 • For every ton of paper that is recycled, the following is saved: 7,000 gallons of water; 380 gallons of oil; and enough electricity to power an average house for six months.
• You can run a TV for six hours on the amount of electricity that is saved by recycling one aluminum can
• By recycling just one glass bottle, you save enough electricity to power a 100-watt bulb for four hours
(Source: www.gogreeniniative.org)
1. Re-route your commute.
• Walk or bike to work and save money on gas and parking while improving your cardiovascular health and reducing your risk of obesity.
• If you live far from your office, investigate the option of telecommuting. Or move closer—even if this means paying more rent, it could save you money in the long term.
• If your streets are not conducive to biking or walking, lobby your municipal government to increase spending on sidewalks and bike lanes. With little cost, these improvements can pay huge dividends in decreased traffic and pollution.
2. Buy used.
• Whether you’ve just moved to a new area or are looking to redecorate, consider a service like craigslist or FreeSharing to track down furniture, appliances, and other items, rather than buying them new. Check out garage sales and thrift stores for clothing and other everyday items.
• Use your creativity in gift giving, including making homemade gifts, donating to a good cause, or even regifting. (And gift green, in general.)
• Your purchasing habits have a real impact, for better or worse. When making new purchases, make sure you know what’s “Good Stuff” and what isn’t.
Click here for the entire list.
 A family of four can save $3,000 a year simply by buying products in the largest size they can use and by buying long lasting reusable items. Think about the effect of your purchases on the environment when you shop. Items with excess packaging and products that need to be discarded after only a few uses cost more money, use up valuable resources and create more waste.
• Buy products in the largest size you can use; avoid excess packaging.
• Buy products in containers that you know you will be able to recycle.
• Buy reusable and long lasting items.
Click here for more shopping tips!
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 Posted 12/28/2009 10:00:00 AM
Indy Parks and Recreation is offering seven drop off sites for Marion County residents to take their Christmas trees from Dec. 29th - Jan 31st.
By taking your tree to one of the following drop off sites you divert it from going to a land fill and taking up valueable space. They will instead be mulched and used in the many parks throughout Indianapolis.
Residents are asked to remove all ornaments, lights, tree stands, plastic bags, nails and other decorations before drop-off. No artificial trees or materials will be accepted.
Trees will be accepted at the following locations during normal park hours (dawn to dusk), seven days a week. Follow signs within each park to the specific drop-off locations.
Broad Ripple Park, 1610 Broad Ripple Ave., south lot.
Ellenberger Park, 5301 E. St. Clair St., west of pool in main parking lot.
Garfield Park, 2450 S. Shelby ...
[ Read full post ]
 • In 1999, recycling and composting activities prevented about 64 million tons of material from ending up in landfills and incinerators. Today, this country recycles 32% of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years.
• While recycling has grown in general, recycling of specific materials has grown even more drastically: 50 percent of all paper, 34 percent of all plastic soft drink bottles, 45 percent of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans, 63 percent of all steel packaging, and 67 percent of all major appliances are now recycled.
• Twenty years ago, only one curbside recycling program existed in the United States, which collected several materials at the curb. By 2005, almost 9,000 curbside programs had sprouted up across the nation. As of 2005, about 500 materials recovery facilities had been established to process the collected materials.
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