For many of you, October 15 is known as the last day you can file your tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. Today could be filled with sorting papers resulting in paper cuts, checking feverishly to make sure everything is right on your tax return, and racing down to the post office before it closes to get that blasted tax return in on time. You know the the saying, nothing is sure in life except death and taxes?
On the bright side, the IRS shares the day with thousands of bloggers who have united to write about the environment through an initiative started by Blog Action Day.
But Why the Environment?
“We have selected the environment as the 2007 theme both for the clarity of its importance and the undeniable urgency that issues like global warming and pollution have. It is an issue that can relate to virtually any subject, any blog and anybody.”
What is the purpose of Blogger Unite?
An international initiative of bloggers known as “Blog Action Day” launched today, with the aim of uniting thousands of blogging voices, talking about one issue for one day. This year on Blog Action Day, which is slated for Oct. 15, 2007, bloggers will be discussing the environment.Major blogs have signed up to participate, including Lifehacker, Dumb Little Man, Lifehack.org, Get Rich Slowly, Web Worker Daily, GigaOm, The Simple Dollar, Zen Habits, Freelance Switch, LifeClever, Unclutterer, Pronet Advertising, Wise Bread and many more.
“For just one day, we’d like to unite as many of the millions of bloggers around the world and speak about one issue – the environment,” said Collis Ta’eed, an Australian blogger from FreelanceSwitch.com, and a cofounder of Blog Action Day.
“We want to display the potential and the power of the blogging community, which is a disparate community but one with an amazing size, breadth and diversity. By bringing everyone together for one day, we can see just how much can be achieved, and how much we can be heard.”(via their Press release dated August 15, 2007)
Is it too late to join? No. Register at Blog Action Day. Right now there is at least 12,000 bloggers who are involved in this initiative.
So, you are wondering how can I participate if I have a blog?
1. Write a Post relating to the environment. Many of you may have blogs that are unrelated to the environment. The example used by Blog Action Day was if you write about money, then write about how to save energy around the house. If your blog is about family issues, write about how you can reuse something or recyle which will help the environment.
2. Commit to donating one day’s revenue from your blog to environmental charities of your choice. There is a list of “official charities” on their site.
In addition, you can just post about the initiative on Blog Action Day itself. Since Green Talk’s posts are always about environmental topics, this post is our contribution towards Blog Action Day by writing about how you can be involved in this Day.
8 Easy Steps
Start being aware of your impact on the Earth! Simple steps that you take can have huge impact if done by the thousands. Just take one more step today that you ordinarily would not do. Here are some ideas:
1. Recycle. Instead of throwing away unneeded papers at the office or home, either reuse them as a scrap paper for notes or phone messages or recycle them.
2. Consider donating something to a charity or offering it on Freecycle.org rather than throwing it out.
3. Bring a mug to your favorite coffee place instead of taking home a Styrofoam cup that has to be thrown away.
4. Wash your clothes in cold water today instead of hot water. Better yet, wash a full load not a half load.
5. Unplug your computer tonight to eliminate standby electricity that is generated.
6. Use your sink water to water your plants instead of letting the water going down the drain.
7. Don’t forget to make sure your tires have enough air in them making your family safer and using less gas for your car.
8. Share some love with people you care about. A healthy person translates into a healthy world.
So Readers, what are some things you can do to make our planet healthier?
If you feel uncomfortable leaving your name with your comment, make up a name. None of your personal information is revealed. You also do not need a website to comment. If you still feel uncomfortable, you can always email me, and I will post your comment for you.
Help others make those baby steps!
Oh, before I forget, you know that tax return? You may be able to file your return electronically and spare a tree…
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