Naturalpath

Reducing, reusing and recycling can have a big impact on our environment. Determine if you really "need" an item before you purchase it and this will reduce the amount of what you will have to discard later.
When you do have to get rid of an item, recycle it. Some great resources for recycling information are the National recycling coalition, http://nrc-recycle.org/ and Earth 911 http://earth911.org/.
Reusing items is a great way to help the environment. Often you can find great ideas at craft or home improvement websites on ways to turn something old into something new and useful! Also donating items to charity you no longer need is a great way to help others and help the environment. There are so many ways you can go green and help the environment, why not start today?

A few years ago I drop our garbage can size down to the smallest size possible. We usually sent it out half full so I thought lets get rid of the big one. Since that time we have bought more foods in bulk from shops like Sun Harvest and the farmers markets. The best thing besides great food, is you don't have the bulky marketing packaging,and pretty boxes we don't need.

In an article published by the U.K. Economist, Recycling is indeed better for the Environment. In a research completed by the Technical University of Denmark and the Danish Topic Centre on Waste, in 83% of all programs that included recycling, it was concluded that recyling is better for the Environment. This debunks most of the dubious consumers on the issues on the effectiveness of recycling.

The researchers studied at least 200 different scenarios of recycling with that of burying or burning waste, and did a review of 55 life-cycle of a particular recycled products. The Environmental Protection agency estimates that recycling reduced United States carbon emission by 107,800 lbs in 2005.

A great way to recycle your newspaper and prevent weeds from taking over your garden...Lay approximately 10 sheets of newspaper down around the plants in your garden and cover with your favorite mulch (I use natural cedar mulch). If you don't live in a drought stricken area, you may want to water the mulch to help hold it down. Works great!

As green consumer choices continue to permeate our shopping experience, my awareness is battling my conscience. Everytime I checkout at the grocery store and they ask the inevitable paper or plastic question, I am overcome with uncertainty not knowing what the right choice is. Unable to bear the guilt any longer, I ventured into the green blogosphere on a quest to find out once and for all what is best, paper or plastic?

Plastic is everywhere, from Tupperware to plastic wrap, to bowls and utensils -- even paper cartons and deli paper are usually sprayed with a layer of plastic. Plastic is a treacherous biohazard for two reasons:

1. It can leach carcinogenic chemicals into our food (and our bodies) from plastic food packaging; and,
2. Perhaps just as alarming, plastics are contaminating our environment.

Can plastic containers contaminate our food? They're made from a variety of toxic chemicals, including a known class of carcinogens called phthalates (which are softeners that are added to make plastic flexible) and Bisphenol A (BPA), both of which can migrate into food.