Looking for ways to make your lifesyle "greener?"  Check out these tips from one of The Nature Conservancy's partner organizations, EarthShare.  Or, download a .pdf here and share them with your friends and coworkers. 

Don't Pollute - TeleCommute!

Increasing gas prices, traffic, and concerns about air quality are leading more employers and individuals to consider telecommuting as a productive and eco-friendly alternative. Telecommuting allows employees to work from home, a neighborhood work center, or a satellite office via phone, fax, and e-mail. If you think you might be a telecommuting candidate, talk to your supervisor about whether this option is a good fit with your job responsibilities and your workplace culture.

Things To Consider:

• Choose the right employees. Workers who are going to spend significant time out of the office must be self-motivated, organized, and productive.
• Pick the right jobs. Researching and writing jobs can effectively be done via telecommuting; tasks requiring employees to meet frequently with co-workers or clients are less well-suited to telecommuting.
• Make sure the employee's off-site work space is adequate. Telecommuters must have appropriate office equipment, particularly a fax machine (or computer that sends and receives faxes), a printer, and a computer that's compatible with the office’s system.
• Establish written telecommuting guidelines. Outline the specific expectations of the employer and the employee with respect to work hours, job duties, performance evaluation, and other criteria.
  

Say "I Do" to the Environment

Wedding planning and protecting the environment? It is possible. And having an environmentally friendly wedding doesn’t have to mean giving up what you want. Some tips may add additional costs, but some can mean spending (or doing) less.

• Go organic. From flowers to food there are lots of ways to go organic. Many caterers offer organic and local produce options. You will be helping the environment by supporting products that use less pesticides, and likely have tastier food!
• Something borrowed. Consider borrowing items from friends or family. This will save resources and add a customized feel to the wedding.
• Go local. Consider a wedding location near where the majority of your guests are from. This will save on gas and jet fuel as your guests have less distance to travel. If a local venue isn't possible, consider reducing the impact on the environment by offsetting the emissions that contribute to climate change.
• Ring true. Ask for rings with gold, silver, diamonds or other materials that were mined sustainably. Many mining practices are detrimental to the environment and local communities. 
• Gift of giving. Picking a china pattern not your style? More couples are asking for donations to charities instead of a gift. Consider adding The Nature Conservancy to your registry.

Making the Grass Greener

Now that Spring is here, it’s time to begin dreaming about the grass growing beneath your feet. But a lot of lawns aren’t very “green” — at least, not for the environment. Residential lawns can use a lot of toxic chemicals — up to 10 pounds of pesticides per acre. The poisons don’t end at your front door. When it rains, pesticides may be flushed into local streams, rivers, and lakes, harming fish and plants along the way. Here are some tips to make sure your grass looks great — and is safe for pets, children, and other living things.

• Use natural fertilizers, which release nutrients slowly throughout the year, won’t leach away, and support the variety of soil organisms that improve fertility and combat diseases.
• Water deeply but infrequently. Grasses do best when the whole root zone is wetted, and then dries out between waterings. Avoid frequent shallow watering that causes poor root development. Overwatering also promotes lawn disease.
• Choose your plants wisely.  Many garden stores and nurseries still sell invasive plants and flowers.  Check out our "Most unWanted list for invasive species resources.
• Remove weeds using pincer-type weed pullers, which work great in moist soil and can be used standing up. Or, if you must, spot-spray problem weeds.  
• Create healthy soil. Earthworms and other soil organisms keep the soil healthy. By moving through the soil, they allow water and air to penetrate, and they recycle thatch back into nutrients that the grass can use.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Mark Godfrey; Photo © Dave Westover (wood lily).