Happy Earth Day!!!!!  Today is the 41st annual Earth Day eggtravaganza (a little Easter sidenote with that coming up. By the way... Happy Easter).  Originally started by a Wisconsin senator in 1970, Earth Day has grown in popularity and is now celebrated in 175 countries each year. The goal of Earth Day is to inspire awareness for our environment and challenge us to leave the Earth a better place than we found it for future generations.  We only have this one Earth to live on so we better take care of it.  Throughout the country there have been tons of events to bring environmental awareness and give people new ideas of everyday ways to go green.  This past weekend, Charlotte Clean and Green hosted their 4th annual festival and despite the down pour and a 24-hour delay, five thousand people showed up and learned of innovative ideas to reserve natural resources, save energy and money and provide for healthier living. Now, there is no need to quit your job and move to the rainforest  to do your part and save the trees :) because there are so many smaller ways that if we all participated, we would make a huge impact.  Now I am in no way an expert on green living and I know that there is a lot more that I could do, but that got me thinking… why don’t I do more? There seems to be a presumption that those of us who live in apartments cannot really do all that much to go green at home.  And while we can’t install solar panels on the roof to use energy from the sun or reconfigure the building, there are a lot of other things we can do.  If you don’t live under a rock, you have probably heard of compact fluorescent light bulbs.  CFLs use a lot less energy, last longer than incandescent bulbs and are better for the earth when thrown away.   Unplugging electronics and smaller appliances can save approximately 8% on your annual electric bills according to GreenYourApartment.com, and of course recycling and reusing is a great way to keep reusable products out of our landfills.  The Green Your Apartment website has a ton of great information on how to make your apartment green. Camden has jumped on the Green bandwagon and taken an idea and made it super easy for our residents.  Recycling is now easier than ever you really don’t have to add any extra work to what you already do.  Many of the Camden communities here in Charlotte provide our residents with a Valet Waste service.  They come five days a week and pick up your trash right from your door and they now pick up your recycling too!  You do not even have to separate them out, simply put all of your recyclables  in a separate bag next to your trash can for pick up.  The recycling bags are blue so that we can tell the difference.

Well that was easy!! Could recycling be any simpler? Check with your Camden community today to see if you are able to take advantage of this easy recycling program.  Remember, going green is not only good for the Earth, but can save you some green too!