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Please join us during Earth Month at Seaside to consciously
choose to make the small changes in your life that can
have a BIG impact on honoring our Earth and keeping it
healthy for our own and future generations. Since the whole universe
is the body of God, so is our Earth. It is our responsibility
to do whatever we can to be excellent stewards of the amazing
home we have been given, our beautiful Earth.
Thank you for stewarding our beloved planet with the choices
that you make and for your passion for our beautiful Earth's
health.
Element: FIRE
Conserving Electricity: CFLs
Use compact fluorescent light bulbs for all of the your lighting
needs. They are even available for dimmer switches. If everyone
in this county just changed 5 of their most used light bulbs
to fluorescent, ONE TRILLION TONS of greenhouse gasses would
be prevented from going into our atmosphere. (To understand how
significant that is, if you began counting right now and counted
one number a second, it would take you 36,0000 YEAR to count
up to a trillion, and a ton is 2,000 pounds. Preventing a trillion
tons of greenhouse gasses is the equivalent of taking 8 million
cars off the road.
SDG&E has FREE light bulb exchange events where you can
exchange a number incandescent light bulbs and torchiere bulbs
to compact fluorescent (CFLs) for FREE. To find an exchange event,
go to:
http://sdge.com/residential/turninEvents.shtml
Conserving Electricity: Power Strips
Did you know that everything you have plugged in uses energy
even when it is off? TVs, stereos, computers, and modems are
huge energy hogs even when they are off. So, here is how to not
only save the Earth, but save LOTS of money. (Rev. Christina
has changed all of her light bulbs to CFLs and has followed the
steps below. As a result, her electricity bill NEVER goes over
$45 a month.)
- Turn off your computer and monitor when you are not using
them..
- Unplug your toaster, coffee put, hair dryer, and any small
appliances when you are not using them.
- Buy several power strips at a home store (around $3-$10 each.)
Plug in your computer, monitor, modem, stereo, televisions, cable
box, etc. into these power strips and plug the power strips into
s wall plug. When you want to turn on your electronic equipment,
just click the power strip to ON, then turn on your equipment.
When you are finished using your equipment, simply turn off the
equipment and get in the habit of just pressing the off switch
on the power strip every time you are finished using your equipment.
With your equipment and your power strip will use ANY electricity
at all. After a couple of days, you will automatically be in
the habit of turning off your power strips; and it takes no extra
time at all. This small change in habits will not only help the
Earth, but will save you lots of money in your electricity bills.
Element - AIR
Conserving Gasoline to Purify Our Air
Honor our air by consciously grouping your errands so that
you don't drive more than necessary. You can even and ride your
bike or walk if possible. You will not only help our air, but
you'll save money on gas. If you walk or ride your bike, you
won't even need to spend money on a gym membership to stay fit!!
Element - Water
Conserving Water in Your Home
- Capture your shower warm-up water in a bucket or pot and
water something in your garden with it.
- Check your toilets, faucets and pipes for leaks and repair
immediately. A leak can waste 50 gallons of water a day.
- Use your dishwasher and washing machine for full loads only.
- Turn off running water while shaving, brushing your teeth
or soaping your hands.
- When you are ready to replace your clothes washer, choose
a water and energy efficient model.
-
Conserving Water in Your Yard
Did you know that on average, 60% of household water consumption
is used for outdoor landscaping? By reducing water used for landscape
irrigation, you will save money by lowering your water bill.
- Remember to turn off your sprinkler system during rainy weather.
- Most plants require only one-third as much water in the winter
as they do in the summer. Visit the Landscape Watering Calculator
to find out how much water your plants need, http://www.bewaterwise.com
and adjust your watering schedule seasonally.
- Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks.
- Plant California friendly plants to replace unused turf areas.
- Check your irrigation system for leaks, oversparing, or clogged
heads. Use drip irrigation instead of sprinklers for all plants,
flowers, trees, and bushes.
Honoring the Earth with the way you drink water
The Dangers of Bottled Water
Did you know that Americans spend 11 BILLION dollars a year
on bottled water?
Did you know that only 1 in 5 plastic water bottles are recycled?
Did you know that some plastic water bottles contain chemicals
that are harmful to your body?
Did you know that the number of plastic bottles thrown away
each year are the size
More than a quarter of bottles water is just processed tap
water.
According to the Pacific Institute's fact sheet manufacturing
the 30+ billion plastic water bottles we bought in 2006:
- Required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of
oil - enough to fuel more than one million vehicles for a year.
- Produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.
- Used three times the amount of water in the bottle.
- Were thrown in the trash at a rate of 840 bottles per SECOND
every single second of the year.
And these numbers don't include transporting the bottles.
Nearly 25 percent of bottled water crosses national borders before
reaching consumers.
Adding in transportation, the energy used comes to over 50
million barrels of oil equivalent - enough to run 3 million cars
for a year.
Alternatives to Bottled Water - Save money and the Earth
- If you really can't bring yourself to use our safe tap water,
obtain a PUR or Brita water filter pitcher for your home.
- Fill a safe re-usable water bottle (sources below) from your
water pitcher
- Fill your re-usable water from the church filter on the sink
in the Seaside kitchen.
- Toss your PUR or Brita into your suitcase when you travel.
It will save you LOTS of money and time when you arrive at your
destination.
- Obtain a Liv PURE water bottle with a built-in filter. Then,
you can use any tap water, even in airplane restrooms, and still
drink filtered water. http://www.fit-fresh.com/products/livpure/
- These bottles are now available at stores such as Target
and Bed and Bath and Beyond
Sources for safe water bottles:
Element - Earth
Grow your own salad - even if it is in a container on your
patio,
Saving Our Forests from Throw-Away Paper Products
 s.
Worldwide, paper accounts for 42 percent of the trees cut
down by industry each year. 40 million acres of forests continue
to disappear each year.
Forests are being destroyed to make toilet paper, facial tissues,
paper towels and other disposable paper products. You can help
stop this destruction by using only recycled paper products.
- Toilet Paper: If every household in the United States
replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets)
with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees
- Facial Tissues: If every household in the United States
replaced just one box of virgin fiber facial tissues (175 sheets)
with 100% recycled ones, we could save 163,000 trees.
- Paper Towels: If every household in the United States
replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets)
with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees.
- Napkins: If every household in the United States replaced
just one package of virgin fiber napkins (250 count) with 100%
recycled ones, we could save 1 million trees. Of course, cloth
napkins use NO paper at all.
Where to Find Recycled Paper Towels, Facial
Tissue, Toilet Paper, and Napkins
- Trader Joe's has affordable facial tisses, toilet
paper and paper towels made with 100% recycled paper.
- Costco finally has affordable toilet paper. made from
recycled paper.
- Jimbo's and Henry's have napkins made with recycled
paper. Cloth napkins are more affordable in the long run.
Paper Recycling
- In Encinitas, ALL paper, including junk mail, newspaper,
magazines, office paper, cardboard boxes, cardboard packaging
materials, etc. can be recycled. Be Earth-wise and recycle.
Save Time and Trees by Preventing Paper Waste
in Your Mailbox
- Stop a lot of junk mail by going to the Direct Marketing
Association and taking your name off of many lists at: https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS/proto1.php
- Stop your unwanted catalogues by going to http://www.catalogchoice.org.
If your unwanted catalogues continue to arrive, call the
number on the catalog to stop it. Be SURE to recycle your catalogues.
Some Other Resources for
Earth-Friendly Products
- E3 Living: Energy, Ecology, Economy: An almost one-stop
resource for energy saving and water saving products for the
home, yard, and even pets. http://www.e3living.com
- EcoPet: Natural, organic, and eco-friendly products
for pets: http://www.ecopetlife.com
- Don's Green Store: One of the few places to find LED
light bulbs (even more energy efficient than compact fluorescent
light bulbs): http://www.donsgreenstore.com
 .
Please don't miss Seaside's eco festival on April 20 where
you will be able to purchase some Earth friendly products right
after church at Seaside. This will be a great way to spend your
time between the second service and the Peter Kater Earth Day
concert at 2:00 PM on April 20.
Created by Rev. Dr. Christina Tillotson, April,
2008
ctillotson@seasidechurch.org
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