Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22.  Celebrated in more than 193 countries, it is a day to promote environmental awareness and the protection of our planet.  Earth Day dates back to 1970 when it was first celebrated in the United States.  It didn’t go global until 1990 with 200 million people recognizing environmental issues.  On Earth Day, individuals or groups often plant trees, conduct recycling programs, and attend fairs where they learn to become more environmentally conscious.  With more and more people concerned about “saving the planet”, many households have a separate bag for recyclables.  With the progress in technology, think of all the paper we are saving with e-mail, text, and electronic voting just to name a few.  It is not only paper we are saving these days, but also we are doing more to cut down on pollution.  With the popularity of electric cars, we are cutting down on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere.

Here are a few ways to become a “greener” individual:

• Save water by planting drought tolerant plants.
• Save electricity by washing clothes in cold water whenever possible. 85% of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water.
• Buy locally grown food when you can. Farmer’s markets are everywhere these days.  Not only will your food be fresher but it will keep money in the local economy.
• Bring a reusable water bottle when traveling or at work. This will significantly cut down on the plastic water bottles and disposable cups being used.
• If you love reading, try borrowing instead of buying. Borrowing a book from the library or a friend cuts down on the ink and paper used to print a new book.
• Donate or recycle responsibly E-waste such as cell phones, computers, and ipads. E-waste contains toxins such as mercury and is a growing environmental problem.

This year I am going to replace many of my water guzzling plants with succulents and other drought tolerant plants.  I am going to use the idea board feature of the Penless app and get ideas from nurseries and magazines.  I may even replace some grass and put some hardscape or turf in.  With the idea board, I can take pictures of plants I like and get suggestions on what I think would look good in my garden.  In addition to taking pictures from the nurseries and magazines, I can also walk my neighborhood and see if others are planting anything that I like.  After I take the pictures, I can make notes on the idea board so I don’t have to remember the names of certain plants. I can refer back to my idea board at any time.   Penless makes it easy to save ideas!

Earth Day is the perfect opportunity for individuals to adopt a new action to preserve and protect our planet.