Ten Ways You Can Make Earth Day Matter

Since the first Earth Day in 1970 people around the world have sought to celebrate the planet through a variety of individual and community activities. But Earth Day is about more than observing the beauty and vitality of nature; it is also about renewing your commitment to saving our living planet.
 
As we celebrate Earth Day's 37th year on April 22, World Wildlife Fund challenges everyone to try some of these small changes to make a big difference. You'll be amazed how easy it is.
 
1. Don't leave the water running. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth or washing the car. Fresh water is one of our most precious natural resources.
 
2. Flick off the light when you leave the room. Power plants burn fuels to create energy for your light bulb. Burning fuel makes smog that pollutes the atmosphere and adds to global warming. The less energy you use the less they need to make, and you'll save on your energy bill.
 
3. Print on both sides of the page at work. It's easy to change your printer settings - you'll use half the paper and save trees.
 
4. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water. It works just as well as hot in your washing machine and cuts back on energy use.
 
5. Ditch the paper cups. Bring in a glass to keep at work instead of using the paper ones by the water cooler.
 
6. Use the right settings on your appliances. Many appliances, like your dishwasher and refrigerator, come with energy-saving settings. Make sure they're turned on.
 
7. Turn off your computer at the end of the day. A monitor left on overnight uses enough energy to print 5,300 copies.
 
8. Join the Wildlife Rescue Team. What if we told you that you could receive a cool gift from WWF for just $5? And what if we told you that this simple gift could help save endangered species by giving WWF the resources it needs to respond quickly to environmental problems around the world? Sound interesting?
 
Well, if you join the ranks of WWF's monthly supporters--the Wildlife Rescue Team--you can receive a great gift for your pledge of just $5 a month! Any amount you can pledge per month is a great way to help save the planet this Earth Day. And what's best about this pledge is that it will continue to support endangered species around the world for months and years to come.
 
9. Look at the labels. Take the paper items with the "recycled" emblem over the ones without or look for the Energy Star symbol when buying new appliances.
 
10. Send an Earth Day E-Card. Wish your friends and family a happy Earth Day today with our special Earth Day E-cards! Earth Day is a great day to spread the word about why conservation is important to you, and WWF has a fabulous new e-card you can use to share these thoughts with your friends. But you don't have to send a message of conservation--you can also just send an e-card to say, "Hi!"

Click here to visit the World Wildlife Fund website.
Visit the Earth Day Group for more on Gather's Earth Day Series.