New Year 'Green' Pledge

Everyone could play a part in protecting and restoring our environment - and today is a good time to start. You can help the environment in your daily life. At home, the office, shopping or in the garden. You can make a difference.

Lynette Stein, CEO of Eco Bites says -"Let's make a New Year pledge"

"There are so many little things people can do to preserve or improve their natural surroundings which don't have to take much time or effort"

"There wouldn't be too many people these days who aren't environmentally aware, but there's usually some room for improvement"

Ms Stein suggested a few simple things that could be worked into the daily routine, starting today:

Try to use less electricity at home and at work, to help combat global warming.

Take public transport or walk short distances instead of using a car, or use pedal power;

Book your car in for an engine tune-up, to help cut down air pollution.

Take your own bags to the supermarket, to help cut down on the number of plastic shopping bags that end up in landfill.

Out shopping ... Be demanding

If organic items or eco-labelled goods are not available from your local shops, ask for them.

Businesses do listen to their customers. We have the power to change the selection of products that are available to us. So make shop managers aware of your demand for eco-friendly products.

Look for products that have less packaging.

Shop for products with a positive impact: recycled, reusable, and sustainable.

Buy organically grown local fruits, vegetables, meat and organic cotton clothing, and hemp-fibre products.

Have more veggie meals - reducing the amount of meat you eat will help reduce carbon emissions.

Don't buy bottled water - transporting water from its source to the supermarket shelves is an expensive waste of energy. And the plastic and glass bottles add to the already-high mountains of rubbish that we produce. If you do buy bottled water, buy from a local source (read the labels) and buy water that comes in recyclable glass or plastic.

Reduce food miles – the typical Christmas meal for an average family could have travelled 49,000 miles - equivalent to two journeys around the world and releasing 37kg of CO2. As a gift, why not sign a friend up to a local organic box scheme for a few weeks in the New Year and see if they like it? If they’ve over-indulged during the festive season, it’ll help them in their efforts to detox.

Recycle your paper, glass, plastics and other waste. Call your local government to find out if they offer a collection service.

Send e-greetings instead of paper cards.

Help reduce the world's rubbish dumps - don't use "throw-away" products like paper plates and napkins, and plastic knives, forks, and cups.

Use rechargeable batteries.

Make the leap to recycled stationery and calendars. An extra February day in 2008 (it's a leap year) just means one more day to celebrate the year-round tradition.

Take your own mug along for your daily organic cappuccino / herbal tea, instead of using a disposable cup...

Buy mugs for gifts for fellow co-workers, family and friends who drink a hot beverage!

Take a real glass with you to office parties.

Cutting waste. If you purchase one cup of coffee every day in a disposable container, you create about 10kg / 23 lb of waste each year.

Fewer noxious chemicals... Polystyrene (aka Styrofoam) can actually disrupt your hormones, and the chlorine used to bleach paper cups creates carcinogenic dioxins during production.

Recycle and reuse any containers etc and compost all kitchen waste;

Wasted food, which rots in landfill and generates methane, is a serious cause of global warming. We need to concentrate on reducing the 30% of food that goes to waste every week.

Make it your New Year resolution to cut your waste! Don't forget that recycling isn't just for Christmas. By kicking off the New Year with a resolution to reduce the amount of waste you and your family produce, you'll discover how easy it is!

Being a good role model for your kids, nephews, nieces.

The best way to teach kids about the environment is to be a good role model. When kids see you recycling and being careful with your consumption and taking them outside for a nature walk instead of to the shopping mall, they learn to appreciate the natural world.

Don't throw your cigarette butts on the ground, where they can be swept into stormwater drains and out to sea - put them in the bin. (if you do smoke,this one should go to the top of the 2008 New Year Pledge, to quit, not only for the health of the environment but for your own health!).

Plant an organic edible garden,compost and mulch. Get a water tank. Recycle your grey water. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Buy second hand (you are recycling and if purchased from an op-shop, the money goes towards welfare).

Smile.

Choose biodegradable cleaning products so that the chemicals have fewer negative impacts on the soil and water system.

Buy the most energy-efficient household appliances you can afford.

Join a Bush Regeneration Group.

Clean Up Your Beach Our oceans provide the earth with most of our oxygen, moisture, and weather patterns. When you go to the beach you can help by bringing a recycled / hessian type trash bag and spend a little while picking up litter, or you can join a beach clean-up crew.

Balloon Releases You should never release helium ballons into the air. Balloons cause the death for countless numbers of sea turtles and whales. Balloons cause them to suffocate or starve to death (by blocking stomach or air valves). Also metallic balloons can cause power outages when they get caught in power lines.

Don’t clog the drains ... do not dump oil, grease, antifreeze, pesticides, fertilizers, paints, cleaners, and other toxic household products down the storm drain. These drains, found in the gutters on the sidewalk, are not treated by the sewage treatment plan, they go straight into rivers, lakes, and maybe even the ocean! By putting these toxic chemicals down the drain, there is a great biological threat to marine life. It's actually quite simple. If you don't want to swim in it, don't let it get in your storm drain!

Call your local government to see if they have a disposal location for used car batteries and other hazardous household wastes.

Recycle Mobile Phones

The goal for 2008 is to increase the number of mobile phones recycled in Australia from 50 to 150 tonnes per year. This would half the number of headsets going to landfill. MobileMuster has more than 2000 collection points from mobile phone stores to local government offices.

Save energy!

Turn off equipment like televisions and stereos when you're not using them. That little red standby light means they're still using power - and that means a contribution to global warming.

Send your monitor to sleep. Screensavers are designed to save your screen from burn in, not to save energy. Monitors are responsible for more than one third of a computer's energy consumption, so conserve energy by putting yours to sleep or powering off altogether when you're away from your desk for more than 10 minutes.

Avoid the new plasma Tv -The best rule for cutting home electricity consumption? Keep your old TV. If you still feel the need to buy something, get a new super-efficient fridge.

Green Electricity;

Don’t just cut down on your energy, buy green energy and support energy produced from renewable sources like sunlight and wind. These are reliable sources of energy and, 20% of Denmark’s energy comes from wind powered generators.

Save water!

Don’t waste water. Never put water down the drain when there may be another use for it such as watering a plant or garden, or cleaning.

Take shorter showers. Replace you showerhead with an ultra-low-flow version. Some units are available that allow you to cut off the flow without adjusting the water temperature knobs.

The short shower challenge; reducing shower times to four minutes from the average length of seven, can save up to 36 litres each time you wash.

Use the minimum amount of water needed for a bath by closing the drain first and filling the tub only 1/3 full. Stopper tub before turning water. The initial burst of cold water can be warmed by adding hot water later.

Don't let water run while shaving, cleaning teeth or washing your face.

Retrofit all wasteful household faucets by installing aerators with flow restrictors.

Kitchen sink disposals require lots of water to operate properly. Start a compost pile as an alternate method of disposing food waste instead of using a garbage disposal. Garbage disposals also can add 50% to the volume of solids in a septic tank which can lead to malfunctions and maintenance problems.

Stop the leaks;

Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.

Repair dripping faucets by replacing washers. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 2,700 gallons per year which will add to the cost of water and sewer utilities, or strain your septic system.

Check for toilet tank leaks by adding food colouring to the tank. If the toilet is leaking, colour will appear within 30 minutes. Check the toilet for worn out, corroded or bent parts. Most replacement parts are inexpensive, readily available and easily installed. (Flush as soon as test is done, since food colouring may stain the tank)

Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues, insects and other such waste in the trash rather than the toilet.

Make the most of hot water;

Consider installing an instant water heater on your kitchen sink so you don't have to let the water run while it heats up. This will reduce heating costs for your household.

Insulate your water pipes. You'll get hot water faster plus avoid wasting water while it heats up.

Never install a water-to-air heat pump or air-conditioning system. Air-to-air models are just as efficient and do not waste water.

Install water softening systems only when necessary. Save water and salt by running the minimum amount of regenerations necessary to maintain water softness. Turn softeners off while on vacation.

Try to do one thing each day that will result in a savings of water. Don't worry if the savings is minimal. Every drop counts. And every person can make a difference. So tell your friends, neighbours and co-workers to "Turn it Off" and "Keep it Off".

In the Garden;

Careful Lighting at Night

Artificial lighting at night can significantly disturb and endanger certain nocturnal animals - including birds, turtles and reptiles.

But by using different light fittings, turning some lights off, or lowering their brightness - you can help minimise the impact we humans have.

What you can do:

Collect rainwater to water your flowers.

Let part of your garden grow freely and see what wild flowers appear.

Plant local species of trees.

Never take plants or pick flowers from anywhere in the wild.

Buy bulbs from cultivated stocks only and untreated. non-hybrid, non-genetically modified, open pollinated organic seeds.

Join an organic seed-savers club / swap organic seedlings.

Stop using chemical pesticides - try to use natural products instead.

Try to attract birds to your garden as they eat aphids and other gardeners’ pests.

Use traps, parasites, and natural predators such as ladybirds.

Use plants that repel insects. Some herbs and flowers - including basil, chives, mint, marigolds, and chrysanthemums - mixed in with other plants, help keep pests away.

Use disease-resistant and pest-resistant plants.

Use Neem oil and mix with some garlic oil (which you can make at home) to spray on tree trunks and diseased plants and shrubs. This works like a charm on pests, bacteria and fungus.

Remove the weeds by spraying them with something to adjust the pH (acidity) in the ground around them. Perhaps use some vinegar directly on the most stubborn ones.

Use organic compost and mulch to improve soil health and reduce the need for pesticides and fertilizers.

Don't use peat in your flower beds and vegetable gardens (peat is taken from ancient bog land, destroying some of our most precious wildlife areas). Instead, make your own compost with grass clippings and vegetable scraps from the house.

Choose drought tolerant plants like Nepeta Six Hills Giant (Catmint). It looks like huge lavender flowers but uses very little water.

Pick only drought or Xeriscape friendly grass seeds that don't require as much water to maintain.

Don't use electrical equipment like leaf-blowers as they consume so much energy for so little gain. Use a rake instead - it's better for your health too!

Don't buy garden furniture or decking made of tropical hard wood - mahogany for example - unless it's got a Forest Stewardship Council label (the "tick" tree).

Take time out to sit in your backyard with friends and family, and appreciate the beauty of nature!

Hosting a New Year / special occasion (Wedding) celebration - leave a smaller footprint on the Earth, while still having a glorious celebration;

Green Celebrations,make less of an impact on the environment, and aren't in excess of things that are not necessary.

Holiday at home; Reducing air travel, we should fly less.

Ms Stein paid tribute to organisations such as Landcare, Waterwatch, Coastcare, Rotary Greening and Greening Australia, Australian Rainforest Conservation Society, Earthshare, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Humane Society International, The Oceania Project: Caring for Whales, Dolphins and the Oceans, RSPCA Australia Inc., The Wilderness Society, The Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia, WWF, Organic Growers Society Inc. which were making a big contribution to protecting and improving our local environment.

"They're also a great way of bringing communities together, and introducing children to environmental issues"

WWF says up to 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from lighting could be eliminated if Australia's commercial sector turned off the lights when buildings were not in use. http://www.wwf.org.au/

For a real sense of atmosphere, light your New Year celebration dinner with eco-friendly, paraffin-free candles, and forget the electric light bulb for a couple of hours. This simple task, if carried out across the country, would dramatically cut energy useage. Make a new year's pledge to change your old light bulbs for energy efficiency ones and watch your electricity bill drop.

CATE BLANCHETT lent her voice to a radio and television advertising campaign promoting Earth Hour in 2007.

The advertisements aimed to tackle one of the more common perceptions about climate change - that, alone, no one can make a difference.

"In March 2007, everyone in Sydney can join the fight against global warming," Cate urged in the television spot. "Turn out the lights for just one hour - Earth Hour."

The campaign, sponsored by WWF Australia and Fairfax Media, culminated on March 31, when Sydney was asked to dim its lights for one hour at 7.30pm.

Its initial goal was to reduce Sydney's greenhouse gas emissions by 5 per cent over the year, which is the equivalent of 75,000 cars.

But it was hoped Earth Hour will create a groundswell of change that leads to far greater energy savings.

The Sydney Tower and Queen Victoria Building are two of the iconic Sydney buildings that also turned off their lights.

Almost everyone is now aware that turning off the lights, recycling your milk bottles, saying no to plastic bags and replacing with re-usable bags made from a sustainable fibre and riding your bike instead of taking your car, eating local organic food, are all vital to the future of our environment. But these are just the start! There are so many things we can all do to ensure a healthy environment for the future.

As the world's population increases, and our lifestyles change, we use more and more of the world's natural resources. Whilst some of these resources, can be replenished if we use them carefully, many, such as water, are finite and cannot be replaced. Already plants and animals have been lost forever as a direct result of our actions.

By understanding why wildlife is disappearing, and how we contribute to these threats, you will be surprised at the things you can do each day that will make a difference!

Go Green, see how you can help save the planet in 2008 and pledge your support to make a difference!

Save our habitats

Ensure our demand doesn't exceed supply

Reduce the impact of introduced species

Reverse the impact of climate change

Keep our environment clean and disease free

In lieu of our office party and gifts,We at Eco Bites, have pledged to share some 'cheer' by ... adopting an Orangutan, giving to a local animal shelter, saving some rainforest and planting some trees. On the home front, we are expanding our organic patch and replacing lawn with edible organic goodies!

You may find your home and work place will become a happier, more grooving place as you strive to make it greener. Less clutter, less waste, more of the good things of life.

What is your pledge?

Environmental Days, to mark on your calendar:

Minute for Peace:

Minute for Peace," December 22, 2007
On December 22, just three days before Christmas, 1963, the first "Minute for Peace" was broadcast on radio and TV stations. This came one month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Wire services featured the "Minute for Peace" in news stories that went around the world. The broadcast included the voice of President Kennedy addressing the United Nations with an urgent plea for peace, and asked each listener to dedicate his thoughts and action to peace.

Earth Day 2008 - APRIL 22, 2008

http://ww2.earthday.net/~earthday/

World Wetlands Day - February 2

UN World Day for Water - March 22

UN World Meteorological Day - March 23

Arbor Day - April 25

International Migratory Bird Day - May 3

International Day for Biological Diversity (World Biodiversity Day) - May 22

UN World Environment Day - June 5

UN World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought - June 17

UN World Population Day - July 11

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer - September 16

UN World Habitat Day - first Monday in October

International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction - second Wednesday in October