
Roadside Cleanup / Earth Day Celebration
Saturday, April 16. 9:00am - 2:00pm
www.wec-ct.org

Westport
Saturday, April 30, 11:00am - 4:00pm
Green Earth Fair Held in Westport
www.Earthplace.org

Wilton
Thursday, April 28, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Bill McKibben, Author Talk on Earth
www.RaceForTheEarth.com

Sunday, May 1, 11:00am - 4:00pm
Wilton Go Green Festival
www.WiltonGoGreen.org / www.RaceForTheEarth.com

Disneynature's African Cats Opens Earth Day

The third movie from Disneynature, African Cats, opens this Earth Day: April 22, 2011. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, African Cats follows the true life stories of a lion cub, Mara; a cheetah, Sita, and her 5 newborns; and Fang, leader of the pride. It is like the real life version of The Lion King! My boys and I have already watched the trailer a dozen times and they keep asking for more. What child doesn't love to watch real life animals in action?

See African Cats, Save the Savanna

During the opening week of African Cats, Aprill 22 - 28, a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. The goal is to ensure the future of animals in the African savanna. "See African Cats, Save the Savanna" is the third conservation project from Disney. In 2009 with the release of Earth, three million trees were planted in the Brazil's Atlantic Forrest. Then in 2010, with the movie Oceans, audiences helped to establish 40,000 acres of marine protected areas in The Bahamas.

How Can You Help?
- SEE THE MOVIE! Get to the theaters with your family to see African Cats between April 22 - 28.
- Like Disneynature on Facebook where you can interact with African Cats content every day. Share content with your Facebook friends to help spread the word.
- Pledge to see African Cats on Eventful. There is a real-time counter to show how many people have participated, and there will also be a graphical map representing the number of acres across the savanna that are being conserved based upon the number of pledges received. Upon arriving at the theater, fans can check in via their mobile device to win special prizes.
- Buy your tickets through Disney Tickets Together. Facebook's first social ticketing application, this allows fans to engage with the film by inviting friends to see African Cats and purchase tickets for local theaters without ever leaving Facebook. For all "African Cats" events created in Tickets Together, Disney will increase the donation to the Save the Savanna fund for every "Yes" RSVP that the events receive. The application launches during the week of April 18.

For more information on African Cats, the "See African Cats, Save the Savanna" initiative or to download educational guides, visit Disney.com/AfricanCats.

Happy Earth Day!

So I know I am a tad late on this post, but hey, the day isn't over yet! I so badly wanted to do something special for Earth Day this year, but it just didn't happen. It has been a rainy week here so far and today was no exception. Plus I am suffering from some really awful morning all-day sickness that is rendering me pretty much useless. We did make it to the zoo on the 18th for their "Party for the Planet" event, but it didn't go as well as we had hoped. Just think of twin 2 year olds screaming the entire time. Yeah, not fun.

William actually had a school field trip to the police station this morning, so I dropped him off for that. And I made sure he was wearing his organic Earth Day tee. I love his school but I am disappointed that they did absolutely nothing for Earth Day this week. This week's theme is about police safety, 911 and strangers. While believe me that stuff is so very important, I would have liked them to throw something about the Earth in their somewhere. I may have to try and push them for something next year.

Anyway (lol) I would love to hear what everyone else did for Earth Day today! Please share!

Earth Day is April 22

That's less than a week away - next Wednesday! Are you doing anything special to celebrate Earth Day? Any local town events or maybe just planting something in your own yard? I have absolutely no idea what we are doing but I want to do something. There is a zoo not too far from here that is having a "Party for the Planet" this weekend, so maybe we can head over to that.

If you are looking for an event in your area check out your town and state websites to see if they have anything posted there. I found some local events in the April edition of our local Natural Awakenings magazine.

Here are some good Online Earth Day resources that I found:

Earth Day Network - You can search by zip code for something close to you. Earth Day Network also has resources to help you organize your own Earth Day Event. Visit their "Earth Day in a Box" page for everything you need to get started and get involved.

Earth911.com - You can make a pledge to start composting, reduce trash or recycle at work. Even get tips on how to start your own recycling program.

EPA.gov - Also lists events in your state (I found more here than on other sites). Green tips and stuff for kids.

EPA Earth Day Photo Contest - Anyone over the age of 18 can enter; that means anyone form any county. The deadline for photo submissions is April 30, so go check it out now.
EarthDay.gov - List of volunteer opportunities.

World Wildlife Federation - Ideas and tips for change. Widgets and images for your website.