Easy Ways You Can Go Green

Here are a few easy and completely doable steps you can take to help improve the environment according to GreenHotels.com with a few extra tips from B&E added in...

1. Share seeds and plant cuttings with friends and neighbors to make our Earth greener! (Banquetevent.com recommends giving seeds as party favors at your next event. Check out ecoparti.com for ideas and options).

2. Buy or make some inexpensive cloth napkins to use instead of sending thousands of paper napkins to the dump each year. (You could also check out rice napkins available at ecoparti.com for another earth friendly alternative).

3. When you see a streetlight burning during the daytime, report it to the local light company. Keep calling until the repair is made.

4. Rarely do we need to use the amount of detergent recommended. Use about half or two-thirds of a measure, and then adjust with each load.

5. Don't throw anything out of your car windows, and don't let any of your passengers throw anything out either. Keep our countryside clean and beautiful.

6. Install dimmers on light switches and save electricity. We don't always need full lighting. (At your next event we highly recommend lowlight anyhow. It's way more attractive and actually helps you focus on the event speaker, food, and each other).

7. Use of pesticides and all lawn and garden chemicals should be kept to the absolute minimum necessary. The detrimental effects of these chemicals are multiplied as they are washed by rainwater into our sewers and then into our waterways. (Ask your office building manager what types of chemicals are being used in office lawns and plants. If harmful substances are being used, find out what it would take to get the building landscapers to change products. Sometimes all it takes is having someone ask).

8. Direct rainwater downspouts into gardens rather than into the street so that plantings can benefit.

9. Turn off the lights and TV, and close the drapes when you leave your office, hotel room, conference room, and other common areas.