Easy Earth Day Tips!
It may be hard to imagine that before 1970, a factory could spew black clouds of toxic into the air or dump tons of toxic waste into a nearby stream, and that was perfectly legal. They could not be taken to court to stop it. How was that possible? Because there was no EPA, no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act. There were no legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment.
In Spring 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to force this issue onto the national agenda. 20 million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities, and it worked! In December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The City of Evanston's Office of Sustainability has outlined a few tips residents can follow to commemorate Earth Day every day.
Use reusable coffee cups - Did you know the average coffee drinker throws away 250 non-recyclable coffee cups per year? Save 
some money and help the earth as the same time, by buying one of the many awesome reusable coffee cups now on the market including ones like Keepcup which allow you to completely customize your cup and are the same exact proportions as a non-reusable non-recyclable that you are used to drinking out of. Many coffee places are now offering discounts of 10 cents every time you bring in your own reusable cup.
Go zero waste with your lunch - Don’t just brown bag it to save money zero-waste it! Did you know that 
brown bagging your lunch could be costing you $370 dollars more than it should? And if your brown bagging your children’s lunches you could be wasting much more. Here are 5 easy tips to reduce your waste in the coming year and save a little money while you’re at it.
- Buy a reusable lunch bag! Buying a reusable bag one time instead of continually buying paper bags saves plenty of money and waste right there.
- Eliminate prepackaged foods and the containers they come in. Instead buy a set of mini lunch containers that are already the size of a single serving so you can buy foods in bulk and are no longer constantly paying for the packaging.
- The sierra club estimates that your family spends at least $85 on plastic baggies for lunches, buy a plastic sandwich holder instead.
- Buy a few sets of plastic reusable utensils, using single use plastic forks and knives creates quite a lot of waste not to mention the oil which goes into creating those products
- Carry around your own water bottle! And get ones for your family too, Americans spent $16 billion on water bottles every year and send around 38 billion into the landfills so do your part and help to break the cycle.
If you want to do it yourself and get crafty here are some tips for making your own containers instead of buying them visit here>>> or buy your own lunch box in all kinds of fun colors here>>>.
Get composting - Cut back on valuable food waste and make your own super nutrient rich soil at the same time and Evanston is 
making it easier and easier to do so. If you’re feeling adventurous try making your own compost pile from the thousands of wonderful online guides with step by step pictures or buy a barrel composter which maintains a high enough temperature to compost all year round. These can be purchased at the Ace hardware on Davis or from other locations as well as ordered online. Visit the city’s website to download the Evanston Composting Guide.
Go green with gardening - In the spirit of spring, get out there and start gardening! Gardening is great for 
you, the environment, and your family. Gardening burns almost 300 calories an hour and works arm mussels not utilized in a typical gym workout. Gardening helps provide your family with fresh healthy and seasonal foods. In fact one of the most fun parts of having a garden is getting to experience foods at their peak instead of the off season vegetables frequently found at supermarkets which have been shipped an average of 1500 miles before arriving at your dinner plate. So start saving money on your groceries, eating more fresh foods and getting some fresh air this spring. Here are a few lists of easy to grow veggies that can be coming to your dinner plate soon: here>>> and here>>>
Ditch the disposable and opt for reusable Bags- Did you know Whole Foods is 
BYOB? Meaning Bring Your Own Bag and get 10 cents off your purchase? And most Whole Foods donate that 10 cents when you do bring your own bags to the local schools so help save the environment by reducing bag usage and donate to our local schools at the same time or keep the 10 cents for yourself, either way bring your own bag is a win-win. More and more stores are starting to promote reusable bags. A good tip is to simply keep some reusable bags for groceries in your car at all times so you are always ready to go with reusable bags or keep a bag like a Chico bag which when bundled is around the size of an egg in your purse at all times so you are never caught without a reusable bag! The average person uses 350-500 grocery bags per year so this earth day help break the cycle and then keep going all year round reducing your waste one trip to the grocery store at a time.
Get moving and walk to School - Spring has sprung and now that the weather is officially taking a turn for the better now is a great 
time to start getting your child to walk to school! Removing two extra car trips a day saves CO2 emissions and at the same time helps your child to be active by walking or biking to school in the mornings and home from school in the afternoons. In Evanston we are lucky enough to for the most part live close enough to walk or bike to our public schools and it is something we should really be taking advantage of. That extra time walking has great health benefits for your child and gives them some time to socialize with their neighborhood friends in the morning. The city recently published a map of all the safest routs to school and it can be found here>>> so you can teach your child the safest walking routes
Reduce stress of traffic with public transportation - Next time you have to make the trip into downtown 
Chicago or suburbs easily reached by the Metra, consider taking the train or a bus! While they may take slightly longer they can end up saving you a world of stress and plenty of money. Taking the “L” may cost $5 round trip but parking in the loop for an hour if you can even find street parking costs over $5 an hour to begin with! Outside of the loop rates are only slightly lower. Making little changes like this can make a huge difference in your carbon footprint and are so easy to do. So next time you’re heading downtown arrive relaxed and return home with more money in your pocket than if you had driven.
Use pedal power with your bicycle - Get out of the house and get moving this spring by biking around Evanston. Enjoy either the 
McCormick trail along the cannel or bike along the lake front for scenic views of the lake. Check out the city’s new bike maps of streets to bike on so you can start biking around Evanston instead of driving. Biking is a great way to get in a little extra exercise in your day and reduce your carbon foot print as well as saving your money on gas and parking meter fees. http://www.cityofevanston.org/maps/pdfs/AreaBikeMap.pdf
Fight back against phantom power - Want to save at least $10 a month without thinking? Then go to town 
unplugging and buy your family some power strips! Phantom power usage plagues every household and some far more than others. A good rule of thumb is that if it has a lighted display, its using power weather you are using it or not. Things like leaving a lap top plugged in or a video game console not in use plugged in are hiking up your monthly energy bill. So look at last month’s energy bill and then start plugging toasters, microwaves, video game consoles, DVD players and anything else with a light into power strips. Turn off the power strip before bed or even better unplug the devices when not in use for the next month and see how much you save! An easy way to track these savings is to create an account with CUB energy savers www.cubenergysaver.com. Simplyjoining CUB for free has helped Evanston residents save an average of $100 just by tracking their energy bill over time!
Best Tip for Earth Day - The best tip for earth day is to live every day like its earth day! Sustainability, waste reduction, and lowering CO2 emissions cannot be a one day a year effort but hopefully these tips will inspire you to make more environmentally conscious choices from Earth Day onward!