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Don’t feel like washing your hair today…No worries, it’s ok, you’re helping the environment.

That’s right, oily, unwashed hair can destroy dangerous pollutant ozone. Scientists at Missouri University of Science and Technology discovered that dirty hair absorbs seven times more ozone than clean hair.

I know what you are saying…absorb the ozone? But I thought we needed to protect & save it.

According to the EPA, ozone is a gas that occurs both in the Earth’s upper atmosphere and at ground level. Ozone can be “good” or “bad” for people’s health and for the environment, depending on its location in the atmosphere. In the troposphere, the air closest to the Earth’s surface, ground-level or “bad” ozone is a pollutant that is a significant health risk, especially for children with asthma. It also damages crops, trees and other vegetation. It is also a main ingredient of urban smog.

Ok, so how does not washing my hair actually helps the environment?

The explanation is strictly chemical: The oil in our unwashed hair and skin contains double-bonded molecules, including triglycerides, fatty acids, and a substance called squalene, that latch onto the ozone (O₃), neutralizing it before we have a chance to breathe it in.

Unfortunately, though, it’s not without its drawbacks. The absorption process causes by-products like formaldehyde and other irritants.

Paper or plastic? The famous grocery store question. I usually opt for canvas, but if you forgot your reusable bag at home, the answer is…well, I’ll let you decide.

Plastic Shopping Bags

• Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic shopping bags are consumed worldwide.
• Plastics do NOT biodegrade. Rather, they photodegrade, a process in which sunlight breaks down plastic into smaller and smaller pieces.
• It can take up to 1,000 years for a high-density polyethylene plastic bag to break down in the environment.
• Plastic bags are on the top 10 list of most common trash items along the American coastline

Paper Shopping Bags

• Paper bags generate 70 percent more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.
• 2,000 plastic bags weigh 30 pounds, 2,000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds, making transportation of plastics cheaper & more eco-friendly.
• It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.

Buying organic products from your local farmer’s market should be a no brainer. It helps both the environment and is better for your health all at the same time.

That’s because organic produce is farmed without pesticides or herbicides. So, there are no nasty chemicals or toxics on your yummy fruits & veggies. OSHA, or Occupational Safety & Health Administration, warns that “(pesticides) are an industry hazard because they can irritate the skin, affect the nervous and reproductive systems, and cause cancer.”

Plus buying from local farmers means your food travels less distance, using less gas, and in turn produces less carbon dioxide emissions.

To help find local farmer’s markets in your area, check out Local Harvest or Farmer’s Market.

Everyone is now promoting compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, as a way to save energy and go green. However, improper disposal of the bulbs creates a hazard, due to the small amounts of mercury each bulb contain.

Don’t worry, things are getting easier!

Home Depot now offers a recycling program for taking back your old CFLs in all of its 1,973 U.S. stores, and will accept any maker’s bulbs.

So don’t worry, it’s okay to greenify your home with CFLs, because you can now recycle them conveniently at your local Home Depot Store.

Yes, that’s right!

Chicago’s CTA is now running a test hybrid bus on the #8 Halsted line. The new bus gets 7-8 mpg, as compared to the 2-3 mpg for their current diesel buses. CTA officials are working to calculate if the nearly $200,000 more for the hybrid will be off-set over time with fuel savings.

Not all plastics are the same. That’s why there’s a number code on the bottom for recycling.

Below is a breakdown on the plastic recycling codes, including what types of products are usually produced with that plastic in its first life, how to recycle it, and what it can be recycled into for its second life.

Number 1 Plastics - PET or PETE (Polyethylene Terephthalate)

1st Life: Soda, water and beer bottles; mouthwash bottles; peanut butter containers; salad dressing and vegetable oil containers; etc.
Recycling: Picked up through most curbside recycling programs.
2nd Life: Polar fleece fiber, tote bags, furniture, carpet, paneling, and occasionally made into new plastic containers

Number 2 Plastics - HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)

1st Life: Milk jugs, juice bottles; bleach, detergent and household cleaner bottles; shampoo bottles; some trash and shopping bags; motor oil bottles; cereal box liners; etc.
Recycling: Picked up through most curbside recycling programs.
2nd Life: Detergent bottles, recycling containers, floor tile, drainage pipe, benches, picnic tables, fencing

Number 3 Plastics - PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)

1st Life: Window cleaner and detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, clear food packaging, wire jacketing, medical equipment, siding, windows, piping; etc.
Recycling: Rarely recycled because collecting it for recycling is cost-prohibitive. There are not enough items made from the material to warrant factories to recycle it into new products; however some plastic lumber makers will now accept it.
2nd Life: Decks, paneling, mud flaps, roadway gutters, flooring, cables, speed bumps, mats

Number 4 Plastics - LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene)

1st Life: Squeezable bottles; bread, dry cleaning and shopping bags; tote bags; carpet; etc.
Recycling: Rarely picked up through curbside programs, however some stores will accept plastic shopping bags for recycling.
2nd Life: Trash can liners and cans, compost bins, shipping envelopes, paneling, lumber, floor tile

Number 5 Plastics - PP (Polypropylene)

1st Life: Syrup bottles, ketchup bottles, caps, straws, medicine bottles, diapers; etc.
Recycling: Picked up through most curbside recycling programs.
2nd Life: Battery cables, brooms, brushes, auto battery cases, ice scrapers, landscape borders, bicycle racks, rakes, bins

Number 6 Plastics - PS (Polystyrene)

1st Life: Disposable plates and cups, meat trays, egg cartons, carry-out containers, aspirin bottles, compact disc cases; etc.
Recycling: Picked up through some curbside recycling programs.
2nd Life: Insulation, light switch plates, egg cartons, vents, rulers, foam packing, carry-out containers

Number 7 Plastics - Other

1st Life: 3 and 5 gallon water bottles, ‘bullet-proof’ materials, sunglasses, DVDs, iPod and computer cases, signs and displays, nylon; etc.
Recycling: Not traditionally recycled, however some curbside programs now take them.
2nd Life: Plastic lumber, custom-made products

The mkSolaire, pictured here, is an awesome prefab home from Michelle Kaufmann Designs and is part of the Smart Home: Green + Wired exhibit that opened May 8, 2008 at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (MSI).

“The mkSolaire has been designed to bring healthy living to the city. This open, spacious, loft-like home has been designed to offer healthy, clean and green city living and is perfect for an urban-infill lot, or anywhere a family might enjoy the luminous, loft-like feeling of this home. Through the use of strategically designed roofs and windows, the mkSolaire addresses the challenges of the standard row house by sculpting light and air into the center of the home.” - www.mkd-arc.com

I recommend checking it out if you are in the Chicago area. The mkSolaire is a full scale home that is fully functional and explores new directions in sustainable living and eco-friendly technology. The mkSolaire showcases the latest & greatest in eco-friendly technology including the following features:

• the most current eco-friendly materials
• high performance, energy efficient building systems
• a living roof
• a solar electric generation system
• a rain catchment system
• plus the latest innovations in home technology available

I don’t know about you…but I receive a new telephone book that is about 4 pounds every couple of months. I never asked for the books & never use them. I just wish I could just stop the waste.

Well now you can!

Yellow Pages Goes Green is this awesome new service that allows consumers to “opt out” of receiving the unsolicited telephone books. The organization will contact the publishers and inform them to stop delivering books to your address. They do this by working with state and local governments on ordinances concerning the delivery of unsolicited telephone books. And best of all…their service is FREE for all consumers.

Check out Cameron Diaz in the below video urging participation in Pangea Day — a four-hour film festival of “user-generated films and TED-style short talks from scientists, filmmakers, and global visionaries.” The event will air internationally May 10th, 2008 on television and online. For more information on how to take part, check out Pangea Day’s official website.

Happy Earth Day!

Check out this video from PopCrunch that takes a look at a few celebrities that are good to the environment, and a few that aren’t.

Video includes celebs like…Leonardo DiCaprio, Woody Harrelson, Al Gore, Tyra Banks, & John Travolta.