When most people think about participating in Earth Day images of tree planting and garbage clean-ups may come to mind. According to the non-profit organization One Change some of the biggest things you can do for the environment start with your home and vehicle. Spring is the perfect season to take action to help save yourself some money and protect the environment.
A good place to start is by changing your old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs to energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL). CFL bulbs have evolved a lot over the past few years and use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs which means significant money and greenhouse gas savings in the long run. In fact, a CFL saves 2000 times its own weight in greenhouse gases over its lifespan!
A leaky toilet can waste up to 550 litres of water a day. That amounts to over 200,000L a year which is equivalent to 1,000 bathtubs full of water! The culprit is usually an old worn-out flapper that only costs a few dollars to fix. Definitely worth it considering that a leaky toilet can cost you up to $250 a year on your utility bill.
This spring and summer Canadians will travel across the country with their families. Before setting out on a trip don’t forget to check your tire pressure. Tires naturally lose air pressure over time–as much as 2 pounds of pressure per month. Checking your vehicle’s tire pressure on a regular basis and making sure they are inflated to the correct level can improve your fuel efficiency by 4%. That will save you up to 2 weeks’ worth of fuel each year, and reduce the amount of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions coming out of your tailpipe.
When millions of people take a simple action to improve the Earth, we get a very large solution. For more simple actions that you can take to help the planet and your wallet this Earth Day, please visit our website at www.onechange.org.
For more information and interview opportunities, please contact:
Corrie Rabbe, Communications Coordinator
One Change – Simple actions matter™
E-mail: Corrie(at)onechange.org Telephone: 1.866.585.2332 x218
About One Change
Our Mission: One Change empowers people to believe that simple actions matter and to make smart choices that protect the environment.
With headquarters in Ottawa, the award-winning non-profit organization has campaign offices in locations throughout Canada and the United States.
One Change delivers innovative community-based social marketing campaigns aimed at encouraging people to adopt environmentally-friendly behaviours, including its flagship energy efficiency campaign, Project Porchlight, which has engaged and trained 12,000 volunteers in over 900 communities to deliver more than 3 million free compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to residents across North America. But One Change is about more than light bulbs. Over the summer One Change launched an innovative pilot campaign to help drivers improve their fuel efficiency, save money, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
One Change does this through door-to-door deliveries, community events, retail partnerships, educational web sites (onechange.org and projectporchlight.com), a number of web 2.0 portals, media outreach activities, hands-on engagement pieces, celebrity endorsements and other creative tactics that reach the public and mobilize people for positive change.
More information on One Change can be found at www.onechange.org
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