Earth Week (Should be Every Week!)

Visit the Earth Day Canada website at http://www.earthday.ca/pub/index.php for a list of Earth Week events in your area that you and your family can participate in.

~Bring a ‘litter-less’ lunch to work all week (no plastic or foil wrap). Continue this practice beyond Earth Week. This includes bringing reusable mugs when buying coffee and other refreshments at the coffee counters. Tim Horton’s and Second Cup offer discounts to those using their own mugs!

Impact
· Reduce your waste – In a lifetime, the average North American throws away 600 times his/her adult weight in garbage.

~ Always turn taps off tightly at work and at home.
~ At home and at work, develop the habit of defrosting frozen food in the fridge overnight instead of running water.

Impact
· Conserve water –A faucet that drips one drop per second wastes nearly 12,000 litres of water per year.
· Check for leaks in your toilets at home – a leaking toilet can waste up to 400,000 litres of water or about $730 per year.

~Avoid printing paper – try to use email instead of paper copies whenever possible. If necessary, use double-sided photocopying or printing.
~Install low-flow aerators on your faucets at home. (Aerators are small fixtures added to the water stream, reducing water flow while keeping the same pressure. Very easy to install and cost is under $10)

Impact
· Approximately 80% of office waste is paper and of that, 70% is not recycled.
· Low-flow aerators can reduce the water usage of faucets by as much as 40% from 4 gallons per minute to 2.5.

~Take public transit, ride a bike, walk or carpool with friends and co-workers to work
Install energy efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFL) at home.
~Recycle old computers and computer equipment for FREE (during Earth Week) by dropping it off at Computation – located at 280 Jane Street, between the hours of 10am and 7pm.
http://www.computation.to/recyclingEvent.html

Impact
· One city bus eliminates the emissions of 40 cars.
· Save money and use less energy - A single 18 watt CFL used instead of a 75 watt incandescent
will save about 570 kWh over its lifetime – that’s $45 in savings (at 8 cents per kWh).

~At home and at work, always turn off lights, printers, faxes, computers, etc. when they aren’t in use. At home? Unplug all electronic devices when not in use (e.g. toaster, kettle, blender, coffeemaker, battery charger, etc.). OR: You can plug your electronics into a power bar that can easily be switched off.

Impact
· Electronic devices still draw power even when they are turned off. This is called standby power.
· Over a year, electronic devices at home can draw enough standby power to run a refrigerator for a month. (who knew?!)

~In the GTA? Bring your family and friends to the Annual Trees across Toronto city-wide planting event from 10am – 12pm. Locations can be found at this website: http://www.toronto.ca/parks/treeadvocacy.htm

Impact
· Trees help reduce the effects of global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide.
· A single mature tree can absorb 48 lbs of carbon dioxide per year and release enough oxygen to support two human beings.