No matter where you are in the world, by now you know Earth Day 2010 is Thursday, April 22nd. What you may not know is Earth Day is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. That’s right. Back in 1970, someone decided that because “all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment“, it was time to educate people on how to attain that.

40 years later, Earth Day Network has more than 20,000 partners in their quest, organizations in 190 countries participate or contribute to Earth Day activities and more than a billion people worldwide join together to show their desire to obtain a healthy, sustainable environment.

But how does that affect you? How can you benefit from Earth Day 2010?

You can attend a local event. You can sign a pledge to make a change or contribute to bettering the world around you. You can even organize your own Earth Day event.

When it all comes down to it though, what are you going to get out of Earth Day 2010? The purpose behind Earth Day isn’t to have people “show their support” for one day and then go back to their old habits and routines. If you are going to participate in Earth Day, and I hope you will, then make sure you come away with something.

Come away with a new outlook on how your actions affect the environment around you. Decide to make a change, no matter how small, to live a more sustainable life and follow through with that decision.

The Earth Day Network supports events and activities focused around many key issues including: advocacy, climate change, conservation and biodiversity, education, energy, food and agriculture, green economy, green schools, recycling and waste reduction, sustainable development and water.

There is at least one activity/change almost anyone can get behind. Some do-it-yourself Earth Day ideas that might interest you include:

1) Disneynature: In celebration of Earth, go see Disneynature’s new film, Oceans. The new film, Oceans, is set to hit the big screen on Thursday, April 22nd and for all those who go see the film between April 22nd and April 28th a portion of the ticket sales will go to help protect coral reefs. It’s a simple and entertaining activity you can participate in that can help make a difference. Just take a look at this trailer:

2) Billion Acts of Green: Take one minute out of your day and make a green resolution. Whether it’s to start recycling, eat out less, lower your vehicle emissions, walk or bike more, make your home and office more energy efficient or buy less/waste less, just post your act of green. Making and following through on a green resolution is a good way for you to keep things going even after Earth Day.

3) Green Your Garden:  If you have a garden, cut out the chemicals. If you don’t have a garden, put one together.

Whether you want to grow your own fresh vegetables or herbs or just enjoy some beautiful flowers, starting a garden is a great way to connect back to nature and go organic. Here are a few more tips that can help you both in the garden and around the house to have a bio-friendly Spring and year.

4) Create a Going Green Today Action Plan: If you are truly serious about doing something to make a healthier, more sustainable environment then why not put together a plan for yourself? Not only could you lower your environmental impact, but you could end up saving yourself a decent amount of money as well.

You can also check out PineMark and get yourself the PineMark Certification™ that proves you are living a truly sustainable life. It’s the first and only individual environmental certification available to consumers.

5) Pick 5 for the environment: The U.S. EPA wants you to get out there and DO SOMETHING for the environment this Earth Day. I agree, we need to get out there and not just talk about what we are going to do, but go do it.

You can start by picking five actions you can/will do for the environment. Then once you’ve made your choice, make a quick 10-second “It’s My Environment” video to show a simple action you are taking for the environment. Look how easy it is:

Whatever you decide to do, just remember that Earth Day 2010 isn’t just about one day. It’s about getting people educated, interested and active in making their lives healthier and more sustainable and thus making a better environment for us all.

Do you have a special Earth Day event you are attending? I’d love to know what your plans are for Earth Day and beyond.

Images via: Earthday.org, Zepfanman.com and karendotcom127 on Flickr and Nan Fischer at desertverde.com.

Well, history was made again this past weekend. Earth Hour 2010 took place around the world at 8:30pm (local time) on Saturday, March 27th. I hope you took part, as Earth Hour was designed to unite millions of people around the globe so they could show their support to “turn the lights off on pollution and climate change and create a cleaner, safer, more secure future“. It was also a great way for many to give their environmental New Year’s resolutions a boost or kick start!

Earth Hour was originally conceived by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). They started it as a way to give the general public, not only a raised awareness on the impacts of climate change but to show them that by each person, individually and as a group, can make a positive impact.

Take a look at a few of the photos Flickr collected from Earth Hour 2010. You can also check out over 2000 photos people have uploaded to the Flickr Earth Hour 2010 group or some of the “on” and “off” photos WWF had to share. Here are just a few photos and a video you might enjoy:

Town Hall, Octagon Dunedin, NZ – photo taken by Samuel Mann via Flickr

Budapest, Hungary – photo taken by anee.baba via Flickr

But, now that Earth Hour 2010 is over, what are you going to do for the rest of the year? You don’t want your environmental efforts or awareness to stop after just one hour.

So let me give you a few tips/ideas that might help jump-start your environmental activities:

1)  Since Spring is in the air, now is a great time to start working on your garden. What are you planting this year? Are you going to have an indoor or an outdoor garden? Taking the time to figure out what you want to plant (vegetables, herbs, flowers, etc) and where is usually a good first step.

Then you can take a look at this post on “How to Plant Your First Garden” or follow Nan’s Garden Journal for more great garden tips.

2) If you’ve already started your Spring Garden, composting is a great way to give it a boost! You not only cut down on your personal food waste, but you “feed” your garden in the process.

If you need some help, a friend of mine from high school actually came up with these “Cranberry Compost Tea bags” and yes, she is an actual cranberry farmer! I think that’s a pretty good way to use their entire cranberry crop, from start to finish.

3) As the weather starts to change, try and connect up with Nature a little more. Go out for a walk, go on a hike, plan a camping trip, go for a bike ride.

Getting outdoors is a great way to not only get some exercise and fresh air, but it also gives you a chance to see/enjoy the beauty only nature can supply. Who wouldn’t want to ensure that beauty stays around, right?!

4) Decide to make a change in your regular transportation habits this year. If you usually drive to work every day, figure out how you can car-pool. Maybe public transportation is a good option. If you own a gas-guzzling car, try using a proven fuel additive to help lower your emissions. If you are looking at buying a car this year, check out the 2010 Fuel Economy Guide before you do. It’s got some great information, including tax incentives.

5) Do yourself and your home a favor and get your Spring cleaning done. Getting rid of the dust, allergens and other toxins that have gathered up over the Winter months is key. Don’t forget to make your own cleaning supplies too – it’s less expensive and you don’t add in new chemicals on top of the ones you are trying to remove.

Once you are done with your cleaning – or even while you are doing your cleaning – get a few houseplants. Houseplants are a perfect way to not only bring a little bit of nature indoors, but they are a smart way to improve indoor air quality. Also don’t forget to open some windows and let the fresh air in.

6) See if you have any local growers near you for fresh fruits and vegetables. In the U.S. you can go to localharvest.org to find local farmer’s markets, family farms, co-ops and other places nearby where you can purchase sustainably-grown foods.

If you grow some of your own fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc. you might consider trading crops with your neighbors. Maybe you grow carrots and they grow cucumbers, then you share your crops with each other. A great way to get a variety of fresh foods without needing to have a large garden.

7) Take 1 minute and go to Billion Acts of Green to commit to one green action you are going to take. Don’t worry, if you can’t think of anything off the top of your head, they even have a drop-down list of green acts to choose from. What are you waiting for?

8 ) Last but definitely not least, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd, 2010. It’s not something you are going to want to miss. Just take a moment to visit the Earth Day Network website and see what activities are already planned or get information to plan your own activity. Find out what your friends are up to as well – maybe you can join forces!

Hopefully those are a few tips you can use to kick start your environmental actions for the rest of the year. I know there are many more things you can do and I’d love to hear what actions you are taking to kick-start a more environmentally-friendly year!

Image from superbowlflorida.blogspot.com

Last year an estimated 98.7 million Americans tuned in to the watch the big game on Super Bowl Sunday. That’s not including the 70,000+ people who actually attended the game. But do you have any idea of the costs, both monetary and environmental, of the Super Bowl? Well, let’s review some of those facts and figures as well as go over some environmental tips for your own personal game day activities.

If you attended Super Bowl I, you would have paid about $6 per ticket. Advertisers paid an estimated $42,000 for a 30-second ad spot. Today if you wanted to see Super Bowl XLIV, you’d pay anywhere between $1275 and $5650 per ticket.  Advertisers are paying an average $2.65 million for a 30-second ad spot…and that’s down from the last two years.

Some past advertisers including General Motors, FedEx and Pepsi, have opted out of this year’s advertising slots. However, despite complaints received by the Treasury Secretary, Chrysler plans on being the only U.S. auto-maker to run an ad during this year’s Super Bowl.

Take a look at this 1969 Super Bowl commercial from Chrysler:

Even though Pepsi is not having an ad during the Super Bowl, they are the official drink of the NFL and are debuting their new energy-efficient, HFC-free coolers at the Super Bowl, so I’m sure they will get plenty of promotion.

As far as the stadium and those in attendance for the big day….there are 20,000 parking spaces available e.g. a potential for 20,000 vehicles. The EPA estimates there is about 19.4 pounds of CO2 emitted for every gallon of gasoline burned. Even if each car only drove 20 miles to get there, that would still be over 7 million pounds or over 3500 tons of CO2 emissions. (NOTE: That doesn’t factor in trucks used to bring in food, supplies or any other CO2 emissions generated during game day preparations.)

When you factor in the trash generated on game day from left-over food containers, promotional flyers, etc you are talking even further environmental impact. Did you know at the 2004 Super Bowl, over 428 tons of trash was collected during the four-day event?

Luckily the the NFL has the “Super Bowl XLIV Environmental Program“ in place this year. Their program is designed to help lower the environmental impact of Super Bowl XLIV.

Solid Waste Management/Recycling: They intend to have recycling containers at all major event facilities where Super Bowl related activities will take place.

Prepared Food Recovery: Excess prepared food will be collected up and donated in coordination with Daily Bread Food Bank. Last year over 65,000 pounds of food was donated, due in part to activities like this and the annual “Taste of the NFL” event.

Materials Donation: After the Super Bowl, the NFL plans to donate as many supplies and materials as possible, so as not to waste them. This includes building materials, non-perishable foods and drinks, decorations, live plants, etc.

Sports Equipment/Book donation project: The “Super Kids-Super Sharing” project will be working to collect used sports equipment and books from local schools and school children for donation to other under-equipped schools and school children in South Florida.

Climate Change Initiative: Last but definitely not least, this initiative has a variety of facets, including using renewable-sourced energy to “power” the stadium and other facilities. Basically, the NFL has teamed up with NextEra Energy Resources who will supply Green e-certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to match electricity consumption during the Super Bowl and related events. They will also be decreasing transportation emissions from the Super Bowl fleet by using hybrid vehicles or alternative fuels. Providing sources for alternative fuels to all vendors and partners, including the broadcast media, for use in powering their on-site generators. Planting trees in coordination with the US Forest Service and local community groups to help offset carbon output, etc.

So, with the NFL doing their part to help lessen their environmental impact on Super Bowl Sunday, here are a few tips for you:

1) If you are driving to another location to watch the big game, car-pool with friends. If you are unable to do so, a proven fuel additive could help lower your emissions.

2) Use recyclable or bio-degradable plates, cups, etc. Try to recycle as much as you can.

3) Make your own game day treats, don’t have food delivered. Delivery means someone has to drive food to your home (emissions) and your food will probably come in non-recyclable containers inside a plastic bag. Be prepared and get your food ahead of time.

4) Don’t waste food. Most Super Bowl parties will have more food than people will eat, so package up what you don’t eat and save it for later.

If you really want to offset your Super Bowl Sunday and help the environment, you can always purchase a “Super Bowl Party Offset” from EarthEra. For $10, they say they will offset 1200 pounds of carbon dioxide. And 100% of their revenues from EarthEra product purchases apparently go to build more solar and wind energy project in the U.S.

What are your plans for Super Bowl Sunday? Do you have any tips you use to help lower your environmental impact on game day? Hope you have a great weekend…and don’t forget to get outside a little bit (before or after the game).