Celebrate Earth Day today...

Today is the 40th anniversary of the very first Earth Day. It was started by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as a way to educate students about the Earth's environment. Earth Day is a day to celebrate this incredible planet on which we live.

I think the slogan "Reduce - Reuse - Recycle" sums it up for me.

Reduce...

• I try to turn off lights when I leave a room.
  
• Fill a large glass jar with water and put in the tank of your toilet. It will save water every time you flush.
  
• Our Go Green program is designed to reduce the number of paper bags that we use. It has been a huge success and folks have enjoyed winning gift certificates just for not taking a bag when they make purchases.

Reuse...

• When my printer misprints...or prints a page I didn't intend to print, I use the back side of the paper as scrap paper...and then put it in my paper trash can to recycle.
  
• I also reuse bags...plastic, paper or cloth...until they go into the recycling bin.

Recycle...

• Did you know that every box that arrives at The Yarn Haven goes to the Goodwill Recycling Center at the intersection of Cross Park Drive and Park Village Rd.? We break them down and once a week take them to the Recycling Center. If you ever need boxes for storage or moving, then Saturday is the best day to come by and get boxes from us. Then once you are finished with the boxes, please recycle them. Besides cardboard boxes, they also accept plastics, aluminum and steel cans, glass, mixed paper, household batteries and reuseable household goods. Why not make a habit of stopping there to drop off items each time to come to The Yarn Haven?


• We have trash cans set up at the shop for you to divide out your mixed paper, plastic, soda cans, and garbage. Please make sure the items get in the appropriate can. This really helps us on recycling days. You can do this at home as well.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. There are lots of other ideas! So what are YOU doing to help save our planet?? We'd love to hear your ideas.

Green Tips for St. Patrick's Day

What better day than today to talk about how to make our world a greener place. So I’ve got a couple of green tips for you. Not far from The Yarn Haven is a Goodwill Industries Recycling Center. I go there to drop off items that I have to recycle. They take plastics (with recycling # of 1-7), aluminum cans, newspaper, flattened cardboard, mixed paper (like phone books, catalogs, magazines, etc), and glass. They also take other household items that they can sell in their non-profit shops. Here is the link for a map of this center and others around the city of Knoxville.

I think the first key to recycling is to ask yourself a question before you throw anything away. Ask yourself “Can I recycle or reuse this item?” Many times the answer will be “Yes”. But knowing what types of materials can be recycled will help you to put action to that question.

Other green tips that I personally do:

• Fill a big glass jar with water and put it in the tank of your toilets. That way every time the toilet is flushed, it uses less water.



• Change the margins when printing out something so that you use as little paper as possible.



• Reuse envelopes that come in the mail: to do lists, bank deposits, put mailing label over address and reuse it (be sure to blacken out any barcodes at the bottom), etc.



• Pay my bills online so that you don’t have to use more paper to send in your payments.



• Bring your own bags when shopping…and don’t forget to use them. :-)



• Shop at used book stores instead of buying books new. My favorite is McKay’s Used Books. Sometimes you can get knitting books there that look brand new.



• For items you no longer want, but don’t want to simply trash, go to freecycle.org and find someone else that will take the item off your hands. (You’ll have to set up an account, but it’s free.) I’ve gotten and given several articles this way that would have ended up in the landfield otherwise.

So there are my green tips for the day. Why don't you share some green tips with us that you do. And have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!