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I don’t know about you, but I am one of those people who would rather walk the extra few feet to a trash can to throw something away than just pollute by dropping it on the ground.  I just can’t, with a good conscience, throw trash on the ground.  I mean really, what kind of biofriendly message would that send to my kids, much less what it does (or doesn’t do) for the planet.  But as evidenced by all the pollution I regularly see on the ground while out and about, it is obvious not everyone shares my views.

To be honest, my 3-yr old daughter is better than most people (even myself sometimes).  Although she is the kind of person who doesn’t like to get her hands dirty or “icky”, when she sees trash on the ground, she runs over and picks it up without any hesitation.  Then she looks around and has me help her find the nearest trash can to put it in.  She will pick up almost any trash and wouldn’t even think of dropping trash on the ground.

Not everything she picks up is clean, obviously, but I want her to keep that viewpoint of keeping areas clean.  So I keep an eye out and help her if needed, that way she doesn’t get hurt trying to do a good thing.

If she actually sees someone polluting she usually says something like, “Mommy, they shouldn’t do that.  That’s not okay.”  And she’s right, they shouldn’t.  It’s amazing how aware kids are and how many simple lessons can be learned from them.  If more people took these lessons to heart, we’d have a lot less trash and pollution to clean up.

One thing everyone can do is find out about and participate in Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup.  It’s the nation’s largest community improvement program and takes place annually from March 1st through May 31st.  To find out more information or to volunteer or organize your own clean up, click here.

With all the actions being taken to lower harmful emissions in cities (like hybrid vehicles, using public transportation, car-pooling, fuel additives, etc.), the Great American Cleanup is something everyone – no matter your age – can do to help clean up and make your city even more biofriendly and less polluted.  I suggest checking it out. 

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With so much talk about going green and jump-starting the economy with green jobs, etc. one of the questions that comes to mind (now that we are heading into tax season) is what tax credits are available for people who did take that green step in 2008?

Well, I’ll give you some bad news first…even though President Bush signed into law the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008″ on October 3rd, 2008; energy efficient home improvements done in 2008 (such as making your windows, doors, insulation, HVAC, etc more energy-efficient), are NOT eligible for a tax credit.  You will be able to get credit for any improvements made this year (2009), but any improvements you made to increase your home’s energy-efficiency in 2008 are not eligible.

However, Solar Energy credits are available.  The tax credit is 30% of the system, up to $2000.  So any of you who decided to tap into solar energy for your home in 2008, don’t forget to add that to your tax return.  If you purchased and installed a small wind energy system, a tax credit of 30%, up to $500 per each half kilowatt of capacity, with a maximum of $4000 is available.  For the full list, go to EnergyStar.gov.

For those of you who haven’t yet had a chance to green up your home….here are some tax credits that are available in 2009.  Take a good look as these are something you should be aware of so you can take advantage of them in this new year.  2009 is a good year for green improvements and green tax credits.

Home Improvements: Up to $500 in tax credits for improvements to insulation, replacement windows, water heaters, certain high-efficiency heating or cooling equipment and biomass stoves.

Efficient Cars: There is a new Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle tax credit for 2009.  It starts at $2500 and is capped at $7500 – the credit is based on the capacity of the vehicle’s battery system.  NOTE: Only the first 250,000 vehicles sold get the full tax credit so you might want to act sooner rather than later.

Green tax credits are also available to anyone who buys hybrid gas-electric, diesel, battery-electric, alternative fuel and fuel cell vehicles…of course there are requirements on these too, so check here for specifics.  I’m sure there are more, but I wanted to at least get this list out to you so you didn’t forget that going green can have tax benefits too.

Image by Jason Pratt

For any of you who used to be a boy scout or have kids who are boy scouts, you know the Boy Scouts of America believe “that helping youth is a key to building a more conscientious, responsible, and productive society”.  They also consider it one of their aims to help boys develop into good citizens and as such, practice sound environmental living and conservation of natural resources.

Well, I for one agree with them.  It is groups like the Boy Scouts that help install good morals and views regarding the proper treatment of the environment and others.  While there are many wonderful scout programs, one such program allows scouts to earn a “Leave No Trace” patch.   The patch is pretty self-explanatory in that scouts become educated and show they can respect their environment and make it possible for future generations to also enjoy the outdoors.

Just think how much better preserved and protected our national parks and deserts would be if everyone applied that one guideline…leave no trace.  You wouldn’t see the trash and pollution you currently see and nature wouldn’t suffer as a result of people’s mistreatment of the environment.  If that then carried over to your town or city…imagine how clean the streets would be.

I know we usually leave some kind of evidence that we have been places, whether it be from car exhaust (even with a good fuel additive or hybrid car) or from footprints, etc.  But if each person made an effort to leave no trace, we’d probably start seeing some results right away.

So let’s take a pointer or two from the Boy Scouts and practice some of their values regarding environmental preservation.  The world would definitely be a much better place.