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There’s been a lot of talk about this in the “blogosphere” lately, and for good reasons. We’re all in this together, we all live on the same Earth. And it’s the only one we have…

I believe it’s not just about raising awareness, we’re already well aware of global warming and all, it’s about doing something. It has been said thousands of times, but I’ll say it again: there are things we can do!

Here Are Some Things You Should Know

A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility…and worse. - BestLifeOnline

The Statistics Canada study concludes that paper has remained in demand across the business world, with paper consumption more than doubling in Canada between 1983 and 2003. “We (found) that the consumption of paper, for printing and writing, has increased significantly in the last two decades,” said Heidi Ertl, a Statistics Canada analyst. - Business Edge Canada 2006

Paper consumption more than doubled in Canada between 1983 and 2003 and the business world’s demand for paper is still going up, a Statistics Canada study concluded last year. - Working.com

the average desktop PC wastes nearly half the power delivered to it. Half! This wasted electricity unnecessarily increases the cost of powering a computer, and it also increases the emission of greenhouse gases. - Climate Savers Computing

The wasted power is expended as heat, which means that on top of the cost of running the computer, you may also be spending more on air conditioning to cool your home or office. - Climate Savers Computing

Ok, I could go on and on all day with references and studies, but you get the idea.

I wrote about paperless office concept some time ago, and yes, there are some really neat tools you can use to help make your home office paperless (or almost paperless).

But it’s not just about the tools. Sure getting rid of the printer, turning off the lights, or shutting down your computer before you go to bed will help…. Those are obvious, no-brainers.

On top of sending invoices as PDFs, subscribing to electronic billing, and driving my trusty Toyota Echo/Yaris to work (wait I don’t have to drive to go to work! I work from home!), what else do I do? Read on…

Plastic Bags? No Freakin’ Way!

Going shopping? Need new clothes or wanna buy that new book your friend told you about? You can carry that in your hands or put it in a back-pack. Or you could even bring re-usable bags with you!

There’s a company based in Montreal, Canada (where I live), called Omniplast, that makes re-usable, oxy-biodegradable bags. You can view their presentation and read more about it here (click “about us” and then click on the “oxy-biodegradable plastic” button at the bottom ).

Now, how nice is that? They do business in Canada and the United States. Maybe there’s a company like Omniplast where you live, why not ask the manager of that store where you bought those new clothes about biodegradable bags? You never know!

Posts/Articles Worth A Mention

Here are some post that are definitely worth reading. I will keep adding links to this list throughout the day, as people publish their posts (will maybe have to create a page just for that, or maybe the folks at Blog Action Day will? :) ).

• Collis at NorthXEast (how they created BlogActionDay) - Building Momentum: How Blog Action Day Got Going
• Cyan at FreelanceSwitch - 29 Simple Ways to Become a More Environmentally Friendly Freelancer (+ Help Us Donate $500 to Charity!)
• Samir Bharadwaj - The Environmental Movement and Why It’s Not Working (Samir should receive a Blog Action Day award for writing 9 posts about it! Way cool!)
• Shane from Zoomstart - Blog Action Day 2007: The Environment
• Dustin Wax at LifeHack - Blog Action Day: You the Consumer
• David Seah - Getting to Know My Environment
• Maki from DoshDosh - Top 20 Environmental Blogs You Can Read
• Yaro Starak - Blog Action Day: What If The Water Runs Out
• Ben at Instigator Blog - How Entrepreneurs Can Help Save the Environment
• Naomi Dunford from IttyBiz - Saving the Planet, One Home Business at a Time
• Devon Carlson at Ask The Career Counselor - Blog Action Day: Green Jobs Mean Growth and Great Potential
• Liz at Successful-Blog - Blog Action Day: Personal Environmental Action
• Ian Fernando - Blog Action Day: Exercise with Nature
• Adam from Monk At Work - Blog Action Day: Leave That Which Makes You Doubt…
• Travis at YoungGoGetter - 5 innovative environmental business ideas
• Shane from Shane&Peter - Save the World, Work from Home
• Edith Yeung - How You are Impacting the World (Blog Action Day)
• Alex Shalman - Environmental Wellness Principle
• Chris Garrett on New Media - Blog Action Day: Noticing the World Around Us
• Dan Sitter at Idea Sellers - Blog Action Day: Our Environment
• Tony D. Clark from Success From The Nest - 5 Reasons Why Home-Based Entrepreneurship is the Ultimate Eco-Friendly Gig
• Anja Merret - Five things I am doing for Blog Action Day - what are yours
• K. Stone from Life learning Today - The Coolest Green Habits to Adopt Today: Blog Action Day
• David Chen at Pronet Advertising - The Importance of Blog Action Day
• Peter from I Will Change Your Life - A Climate Of Change
• Dumb Little Man - Items you Never Thought to Recycle
• Dharmesh Shah from OnStartups - Diminishing Dead-Tree Media and 3 More Ways Bloggers Can Help Save The Planet
• Lodewijk from How To Be An Original - Help the earth: Reduce, Renew and Remove
• Brian Clark at Copyblogger - The Butterfly Effect and the Environment: How Tiny Actions Can Save the World
• Behance - Human Ideas: Adopt The Sky
• Char at Essential Keystrokes - 5 R’s For A Greener World
• Grad Money Matters - Get Rid of Unwanted Mail. It’s Bad for your Wallet and Bad for the Environment
• Jonathan Fields from Awake @ The Wheel - Blog Action Day
• Deb at Freelance Writing Gigs - In Honor of Blog Action Day: A few things you can do to make a difference
• Daniel from Daily Blog Tips - Environment Friendly Blogging: 5 Practical Tips
• Elizabeth from Cox Conserves (great site) - Cox Conserves
• Congrats to Al Gore - Nobel Peace Prize - I think this falls right along the lines of Blog Action Day

What Do YOU Do?

I would really like to know. What do you do to help save the environment? How does your office look like? Paper everywhere? Or everything is on your computer? Please share your own tips and tricks with us. Help us make the Earth a better place to live. We’re already aware things are bad, let’s do something about it. Writing about it just isn’t enough! What are you gonna do today to help?

Take care

Jon

*note: all of today’s earnings will go to a non-profit organization (not sure which one yet, so please feel free to give suggestions or recommend one that’s listed on BlogActionDay)