Happy Earth Day

While I'm not a huge environmentalist who's out their hugging trees, I do believe that there a little things that everyone can do to help the environment; little things that take no effort and won't have some kind of jolting impact on your life.

Recycle your bath and body product plastic bottles. I admit it, I used to be really lazy and when a shampoo bottle emptied, I'd just toss it into the bathroom garbage can. The walk down the stairs, into the garage, and to the recycling bin was just too long. But then I thought about the number of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bubble bath, facial cleansers, etc. bottles that I use throughout the year. Way too many to just throw away.

Recycle your cosmetic packaging. A lot of people don't even think twice about throwing away the tiny boxes that our favorite products come packaged in. Those are usually cardboard/paper too! So toss them into the recycling bin too.

Trade in your cosmetic containers. Lots of cosmetic companies offer programs that let you trade in your old cosmetic containers for something new! The Back to MAC program allows you to trade in 6 MAC containers for a FREE MAC LIPSTICK! Just ask your favorite company if they have a program.

Use Method Products to clean your home. I jumped on this bandwagon sometime last year. My Sweetie has a respiratory condition and it got me thinking that I shouldn't be using harsh chemicals to clean my home. Enter Method products. I already LOVED their hand washes (remember the post on Vanilla Peppermint last Christmas???) but little did I know that they were a "green" company making tons of non-toxic cleaning products from natural ingredients. I purchased a Method Detox Kit and have been hooked ever since. Not only do these products clean (and personally, I think they do an even better job than some of the old chemicals I used to use) but they smell so good! And I'm not talking about horrible lemon scents intertwined with harsh ammonia scents. Who would have thought cleaning products would be capable of that?

Skip the blowdryer when you can. If you are blowdryer dependant, try skipping it at least once a week. You'll save a ton of energy, and your hair will thank you for it too.

Switch to energy efficient lightbulbs. I can't even tell you what a difference that makes. My electricity bill has fallen drastically after I changed all of the lightbulbs in my house. Yeah, they may cost a little more, but the savings on your electric bill more than make up for it!

So that's my public service announcement for the day. Please, feel free to post any additional tips (including your favorite cosmetic company recycling program) through the comments.