Saturday, April 21, 2007; B03
The annual observation of Earth Day is tomorrow. Taking note of that, we asked for your tips on making the earth a greener place.
Stop throwing away plastic spoons and forks. Choose one or two of these and carry them with you in your purse, pocket or backpack.
-- Paul Gayet, McLean
Park as far away from stores as possible -- benefit from the walk and save gas from not hunting a space close in. Invest in snake plants -- they love neglect and clean the air. Open drapes in winter, close them in summer.
-- Carol Longo, Silver Spring
Reduce the population worldwide by offering large dollar rewards to young adults to be voluntarily sterilized.
-- Alvin R. Abraham, Wheaton
Push the producers of English muffins -- e.g. Thomas, et al. -- to stop double packaging.
-- Robert C. Brouns, Rockville
Stop idling your vehicles. It pollutes the air, wastes gas and gets zero miles to the gallon. Don't use the car air conditioner when not necessary. Open the window.
-- Dorothy Bowen, Haymarket
Take shorter showers. Install water-saving fixtures. Wash your car more with a bucket, less with a hose. Design yard and garden around less water use and prevent erosion. Save your cold water when starting a shower to water your plants.
-- Rob Arner, Edinburg
Bring back the blue laws. Okay, call them green laws this time, and they can be more flexible. However, we can live without Best Buy on Sunday.
-- Richard Rogers, Laurel
Go vegan. The production of animal products not only wastes incredible amounts of resources -- such as fossil fuels and water -- but factory farms pollute the air and groundwater. Not everyone is willing to go vegan, but just sharply reducing one's intake of animal products will help the Earth greatly.
-- Danielle Kichler, Washington
Try replacing one trip a week that you would normally make by car, on foot or on a bicycle. Most of us can think of one place within walking distance that we drive to: your child's school, the coffee shop, the bank, the grocery store when you're just picking up a few things. Those short trips contribute to air pollution and waste gas.
-- Carrie May, Fairfax
I have substituted cloth napkins for our family for everyday use -- each person has his/her own color. I wash them once or twice a week.
-- Sheila Robinson, Ellicott City
California has adopted a law mandating that grocery and drug stores over a particular size sell reusable bags. San Francisco has enacted a law banning non-reusable plastic bags.
-- Bruce N. Shulman, Silver Spring
Every homeowner should plant at least one tree this spring. For those who have a spot of land that could hold many trees, free trees are available from state departments of forestry and soil conservation districts.
-- Constance Frederickson, Annandale
Driving by the various shopping plazas and malls around town, I'm always struck by the number of empty parking slots. Cut the parking in half, add bus service to the neighborhoods.
-- Laura C. Stuker, Sterling
I noticed that many employees at my company drank lots of the free coffee provided to employees -- mostly using a new Styrofoam cup every time. It seemed wasteful. So I developed an estimate of how much the Styrofoam cups cost and the amount of waste or landfill clutter created per year. Then I suggested a one-time gift of a ceramic cup for each employee to use and showed how much money the company would save per year, while helping the environment.
They liked the idea -- and I got a $100 reward.
-- John Peters, Annandale
I am getting fed up with stores that leave their front doors wide open, especially in summer. Do the owners actually think that, absent the door being open, we wouldn't realize that the stores have air conditioning?
-- Andy Eschen, Arlington
For several years, Anne Beers Elementary School, 3600 Alabama Avenue SE, has run its window air conditioners 24/7 throughout the summer, although the school appears vacant. I wonder how many other D.C. schools do this, too. I believe this is an incredible waste of energy and money.
-- Hughie Kelly, Washington
