Celebrate Earth Day Everyday!

Isn't this a great planet we live on! Think outside your neighborhood, outside your community, outside your city, outside your country. Think globally! What a wonderful world be are blessed to exist in!

[source]

Today is the 40th anniversary of the very first Earth Day! While today we are more likely to celebrate Earth Day by carrying a reusable bag or reducing water usage, 40 years ago today one of the largest national protest occurred as college students flooded the streets over clean air and water issues. Their protest have definitely made a huge difference in our world. You've probably already seen lots of tips on how you can be more green. I personally try to incorporate being green on a daily basis. Here are a few of those tips and how I use them in my daily live. 

• Reduce the use of plastic bag 
• I always bring my own grocery bags. I also avoid using produce bags unless it's something like green beans that I can't just throw in my cart.  I try not to use plastic baggies or ziplocks and use reusable containers instead. When I do use ziplocks, I like to wash them and reuse them. They're so expensive anyway!
• I always keep one of these in my purse. These are perfect for all those non-grocery trips you don't think carry a bag. Guilty trips for me include: Target, Marshall's, and TJ Maxx. With this little guy, I'm never without a bag.

•  Buy Local, Buy Organic, Buy in Bulk, Buy Meats that are not Factory Farmed
•  Buying local is not always an easy thing here in Las Vegas, but I've done some research and try my best to buy local produce. Good thing California the agricultural mecca is right next door to my state. Buying organic means no pesticides - I'm in! I'm okay with spots on my apples. Buying in bulk means less packaging. And lastly, while I never think I could become a full on vegetarian, I do limit my meat consumption. I eat many vegitarian meals because the animal farming process is so bad for the environment and bad for you. Farm raised animals are packed full of antibiotics - not good! The more natural, the better, so splurge on quality grass feed, free ranged meats. 
• Adjust Your Theromstat
• In the winter I keep my thermostat at 60 when I'm gone and 68 when home. If I'm cold, I grab a blanket! In the summer I keep my thermostat at a constant 78. This is because I live in Vegas and if I let it heat up in the house, it will never cool back down. I do have sunscreens on all my windows which does make an amazing difference in keeping the house cool!
• Reduce Fuel Usage
• Okay, so I'll admit I could be better with this one, I live 1.9 miles door-to-door from my home to my office. I wear a lot of dresses so riding a bike doesn't work well. I could walk which would add a whole hour of exercise each day, but then on my 30 minute lunch breaks I would stuck in my florescent lighted cubicle. I love being able to drive home and make something great for lunch and sit on the patio each day. Maybe I could try switching this up some and ride my bike or walk 2-3 times a week. Something better than nothing, right.
• I make sure my tire pressure and rotate my tires every 5,000. This helps reduce fuel wastage. 
• When I'm at home, I refuse to drive the .5 miles to the grocery store. I grab my reusable bags and walk unless it's dark out. I also have to drive to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but I try to incorporate them into different trips to reduce driving. 
•  Turn Off Electronics
• Another thing I could be better about. Did you know leaving your phone charger plugged in even when you're not charging sucks up power? If it wasn't in a difficult place to reach behind my bed I swear I'd unplug it more. I need to work on this one. 
• TV's, DVD players, stereos, etc all pull electricity even when they are not on. Since I only use these devices on occasion, I keep them on a power surge which I can turn off and keep them from drawing electricity when not in use. 
• Water Usage
• I replaced my old shower head with a water reducing shower head. 
•  I turn off the water when I brush my teeth.
• I don't turn my drip water system on until it gets HOT and I fix any that wasting water.
• Not necessarily related to water usage, but I was all my clothes in cold water which not only keeps my clothes looking nice and fitting well, but saves a ton of energy by not using hot water.  

So there are some fun tips for this Earth Day but remember that every day should be Earth Day! I also love this book! It's full with fun little tips and easy to read.

Now for yesterdays eats!

I ended up staying with friends after our fun Tuesday night excursion and had a slice of cold pizza for breakfast. :-) 

For lunch I went home and made a similar salad to Mondays post.  My camera was dead but it had Romain lettuce, salsa, greek yogurt, black bean & corn dip, and topped off with leftover peppers, onions, and beef fajitas, sans guac this time. 

Back in the office I chugged down one of these.

And snacked on this later in the afternoon.

For some reason - reality because of really bad math - I ended up working 9.5 hours. I need to put in 8.5 but somewhere messed that up so I didn't end up leaving until almost 7:00pm. I came home and decided I would do some p90x, only I was starving so I grabbed the first thing in the fridge. Leftover Artichoke Dip from Monday nights Bunco. I grabbed a big scoop and ate a bite...

Then I looked at the label, Yikes!!

And then I threw it away! Or I should say put it down the disposal and rinsed the container for recycling. :-) Go me! It's always hard for me to throw food away because I hate wasting but.... I really don't want to be putting that into my body either so dumping and recycling was the right choice. 

At this point I decided to fore go working out and just make dinner. I was just hungry. I pulled this out of the freezer and tossed the leftover broccoli, cauliflower and carrots from Monday's veggie plate with evoo and sprinkled them with curry.

Add a little feta to make it betta and 40 minutes later I had this!

I find that I can't ever make myself do work out videos at home! I have to go out for a run or to the gym. Even if I do start a video, I often get bored within a couple minutes. I get bored in classes at the gym too, but since I'm with a group I won't just quite and walk out. Can you stay motivated for workouts at home? What are your favorite workouts?