In the day-to-day grind of life, we can often get stuck so much on our own problems or worries that we don’t see the world around us. I’m sure everyone, at one point or another, has been convinced that the problem they were dealing with was maybe just a little bigger than it actually was. C’est la vie, right? Well, let me tell you about a few eco-heroes and their actions that hopefully will serve as a reminder to us all that there isn’t much we can’t accomplish when we set our minds to it.

Now I’m sure you’re familiar with a variety of different “celebrity” eco-heroes, but here are a few eco-heroes you may or may not be familiar with:

1) Erik Uebelacker: Erik was the 2009 First Place Winner for the “Action for Nature’s International Young Eco-Hero Awards“.

What’s even better? Erik was just 8 years old when he won in the 8-12 yr old age category!

Erik won for his book, “Butterflies Shouldn’t Wear Shoes” which he decided to write after he learned, in his second grade class, that butterflies taste with their feet.

With a little help from his mom, Erik wrote, illustrated and put together the book.

He then gave the book to his teacher, who requested more copies (as did other people). So they decided to print and sell them in order to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund (since Erik loves animals and wants to help them). He raised $2000 from the sale of his book which he donated to the WWF.

If you want to learn more about Erik or get a copy of his book, you can do so through his website, butterfliesshouldntwearshoes.com

2) Rory Owen Delaney, Producer/Director with Man Bites Dog Films. Whether or not you are familiar with his work with MBD Films, you might know Rory as the guy who wrote, produced, edited and directed the eco-documentary “Toxic Soup“.

Toxic Soup is the story about everyday Americans who are fighting to keep their blood, water and air safe from pollution. It is set to debut at the 2010 Atlanta Film Festival Awards and you can check a preview of it here:

3) Bethe Almeras, The Grass Stain Guru: Bethe will probably tell you right off the bat that she is no eco-hero. But she is the perfect example of an eco-hero in that through both her writing and by example, she encourages others to connect with nature, respect and enjoy nature and just get back outdoors.

Over the past 20 years, she has continued to accomplish this in a fun and creative way.  Bethe is also the co-founder of the National Wildlife Federation’s Earth Hour®.

4) Denise Herzing, Wild Dolphin Project: Denise is sometimes considered to be the Jane Goodall of the sea. Her dolphin project is three-fold: research, education and conservation.

Through her work she “seeks to contribute informed knowledge to help create awareness and preserve the natural environment through appreciation of all the biodiversity on our planet.”

5) Mike Lieberman aka CanarsieBK: Now, Mike is a little like Bethe in that he isn’t doing what he’s doing to try and be a hero. He’s doing it because he honestly wants to help provide you with “Simple Solutions for Living in a Complex World”.

He doesn’t try and preach, he doesn’t tell you it’s all or nothing, he shows you by letting you in on his personal successes (and failures) how you can live a more sustainable, eco-friendly life.

I had the honor of meeting Mike in person when he came out to Southern California (he’s a full-blown New Yorker, by the way). And I have to tell you, he’s about as down to Earth as you can get.

He tells it like it is and has a real heart-felt desire to share his experiences with others and learn from others through their experiences. And he is doing just that. He has a variety of websites including: Urban Organic Gardner, Simply Raw Recipes and 365 Ways to Go Green (all of which can be found on his CanarsieBK.com).

6) Adarsha and Apoorva, a brother/sister team and Founders of Project Jatropha: These teenagers were also winners of the 2009 “Action for Nature’s International Young Eco-Hero Awards” (but in the 14-16 year old category). They decided to create a bio-fuel for India.

Even though the teens live in California, they often spent summers with their grandparents in a small village in India. They knew many of the village farmers grew tobacco for a living, but one of the things they noticed when they were there was pollution coming from the kilns farmers were using to cure their tobacco plants.

In addition, they found out that farmers were getting their firewood (for their kilns) from traders who had been illegally selling it to them, from trees they had cut down in a nearby National Park.

In order resolve this problem the teens started Project Jatropha with assistance from two organizations: an organization that helps farmers in India and a plant biotechnology company. They came up with the solution to use a different plant…a drought resistant plant (Jatropha curcas), which can grow in an arid environment and produce seeds with about 34% oil that can be processed to create high grade fuel. For the rest of their amazing story and great accomplishments, check out their timeline.

There is broad range of eco-heroes here, but each is a hero in their own right. To find out about other selfless heroes, eco or otherwise, check out Explore.org.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: For all you filmmakers out there….Explore has teamed up with HATCH for this year’s HATCHfest in order to honor and recognize a filmmaker whose short film shows a group or individual hero striving for a better world through their selfless acts.

So, if you or anyone you know has created a short film which showcases a cause or individual hero who inspires others, through their selfless acts to make a difference, submissions are now being accepted. Deadline is Thursday, March 25th.

Spread the word and get your favorite eco-hero or eco-cause the recognition they deserve for their truly selfless efforts! You never know, their work (and yours) may help inspire the next generation of eco-heroes.

Image by Muffet (via Flickr)

Valentine’s Day is coming up in just under two weeks, but if you are anything like me, you haven’t quite had a chance to finalize your plans. Should you give flowers? Candy? Exchange cards? What about green or eco-friendly Valentine’s gifts? Well, there are many different ideas to choose from and many ways you could go, but let me give you a few of my favorite eco-friendly ideas for Valentine’s Day:

1) If you are going to go the traditional route e.g. chocolates or flowers, go for the organic variety. I highly recommend Equal Exchange when it comes to organic chocolate. They have chocolate bars (which are currently on sale until Feb 14th), organic dried berries and nuts, organic hot cocoa, organic chocolate and coffee gift bags, etc. You can even get free-shipping (UPS ground in the contingent U.S. only) if you enter the code: chocolatelove. Go for the chocolate/coffee gift bag….a great eco-tasty choice!

When it comes to flowers, California Organic Flowers is a nice choice as they have a wide variety of organic flowers, with many great options under $50. If you want to make your own living bouquet, take a look at this video from California Organic Flowers as they provide some helpful tips on doing your own arrangements.

2) Get away for the weekend. If you are one of those people who likes to get away for Valentine’s Day weekend, how about a trip to the new Aria™ Resort & Casino at the CityCenter in Las Vegas? The Aria is LEED® Gold Certified and features smoke-free walkways, floor to ceiling airflow (to help remove smoke from their casino), energy-efficient lighting, bicycle valets and much, much more. While you are there, don’t forget to relax and indulge in the Aria’s spa services including a heated-stone massage or unwind and breathe in the air from their infused salt room.

If you are looking for a tropical rainforest type get-away, one of the ones on the top of my to-do list is the Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa in Australia. This eco-lodge is located in a 30-acre rainforest valley in Daintree National Park. Their guest rooms are ecologically-friendly treehouses and since they only have 15 of them, you’ll want to book early.

3) If you can’t take time away or would rather stay closer to home, you can do a day trip to a local eco-friendly or green spa. Spa Index has a list of eco-friendly spas you can choose from. (Hint: many of the spas on their list offer discounts for first-time customers.)

If a spa day at home is more your cup of tea, check out these at home spa tips and recipes. You can easily turn your Valentine’s Day into a spa day, without even leaving the comfort of home!

4) If you decide to stay in, make a meal for you and your significant other. What’s nice about making a meal at home is that you control what goes in your meal. You can include fresh or locally-grown fruits/vegetables, pick out a great organic or vegan wine and design your meal so it’s just right for you.

For example, you could start off with a tomato bisque soup,  make a simple grilled BLT panini or a Butternut Squash Enchilada for your main dish and end off with some chocolate-dipped strawberries. But, if you are hoping for romantic evening, you might want to add one or more of these aphrodisiacs into your meal.

5) For those of you with kids, a creative eco-friendly idea for Valentine’s Day is to get outdoors. It doesn’t cost much, it’s a nice way to get some fresh air and a wonderful way to get the kids (and family) to fall in love with nature again. If weather permits, you could pack a picnic lunch and enjoy a meal outdoors. If not, then maybe just a walk…look at the trees, do some bird-watching, maybe take some pictures or pick up some beautiful fallen leaves. Whatever you choose to do, reconnecting with nature is a wonderful thing to do on Valentine’s Day!

6) Make your own Valentine’s Day cards/gifts. Rather than going out and spending between $1.00-$5.00 on a Valentine’s Day card, just make one. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have something lying around that they can use to make a Valentine’s Day card. You can take that junk mail you got or an old magazine and cut it up to make a heart-shaped valentine. You can even use the fallen leaves you and your kids collected to make some creative leaf rubbings or press your leaves/flowers onto a votive cup to make a beautiful candle holder.

Well, those are some of my favorite eco-friendly ideas. What are your favorite eco-friendly ideas for Valentine’s Day? If you have a favorite gift, idea or site you think other readers should be aware of, please let me know. Enjoy your eco-friendly Valentine’s Day!

Image by Wayne National Forest (via Flickr)

When it comes to “going green” you’ve probably heard companies use the excuse of cost as a reason for not switching to a more environmentally-friendly method of doing business. This is true of individuals as well, but is this really just an excuse or is it the truth? Is the cost of going green too much for some businesses or individuals to afford?

Let’s take a look at a few examples of some real costs of going green:

Solar Energy: We all know there are costs involved in turning your home or business into a solar-powered one. Of course these costs depend on what kind of solar power you are looking at installing. Are you looking for a solar water heater? Solar panels for your roof? Or are you looking at tapping into solar energy in a more passive way?

As of right now there is a 30% federal tax credit on solar energy systems including solar water heaters and solar panels. Many local utilities also provide incentive programs for individuals or businesses who install solar panels. In Los Angeles, the Department of Water & Power caps their residential incentive program at 75%, but per their website, most customers have received a payment of between 30-50% of their solar system costs.

So let’s say your solar panel installation costs were about $9-10 per Watt to install. With the average installation being approximately 3 Kilowatts (3000 Watts), you are looking at anywhere between $27,000-$30,000 minimum costs.  With the 30% federal tax credit and let’s say only a 30% tax incentive from your local utility, that cost comes down to around $12,000.  Factor in how much you will save on monthly/annual utility bills and installing solar panels becomes a lot less costly than originally thought.

Water Conservation: Water conservation has many facets, you can go all out and get a solar water heater, low-flow or tank-less water systems, replace all the water fixtures in your home with water-efficient ones, etc.  You can also go simple and do things like take showers instead of baths, turn off the water while you brush your teeth, use bath water to water your plants, run the dishwasher only when it’s full, etc.

If you want to take it to the next level you can buy things like this Deluxe Water Green House EcoKit™. For less than $60 you get water-saving tools such as a hand-held massaging showerhead (that uses less water without sacrificing water pressure), leak detection tablets (to help you find any leaks your toilet may have), a swivel aerator for your kitchen (to help save water while washing dishes), toilet tank bag (which can displace 0.8 gallons per flush) and more.

Of course if you are going to go all out, check out this EcoLogic™ toilet. It’ll run you about $300, while other eco-toilets can run anywhere between $100-$2000 a pop. However this one received the EPA’s WaterSense® label for using at least 20% less water than a standard 1.6-gallon toilet, while still maintaining strict flushing performance guidelines. (Which we all know is a good thing to maintain!)

Cutting down on chemicals/toxins: For an individual or family, this can be as simple as getting rid of your toxic cleaning supplies and buying eco-friendly cleaners. Or better yet, making your own cleaning supplies.  Cutting down on our use of chemicals and toxins is a simple way to go green. However, for some businesses, it may not be so simple.

Take for example a dry cleaner. Cost is a real concern for an independent dry cleaner who is looking to turn over a green leaf. Many dry cleaners still use perc machines to dry clean clothes (although I’m not sure why considering the EPA classifies perc as a Toxic Air Contaminant). If they need to purchase a brand new machine, it could cost them upwards of $175,000.

However there are a few options…if a dry cleaner is currently using a hydrocarbon machine, they could potentially convert their machine over to a greener cleaning method, such as GreenEarth® Cleaning, without having to purchase a new machine. Other options include switching over to a CO2 dry cleaning machine or wet cleaning equipment. All are greener choices than using perc, so take a look at this chart and see which you would prefer be used on your clothes.

Another example of someone cutting out chemicals is the Organic Farmer. You’d think it would be simple to switch from growing fruits/vegetables using toxins or pesticides and become an organic farmer, right? Well, did you know in order for the USDA to certify a farm as organic that farm has to submit a list of all substances applied to the land for the previous 3 years? That means it has to be free of all prohibited pesticides for 3 years running in order to be certified as an organic farm.

I also came across this document from the California Certified Organic Farmers about the costs involved with and the importance of Handweeding in Organic Farming.

There are many more examples I could give you, but hopefully you get the idea. Going green doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money. Yes, there are costs involved as you move over to a more eco-friendly building or business. But if you do your homework and research out potential tax credits, your costs may soon balance out.

As a final note, I suggest checking out these smart conservation tips that can save you a lot without costing you a lot! And if you have been considering making energy-efficient changes to your home, please take a moment to figure out what changes best suit you and why now may be the right time to make those green changes.