Five Ways to Help Save the Planet in 30 Minutes or Less

You may not be able to reduce
global warming, end pollution and
save endangered species single-
handed, but by choosing to live an
earth-friendly lifestyle you can do
a lot every day to help achieve
those goals.
And by making wise choices about
how you live, and the amount of
energy and natural resources you
consume, you send a clear
message to businesses,
politicians and government
agencies that value you as a
customer, constituent and citizen.

Here are five simple things you
0can do —in 30 minutes or less—to
help protect the environment and
save Planet Earth.

Drive Less, Drive Smart
Every time you leave your car at
home you reduce air pollution,
lower greenhouse gas emissions,
improve your health and save
money.
Walk or ride a bicycle for short
trips, or take public transportation
for longer ones. In 30 minutes,
most people can easily walk a
mile or more, and you can cover
even more ground on a bicycle,
bus, subway or commuter train.

Research has shown that people
who use public transportation are
healthier than those who don ’t.
Families that use public
transportation can save enough
money annually to cover their
food costs for the year.
When you do drive, take the few
minutes needed to make sure
your engine is well maintained
and your tires properly inflated.

Eat Your Vegetables
Eating less meat and more fruits,
grains and vegetables can help
the environment more than you
may realize. Eating meat, eggs
and dairy products contributes
heavily to global warming,
because raising animals for food
produces many more greenhouse
gas emissions than growing
plants. A 2006 report by the
University of Chicago found that
adopting a vegan diet does more
to reduce global warming than
switching to a hybrid car.

Raising animals for food also uses
enormous amounts of land,
water, grain and fuel. Every year
in the United States alone, 80
percent of all agricultural land,
half of all water resources, 70
percent of all grain, and one-third
of all fossil fuels are used to raise
animals for food.
Making a salad doesn’t take any
more time than cooking a
hamburger and it ’s better for you
—and for the environment.

Switch to Reusable Shopping Bags
Producing plastic bags uses a lot
of natural resources, and most
end up as litter that fouls
landscapes, clogs waterways, and
kills thousands of marine
t mammals that mistake the
ubiquitous bags for food.
Worldwide, up to a trillion plastic
bags are used and discarded
every year—more than a million
per minute. The count for paper
bags is lower, but the cost in
natural resources is still
unacceptably high -especially
when there is a better
alternative.

Reusable shopping bags, made of
materials that don’t harm the
environment during production
and don ’t need to be discarded
after each use, reduce pollution
and save resources that could be
put to better uses than making
plastic and paper bags.Reusable
bags are convenient and come in
a variety of sizes and styles. Some
reusable bags can even be rolled
or folded small enough to fit into
a purse or pocket.

Change Your Light Bulbs
Compact fluorescent light bulbs
and light-emitting diodes(LEDs)
are more energy efficient and less
expensive to use than the
traditional incandescent bulbs
invented by Thomas Edison. For
example, compact fluorescent
light bulbs use at least two-thirds less energy than standard
incandescent bulbs to provide the
same amount of light, and they
last up to 10 times longer.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs
also generate 70 percent less
heat, so they are safer to operate
and can reduce energy costs
associated with cooling homes
and offices.