earth day every day – part 1

April 22nd may be the day recognized as the official Earth Day but we try to think of it as every day. When Foerstelians were asked what they do on a daily basis to make their world a little greener, the list was long but included:
John rides his bike as his major form of transportation year around (which is saying something when you live in Idaho).
Daryl is all about Freecycle.
Dennis, Debbie, Kim and Linda all have compost bins at home.
Tom buys, cooks and eats a 90% organic diet, and uses earth-friendly cleaners and recycled paper products at home and at the office.
Janet is creating a treasure chest of little items that normally would have been thrown away like tags and attachments that come on clothing, shoes and accessories. She plans to put these to creative use – maybe even on the art canvas she’s working on for the office.
Tom, Debbie & Linda have programmable thermostats.
Janell has planted over 45 trees on her property not to mention a wildflower garden.
Tom’s front yard is officially recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as being wildlife-friendly (he didn’t install the snazzy plaque though).
Debbie uses eco-friendly laundry products in her energy star washer and drier, has drought and bug resistant grass that cuts down on watering and eliminates the need for pesticides, and has eliminated bottled water by installing a water filtration system at her house and arming all the family members with a PBA-free water bottle.
Claudia and her 10 year old daughter, Anna, recently watched a PBS documentary on how Earth Day came about. Anna was amazed that such a massive movement could be organized without the help of emails, or facebook, or blogs. Excited, energized and inspired to do something, they decided the first step would be to limit showers to 3 minutes.
During Linda’s recent remodel she put in reclaimed doors, energy star light fixtures and windows, carpet made from recycled pop bottles, a high efficiency furnace, double flush toilet, recycled glass tiles made right here in Boise and Marmoleum.