One way we can wean ourselves off of oil dependence is to make a conscious effort and take all of those reusable and canvas bags we have lying in our car collecting dust into the store — not only are you being green but these bags usually hold more than those measly plastic bags.

According to About.com, “Americans throw away almost 100 billion plastic bags every year, and only [one] percent to [three] percent are ever recycled.”

Sure, it takes some remembering and becoming more conscious and creating a habit when it comes to taking those reusable bags into the store, but just remember that those “convenient” plastic bags aren’t biodegradable — they clog waterways and litter the landscape creating an eyesore for everyone and a serious hazard for animals, especially birds and marine animals, who often mistake them for food.  Plastic bags usually wind up in landfills where it can take more than 1,000 years for these bags to break down. And, even after these bags break down, they just break down into smaller particles where they continue to pollute the land and water.

Reusuable bags add a special touch to that gift and it’s much easier wrapping too. Just place the gift in the bag, wrap it in some nice tissue paper (maybe even some tissue paper made from recycled paper) and place it in the bag and you’re done! The person can then enjoy the gift and use the bag for her next trip to the store!

The Nature Center, which opens in September 2011, will not only have plenty of interactive nature exhibits and classes for children and adults, but the Center will also offer a tour of its building, which boasts many green ideas including:

1. The entrance to the building boasts recycled materials. The hickory leaves on display at the entrance are made from recycled soda bottles.
2. The building’s washrooms have several conservation features which include hand dryers to save paper towels and landfill waste, automatic water sensors which save water and automatic flush toilets that also reduce water usage.
3. Windows and skylights cuts the need for excessive lighting and energy use
4. Geothermal heating and cooling system
5. Concrete walls were used instead of drywall or other materials to also save on resources
6. Regulated lighting system
7. Low VOC-carpeting
8. Exhibits were created to be reusable and moveable
9. A semi-permeable pavers on the west side of the parking lot, which allows rain to percolate through, decreasing run-off and pollutants in waterways.

The exhibits are even ecofriendly! All of the paints, sealants, adhesives and even wood used throughout the exhibits are low-emitting materials, thus improving the air quality throughout the building.

Outdoors, the Discovery Center is green too! The native landscaping, which surrounds the Center have been treated with low amounts of herbicides, pesticides and water. So, the plants have deeper root systems and have adapted to drought conditions. Also, by planting gardens instead of turf less air pollution will be emitted by lawn mowers. Also, according to the Center, ” The Savannah and Birding Meadow are havens for our native animals, providing food, water and shelter. Even the building is benefitting from the shade of the Oaks, cooling on a hot summer day and decreasing our energy needs!”

Water gardens are situated near the parking lots, which collect rain water and is then filtered and absorbed by the plants, decreasing run-off.  There are plants growing on the Center’s roof too! The green roof absorbs water and decreases the heat island effect. So, the need for extra cooling is decreased, thus saving energy consumption.

So, check out the Hickory Knolls Discover Center — there’s more than just meets the eye. The Center is located at 3795 Campton Hills Road in St. Charles. For more information visit http://www.stcparks.org/Facilities/hickory-knollls-discovery-center.html or call 630-513-4399.

So, what can you do to stay cool but save money and be better to the Earth?

First, fans are your friend! Use stationary or ceiling fans — anything that moves the air. If you live in a home, install an attic fan. Attic fans have two benefits: 1. keeps the air moving and 2. pulls in the cooler air from outside. So, it’s essential that you wait until the air is cooler outside and open your windows and then run the attic fan.

Close your blinds or drapes — this keeps the cool air in and the hot air out.

Stay hydrated!!! It’s important to drink lots of water anyway, but especially important during the “dog days of summer”.

Use public places during the day — go to the library, coffee shop.

Set your thermostat just a few degrees higher.

Don’t use the oven — by sticking with cold foods you’ll save money and energy.

Use an ice pack on the back of your neck, pull your hair back, wear a bandana with cold soaked water and put it on your head — all of these ideas keep you cooled off.

Even though you may not want to, avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages.

Lay on the bottom floor of your house.

Fill the bathtub full of ice cold water and get in.

These are just a few suggestions how to cool off! Also, don’t forget your four-legged friends!!!! If you have a dog, take them out for a very short walk. Place extra dishes full of cold water around the house, especially if you have more than one pet and if you have ceiling fans, keep them on for your furry friends even when you’re gone.

This soon will pass and in only a few months we’ll be complaining again that it’s too cold outside!

The first thing we need to do is spread the word! Educate people. When I learn something regarding the environment I try to educate my friends and family — social media is great for this. Plus, with social media you aren’t being as pusy or intrusive, but you are still making a difference and, if people don’t want to read your post or blog then they can just ignore it as opposed to if you are actually talking to the person and he or she feels like he has to stand there and listen to what you’re saying even though he just wants to walk away.

Educate yourself — keep on top of environmental news so you know what you’re talking about! Many of the larger newspapers now have special sections dedicated to the environment. The New York Times online has its own environment section, which I follow on Twitter and stay educated — in my opinion, the Times  is still one of the best sources of great journalism out there. But there are plenty of other great resources, especially green blogs, and even books — the genre of green/environmental nonfiction has exploded over the past few years. Ever since the success of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and the idea of global warming becoming accepted by the mainstream public, more books have appeared on the bookshelves because there is an audience for this topic.

The Three R’s — Recycle, Reuse and Reduce. Recycling isn’t just for plastic, glass and paper anymore. Just about anything can be recycled — you just have to do the research. For example, household batteries should not be thrown away with the trash but most people do this. My local village accepts batteries to be recycled — and other place throughout my village accept batteries. You just need to do the research. Also, don’t just trash those old cell phones and laptops — electronics can leak hazardous chemicals into the Earth. There are many places set up just to recycle electronics. Reuse — I try to reuse as much as I can, such as paper I misprinted I’ll use for scratch paper. Books I’ve read and don’t want to keep or clothes I can’t fit into I will donate. Or, many times, I visit thrift stores for clothes myself — you can find some real gems, same with used book stores. Reduce — do you really need to buy bottled water? Sure, plastic can be recycled but recycling plastic uses so much energy and emits carbon into the atmospher that it’s a waste. Why not buy a pitcher and a filter and just drink filtered tap water?

There are so many other things we can do such as cut down on the use of chemicals — make your own household cleaners and detergents. It’s easy and cheap. Don’t use chemicals on your lawn — this seeps into the water supply and also poisons the animals — start a compost pile. Watch your energy and water consumption.

And the list goes on and on, but I believe we need to start with education and awareness.

We’ve had the technology for electric vehicles for decades, but as it was explained in the excellent documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? lobbyists and big business usually win, not the environment.

So, why electric? You’re probably asking “Electricity uses coal, which is bad for the environment. Aren’t we putting more carbon into the air if we’re using electric cars?” In reality, no, electric cars are better for the environment. Because electric cars are more energy efficient, we are putting less carbon in the air, which in turn, saves the environment. Electric cars are Zero Emissions Vehicles, or ZEVs. Also, electric cars are just plain quieter and safer because there is no gas on board, which means no chances for an explosion if you’re even in an accident.

So, who were some of the key players and what did they showcase at this year’s auto show? Of course there was the Chevrolet Volt, General Motors’ (GM) first plug-in gas/electric car. According to GM, the Volt  is an “‘extended-range electric vehicle,’ because it has, in effect, two different drivetrains: an all-electric one (battery and motors) that drive the car for the first 40 or so miles after a full plug-in recharge, and a gas-powered hybrid system (with gas engine and fuel tank) that automatically takes over after that to give about another 300 miles of range. At that point, the fuel tank can be filled just as in a normal car to give another 300 miles of range. If the car can be plugged into a wall outlet, the battery can be fully recharged in about 10 hours on normal 120-volt household current, or four hours with a special 240-volt charging station. “

The Volt is expected to see a limited production in 2011 with availability only in California, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

Other electric cars showcased at the show include the Nissan Leaf, which is first pure electric car offered to for sale to the United States mass market, Volvo C30 Electric, Ford Focus Electric, Ford Transit Connect Electric and the Mitsubishi iMiEV.

Maybe with the high interest in the Volt and other cars means that our society is on track for reaching zero carbon emissions by 2050 — one can only wait and see…and hope.

Sometimes I think I was the last generation to really appreciate nature. I was always outside in the summer and on the weekends and on school days when I didn’t have a lot of homework. I still love the outdoors, although, I don’t get to enjoy it as much because I’m working, but many times I combine my work with being outside — I’ll take my laptop and sit on the balcony or somewhere outside and write on a nice, warm summer day because living in the Midwest — winter comes way too fast!

Nature deficit disorder, a term introduced in Last Child refers to the ongoing alienation of nature. More and more children are turning to overstimulating electronics for play and have become isolated from the positive effects of nature — even the sun beating down on them. Also, children and parents have become afraid of nature because “bad things can happen outside” such as abduction or beatings or killings, which parents hear about in the news everyday.

Now, more than ever children need to be exposed to and educated about the environment. Nature sparks interest in saving the environment and animals. Nature also sparks creativity, something many children lack nowadays because they play video or computer games all day. Nature also teaches children to be kind to one another and appreciate the differences among us.

Research also shows that interaction with the natural environment plays an important role in children’s development, including building problem-solving and critical thinking skills, as well as fostering creativity. For example, in his book, Louv points to research on attention-deficit disorder at the University of Illinois, in which exposure to nature was shown to decrease ADD symptoms.

Louv encourages parents to take their kids hiking and explore the great outdoors. Also, let kids spend unstructured time outside instead of always setting up time for structured play such as soccer or baseball, which is great too, but unstructured time is just as much fun.

Of course parents need to keep an eye on their children, but let your kids just be kids and explore nature. For more ideas about how your kids can spend fun outside visit http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Be-Out-There/Why-Be-Out-There/What-is-a-Green-Hour.aspx.

According to the National Christmas Tree Association, “Real Christmas trees are biodegradable, which means they can be easily reused or recycled for mulch and other purposes.”

It only makes sense to recycle Christmas trees because they are considered organic waste, which means they can be composted, mulched, or in some cases converted into fuel. Or, if you’re handy, you can reuse your tree and make something out of it, such as a stool, or other furniture or other small items.Visit http://thestir.cafemom.com/home_garden/114350/5_cool_ways_to_reuse for some cool and innovative ways to reuse your live tree.

Some recycle programs do require a small fee, so if you want to save money and do it yourself a couple of suggestions are:

1. Chop the tree into firewood and kindling. The needles can be used for art projects or as mulch.
2. Improve water quality — if you have a small pond or other body of water nearby, tossing the tree into the body of water actually helps the fish by providing shelter and nutrients.

One thing I’ve learned is to make some of my own cleaning supplies — good old vinegar and water works just as good for cleaning windows as Windex and it’s cheaper. Sure, it may not smell as good, but who really needs all of those smelly chemicals anyway?

I’ve also rediscovered libraries and used bookstores! Reusing is the ultimate green task. Do you really need that hardcover fiction book sitting on your bookcase collecting dust? Probably not. I don’t know about you, but once I’ve read a fiction book I usually never read it again. But, if it’s a reference book, something I know I’m going to refer back to later on, then I go to a used book store. You can really find some gems at these stores — books or music that is out of print, titles you have been searching for forever, you’d be surprised!

I’m eating simpler now too, which is both easy on your pocketbook and your waistline. Also, I can’t afford to go anywhere, but I at least get out and go for a walk (as long as the weather cooperates — I live in the Midwest United States where winters can be terrible). But right now I get to enjoy the glorious fall that Mother Nature gives us.

Sure, I get down in the dumps and wonder if I’ll ever make decent money again — lots of times. But, when that happens I just go over to the library and check a book on CD out or a funny movie.

I would love to hear from you how you have become more frugal in these tough economic times.

And, if you or anyone you know of needs some written communications work, I do freelance writing and editing. Please contact me at lara@lrjwritingandeditingservices.com or visit my Web site (which needs to be update, sorry) at www.lrjwritingandeditingservices.com

First, take care of any drafts you many have throughout your home. Drafts suck energy. According to the United States Department of Energy, drafts can waste between 5 % and 30% of your energy costs. A simple solution is a draft snake, which you can easily make yourself instead of forking out a bundle of money. According to The Daily Green (www.thedailygreen.com), “Just place a rolled bath towel under a drafty door, or make a more…draft snake with googly eyes, felt tongues and the like (visit http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/door-draft-stoppers-draft-snakes-460109 for examples). You can use any scraps of fabric — even neckties — and fill with sand or kitty litter for heft.”

Keep an eye on the thermostat. When leaving your home turn down the thermostat. Do you really need it set higher when you’re not home?  For every degree you lower your thermostat, you will save between one and three percent of your heating bill.

And, changing your furnace filters is another easy and cheap way to save money and the environment too. It’s important to change filters once a month during the winter months because dirty filters limit air flow and increase energy demand. A permanent filter should be considered because it reduces waste and the trouble of replacing the filter.  According to The Daily Green, disposable filters only trap between 10 and 40% of debris, whereas permanent filters, or electrostatic filters, trap approximately 88% of debris and are better at controlling mold, bacteria, viruses and pollen, which cause irritation and illness. These filters can cost between $1,000 and up, but would save you money in the long run because you are not constantly changing the disposable filters and they have proven to be more effective and have less of an impact on the earth.

These are just three tips to winterize your home. Other tips include reverse the direction of ceiling fans and turn down the water heater.

Littering is also a problem.How many times have we driven down the highway and have seen bags tossed at the side of the road? This is unsightly.

The best alternative to plastic bags is reusable bags, or, if you are making a small purchase, no bag. Do you really need a bag for that paperback book or bottle of aspirin? Cut down on plastic and packaging. Reusable bags are the “in” thing nowadays — just about every store sells their own “be green” bags — go into a Walgreens or Target and there will be bags at the checkout line for you to purchase. Many of these bags are constructed of a durable canvas or other heavy material and are much sturdier than plastic anyway. Some reusable bags are made of recycled plastic or other materials. For those of you who aren’t too keen on toting around a bag with the Target logo, there are plenty of “designer” bags out there to choose from.

Additionally, we need to cut down on anything plastic — those plastic water bottles, turn to aluminum instead. Water is meant to be free! Just fill up your reusable water bottle from the drinking fountain. Trust me, I’m sure the water will taste just as good or better. Plastic sandwich bags — wash them out and reuse them, or there are recycled plastic bags you can purchase. Or better yet, use a sandwich container or wax paper to wrap your sandwich.

Every little step counts toward reducing our plastic impact.