As we head towards the end of the year (although you’d never know it was Autumn here in Southern California), here are some key eco-friendly steps you should take for the safety and sanity of you, your family and of course the environment.

Image by NCBrian

None of them are hard to do, but each of them helps in making sure you have a clean, green Autumn/Winter.

1 – Get some indoor plants. Since many of us tend to spend more time indoors during the colder months, you need to take steps to counter-act your indoor air pollution. Indoor air pollution can often be worse that the pollution outside. So work on improving your indoor air quality by getting a few houseplants.

2 – Air out your house regularly. Another way to improve indoor air pollution is to air out your house on a regular basis. Even if you just open your windows/doors for a little bit each day you help to get fresh air circulating through your home. Not only will it help you feel better, but it helps get it of any “stale” odors that often linger.

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3 -Do a little Spring cleaning. Even though it’s already Autumn, it is still a good time to do some cleaning. You are probably planning on having friends or relatives over during the holidays, so a little cleaning is in order. Just be sure to use natural, green cleaning supplies to give your home that really fresh, just cleaned smell. It’s much better than having a chemical smell permeating through your home.

4 – Donate. If you are like most people, you have at least one or two or three….or ten things sitting in a closet somewhere that you never use. Rather than keeping those things, you should donate them. Holidays are a great time to donate clothes, books, kitchen appliances, toys, etc. to charities. You get rid of things you don’t use and give someone else a chance to put them to good use.

5 – Schedule your downtime. In this day and age, we seem to always be connected somehow. Whether we sit all day on our computers, or bring our cell phones with us wherever we go, we seem to be “connected” all day long.

Image by Luna Jubilee

So do this…schedule in some downtime. Every day just walk away from your computer and your cell phone, your iPad, your iPod, etc, etc. Go take a walk. Ride your bike. Even sit outside enjoying the day (or evening). But schedule some time for yourself every day, above and beyond sleep time. You are worth it.

6 – Get your vehicle inspected. If you haven’t had your vehicle inspected recently, now would be a smart time to do so. Get everything checked out. Get your oil changed, tires rotated, tire pressure checked, fluids topped off, brakes checked…give it the full treatment. Doing so will help your vehicle run better and get better gas mileage. Using a proven fuel additive helps lower emissions and improve gas mileage too.

Besides, getting your vehicle fully inspected could save you a lot of time and money. Nobody wants their vehicle to break down, especially during the cold weather months.

7 – Move your garden indoors. Maybe you live someplace where having an outdoor garden during the Autumn/Winter just isn’t feasible. If that is the case, move some of your garden indoors. Growing your own food is not only healthy, but it’s smart too. If your food supply got cut off for some reason, at least you’d have your garden. Besides, no time like the present to start growing.

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8 – Winterize your transportation. Telling you to ride your bike on a cold, stormy day isn’t necessarily eco-friendly. But figuring out how you can ride-share, car-pool or mapping out your public transportation route for the Autumn/Winter is a simple eco-friendly step. There is no reason to drive by yourself in bad weather, when your co-worker lives a few blocks away. There is no reason to weather a storm, when you can join a vanpool. Before the bad weather hits is the best time to plan out your eco-friendly transportation.

9 – Make a gift list. One of the ways to save money during the holidays is to ensure you get the best deals on gifts for family and friends. I always start with a gift list. Make your list and include ideas of what you think each person would like. Then remember that not every gift needs to be something new and expensive. Handmade gifts made by children are some of the most cherished. An antique gotten at a yard sale or consignment shop could mean more than a brand new item at a local department store.

10 – Face each day with a smile. This may be one of the simplest steps of all, but it is also one that many people forget to do. No matter what is happening around you, if you walk into each day with a smile, you may find yourself having a better outlook on the rest of your day. Try it…smile. That’s right, SMILE! It’s contagious.

So, be sure to add these 10 eco-friendly steps to your ‘to-do’ list! Also, please share any other green steps you take to have an eco-friendly Autumn/Winter. It’s always good to learn from the experience of others.

Well, this week has gone by faster than I realized. Although that can also be looked at as a good thing too. One thing I did notice was that there were some very interesting developments on the green/environmental side of life (hmmm….wait a second, what side of life isn’t somehow connected to the environment?). Anyway, let me get right into this week’s Weekly Greens and share a few articles I thought you might enjoy.

Image by Lida Rose

1. Chilean Island Turned into Marine Preserve: It’s always nice to hear good news happening, especially when it relates to saving our oceans and protecting marine life. Maybe if more countries opted for solutions like this, we could make more forward progress in this arena.

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2. Dept. of Interior Signs First-Ever Offshore Wind Energy Lease in U.S.: Well, it took 8 years to happen, but it is finally happening. Hopefully we’ll continue to see more news coming from the alternative energy industry in the weeks/months to come. It would be nice to have a broad diversity of alternative energy options.

3. The White House Goes Solar. Why Now?: It’s great news, isn’t it?! But I’m pretty sure everyone is well aware that the White House is going to be getting solar panels. The question that that followed however was “Why now?”. What changed his mind?

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But let me just say, when you’ve got The White House, NASA and the New York Jets all adding rooftop solar, that’s definitely a move in the right direction!

4. U.S. Senate Votes to Ban Crush Porn: Needless to say this is great news. And speaking of animals, this month is Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month so here are 10 Easy Ways to Help Shelter Dogs.

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5. The iMove: Could The Future of Apple Be In The Auto Industry?: Apple has come out with some amazing innovations, but I’ll tell you honestly, I did not expect to see them in the auto industry.

Last but not least, Sunday is 10:10 and if you aren’t already aware many groups, organizations and individuals are banning together for a Global Day of Doing. If you don’t have an activity already planned, check out these 10 Simple Biofriendly Actions for 10/10/10.

Please remember, if you have any green or environmental posts that you think I should share as part of my Weekly Greens, please email them to me at biofriendlyblog@gmail.com. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and please remember to spend some time outdoors!

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We’re talking about positive actions, we’re talking about doing something – something biofriendly, of course. This Sunday is 10/10/10 and broadly recognized as a “Global Day of Doing“.

People from all across the globe are joining together to show they are intent on making a difference. They are intent on reducing their carbon footprint, intent on lowering their emissions, intent on living a “greener” life…you get the idea.

Now, despite the release of a pretty disturbing viral video centered around “blowing people up for climate change”, the overall intention behind 10/10/10 is good. They want to make people aware of what they can do about climate change, educate them on how their daily actions affect the environment around them and then get them to make some changes. It’s all about doing something to make a difference.

I’m all for doing something about climate change. I’m not saying that Mother Nature and Planet Earth don’t have a mind of their own, but I do feel that what we do can make a difference – good or bad. So why not do something to contribute to the survival of the planet? I know I’d rather see more green spaces, less pollution and cleaner air. What about you?

So here are 10 biofriendly actions you can take in recognition of 10/10/10:

1 – Walk instead of drive. This Sunday, itself of driving where you need to go, try walking there. You cut down emissions and get some exercise. Besides, it’s always nice to get outdoors.

2 – Plant a garden. If you missed out on your Summer garden, don’t worry. Now is a great time to start getting prepared for winter. Apartment or not, try growing a few of your own herbs and vegetables. It’s fun and they taste great.

3 – Eat local. Go to your local Farmer’s Market and get some locally grown food. No reason to have food trucked across country when you can get wonderfully tasting, fresh food close to home.

4 – Unplug. Rather than spending the day online or plopped in front of the TV, why don’t you unplug for the day. Spend time with family, go out for a walk. Find something to do that doesn’t require you to be plugged in all day.

5 – Do some Spring Cleaning in the Fall. Many of us probably have a lot more “stuff” than we actually need. Try cleaning house a bit then donate the stuff you don’t use anymore.

6 – Recycle. If you haven’t started recycling, get yourself a recycling bin and start. Even a paper bag can be used to collect recyclables.

7 – Attend a already planned 10:10 event.

8 – Register your own event for 10/10/10. Nothing says you can’t start your own event and you should!

9 – Educate your kids/family about the different steps they can take to curb their negative impact on the environment. But more importantly, educate them on what they can do to help better the environment around them.

10 – Simply clean up. Go to your local park, beach or even just walk around your neighborhood and clean up. It’s a simple action that will not only make an immediate improvement, but will remind others to clean up too.

There are so many things each of us can do. For a few more biofriendly ideas, take a look at this video and see what other people are doing on 10/10/10. I’d love to hear what your ideas are for 10/10/10 too – what are you doing?

10:10:10 A GLOBAL DAY OF DOING from 10:10 on Vimeo.