Blog Action Day is a yearly event that I just found out about. What they do is each year they come up with a theme and pick a day and then encourage everyone to blog about that topic on that day. This year’s theme is the environment.

With everyone in the blogosphere blogging about the environment, there is bound to be some overlap, but I will join in and say a few words about the environment as well and give some ideas to help protect it.

There are some staggering statistics in reference to holes in the ozone layer, the melting of the polar ice caps, climate changes, and global warming in general. Even if these statistics are fabricated and these things are not really going on, it is still a good idea to do what we can to protect the environment. Here are a couple of ideas:

Replace your standard light bulbs with CFL bulbs. Yes, they are a bit more expensive, but they are also rated for much longer lengths of time so bulb cost will be less in the long run, they also use less electricity which will save you money. Along with this, using less electricity makes them more environmentally friendly. This is something that I explored deeper in a previous post.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This idea is an old one that seems to come and go. It’s like one of those fads that goes in and out of style. No matter what part of the “fad” cycle we are in, it’s not a bad idea to follow this adage. Reduce your waste; use a real plate and silverware rather than paper and plastic. Reuse what you can; this can be applied to old clothes that become rags, boxes that come to you containing items ordered online, computer printouts that become scratch paper, and many other things that may have one more use before finding the trash can. Recycle whenever possible; newspapers, aluminum cans, plastics, and many other items can be sent to the recyclers rather than the trash collectors. These things can the be reprocessed and made in to new products rather than going to the landfill.

There are many more great ideas that may or may not be easily embraceable depending on your situation and lifestyle, but if everybody does at least one little thing, the impact can be huge.