Image by ** Maurice **  

I’m off today through Monday for the 4th of July holiday weekend.  Going to be spending some time with my family!  I hope all of you get a chance to enjoy the beautiful weekend and spend sometime outdoors as well!  Happy Independence Day! 

Here are a few tidbits of information I wanted to leave you with for this holiday weekend:

• Please remember that your pets may not appreciate fireworks as much as you do.  Keep these tips in mind when planning your firework fun! 
• “Fourth of July fireworks unleash a shower of toxins into the soil and water, and scientists are only beginning to figure out what that means for human health.” - Mother Nature Network.   But whether you are already planning to attend a local fireworks show or if you are looking for a more eco-friendly way to celebrate, please take a moment to read their blog.  It has quite of bit of good information.
• Before you leave for your holiday, ensure your car is tuned up, fluids checked, tires properly inflated and of course it’s always helpful to use a good fuel additive.  Each of these steps can help you save money and get better fuel economy…always a good thing.
• Last but not least, drive safe!  If you are planning on drinking, don’t drive.  AAA offers So Cal members a “Tipsy Tow” service for the vehicle and driver for up to 7 miles.   The service starts tonight at 6pm and goes until midnight on July 4th.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Image by Giles Douglas

Most of us are trying to do our part, no matter how big or small, to help the environment and make our lives a little more “green”.  Any little bit helps and when it comes to kids, they like to do their little (or big) part to help.  They want to do what we’re doing, so…why not let them make a difference?

Well, Disney is counting on just that.  With their recent launch of Friends for Change: Project Green, they are asking kids to come and take a pledge to start doing small actions that can make a big difference.  Pledges like turning off the lights when they leave the room, turning off the water while they are brushing their teeth, using rechargeable batteries, donating or recycling instead of throwing things away, etc.  And if parents are smart, they will encourage their children to take the challenge so they can learn more about conservation, how to save energy, etc.  Trust me, it will teach good habits AND save you money!

For example, my three year old daughter turns off the lights when she leaves a room (and reminds us if we don’t), she likes to fill up the tub half-way and turn off the water so she can take a bath and not keep the water running, she knows that cans get recycled not just thrown away, etc.  My one and a half year old is even learning to keep areas clean by picking up trash, etc.

So if you are looking for ways to help the environment and save money, in addition to the things you are probably already doing like buying local and/or organic, using an effective fuel additive, cutting down basic household expenses, recycling, etc - get your kids to take the Friends for Change pledge.

As a bonus, when the kids complete the projects they’ve pledged to do they get to help decide how Disney will distribute a quarter of a million dollars to environmental causes every three months for the next year - one million dollars total.  Remember, it doesn’t matter how big or small you are, everyone can do something to help live a little “greener”. 

Image by biofriendly

They state they are “Cleaning the air we breathe…” and their program is designed to provide information to people to help them make smarter personal transportation decisions.  Decisions that will be better for the environment and help improve air quality.  Who are they?  Cleanairchoices.org.

Have you ever heard about them?  Well, I found out about them while driving home one day.  I saw an SUV that was basically a cleanairchoices.org promotion, so I figured I’d check them out.

The website itself mostly provide links and information from a variety of agencies and organizations.  But one of these was a link to greenercars.org.

Greenercars.org is the official website for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) Green Book - a unique consumer resource that provides Green Scores on the environment friendliness of every vehicle on the market.  They also have some great “green driving tips” such as:

• Avoid “jack rabbit” starts and aggressive driving.  Flooring the gas pedal not only wastes gas, it leads to drastically higher pollution rates.  One second of high-powered driving can produce nearly the same volume of carbon monoxide emissions as a half hour of normal driving. (Really?!…I didn’t know that)
• Take a load off.  Carrying around an extra 100 pounds reduces fuel economy by about 1%.  Take a few moments to unload your cargo area.  (I’m sure this doesn’t apply to having another person - extra pounds - in the car from car-pooling or ride-sharing, as you save by taking one car rather than two.)
• Combine trips.  Warmed-up engines and catalysts generate much less air pollution, so combining several short trips into one can make a big difference.  (I try to do this as it saves time, money and with two kids it’s definitely easier to combine trips.)

They also have maintenance tips, careful fill-up tips, prudent parking tips, information on “commuter choice” programs and more.  For more information you can go to their website.  So, when it comes to keeping the air we breathe clean, any tips you can learn and adopt into your life, will be all the better for the environment.  Take a minute and see if you can learn something new.  If you have any good tips for green driving, improving air quality, etc. I’d love for you to share them here.