Give 134: Beyond Green: 365give GIVES to the Planet

A girlfriend of mine recently gave me a book called How to Reduce your Carbon Footprint – 365 Simple Ways to Save Energy, Resources, and Money by Joanne Yarrow.

Joanne is the Founder of Beyond Green. She could actually offer 1001 ways to save the planet. This is their philosophy:

“We’re Beyond Green. A team of strategists, policymakers, planners, economists, designers, and communications experts who are changing the places we live in, and how we live in them.

We think about ways of living in places fit for the 21stcentury.

We build better, greener, healthier places.

We help people live more sustainable lives.”

It was her gift to me to inspire new ways to incorporate sustainable giving into 365give. I had a chance to read the book while getting in my cardio on a bike in the gym today. I realized I was giving back more than I thought. Just getting my daily exercise powered by my own legs was GIVING.

I wanted to share my top 5 ways I am already GIVING back to the planet today. I will also find 5 new ways I can GIVE back over the next 5 days to reduce my family’s carbon footprint. It may not be Earth Day yet (Friday,April 22, 2011) but we need to help save the planet every day, not just on Earth Day.

What are you doing in your life today to GIVE to our great planet?

GIVE 134: Day 134

Did you know? (facts taken from How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint)

1)      C02 is being released about 3 times faster than can be reabsorbed.

2)      The US would need to plant about 30 billion trees a year to absorb the C02 it emits alone.

3)      Fossil fuels are being depleted about 100,000 times faster than they are formed.

My family’s top 5 ways we have reduced our carbon footprint to save the planet every day.

1)      The 1 Car Family

We have made a commitment to have one hybrid car only, we enjoy walking, biking or taking public transit as our secondary means of transportation.

2)      Compost

We have two compost bins in our back yard for all our kitchen compostable waste.

3)      Recycle

Plastic, paper and even our milk / juice cartons are recycled at our house. Since the garbage man won’t take the milk cartons we make a special trip to the recycle depot once a month when going in the same direction.

4)      The 5 Minute Shower

This may not be timed purposefully, but being a parent of a small child makes shower time short sweet and to the point. You can get it all done in less than 5                   minutes! Most days even 3 minutes!

5)      Let the Sunshine In!

We have floor to ceiling south facing windows. Our house is warmed naturally by the sunlight even in the winter. The blinds are always open full! In the summer we             close the blinds and open the patio doors to let the cool ocean breeze keep the house at a comfortable temperature. No air conditioning needed. We don’t even             need our lights on at all during the day. 3 energy saving ideas that keep our bills low as well as our C02 output!

So now I need your energy saving ideas! Let 365give know what you do to GIVE back to the planet every day, 365 days a year. Maybe you have already made the 365give commitment and you don’t even realize it.

This is the one GIVE we can incorporate into our lives every day.

Time Commitment: 0      We do it daily with no extra time needed.

Cost: 0       We save money on our bills and the cost of a 2nd car!

***Please help me spread the word about 365give. If you like this post or any others please share it so together we can inspire people to give more in their lives. You can Tweet it, like it on Facebook or email it to your friends and family. Remember to subscribe to my daily GIVES from the main page so you can be inspired to GIVE every day.

Together we can change the world one day at a time.