Top 10 Un-Green Things You Do

10. Wash one shirt

What you do: It’s the night before a big event or you may need to look extra nice for work and you think “I know the perfect shirt” and it’s dirty, but you don’t want to wash a full load.

Instead: Try washing the shirt by hand. You’ll use less water and energy.

9. Leave the computer on

What you do: Walk away from the buzzing computer even when you know you’re leaving and won’t be back for hours.

Instead: Don’t leave on your Instant Messenger saying you’re not going to be home, Just turn the computer off if you know you’re not going to be using it. It will save you money and energy. And if your friends are really interested in talking to you, that’s what we have cell phones for.

8. Throw out coffee grounds

What you do: Brew a pot of coffee for every hour you’re studying.

Instead: Before you toss out the coffee grounds and brew another pot, toss the grounds in your backyard. Composting can save room in landfills and create organic soil. Look out for fruit scraps, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, leaves and plant trimmings, shredded paper and egg and nut shells. All of these items can be mixed in a compost bin. In 3 to 6 months, you’ll have fresh and healthy soil that you made yourself.

7. Garden

What you do: You might have roses, palm trees or exotic plants in your front yard that requires frequent watering.

Instead: Try growing or transplanting native Californian plants. These plants are used to the California climate and don’t require a lot of watering. The Family of Southern California of Water agencies believes “A heritage garden is filled with native and California Friendly plants perfectly suited to our mild and warm, dry summers. These plants thrive because they live here too.” Plants to include in your garden include Deer Grass, Douglas Iris, Emerald Carpet Manzanita, Seaside Daisy and Concha California Lilac.

For more information visit, www.bewaterwise.com

6. Shower

What you do: Practically overflow the bathtub or take hour long showers.

Instead: Take shorter showers. Try to spend only 5 to 10 minutes tops in the shower. It will lower your water bill and the time it takes you to get ready. A bath tub can hold about 50 gallons of water. A shower can use a minimum of five to 10 gallons. Reducing just five minutes from your shower time will save a lot of water.

5. Drive

What you do: You drive all around town to do your shopping or hang out with your friends.

Instead: Go Metro! You don’t need a car to hang out at some places in Los Angeles. You can hang out with friends or go shopping without feeling the stress on your gas tank—or wallet. A trip to Universal Studios will cost only $7.25 and will take about and hour and 15 minutes. Take the Metrolink San Bernardino line: West to Union Station. Then board the Metro Red Line Westbound to North Hollywood. Get off at Universal City and board the short ride on the Universal shuttle and you’re there!

4. Get a new cell phone

What you do: Everyone needs an upgrade and when its time to renew your contract, it’s out with the old and in with the new. But then what do you do with your old cell phone? Toss it? I hope not. Leave it in a drawer? Well, it’s tough deciding what to do.

Instead: Recycle it! Cell phone can be recycled at an E-waste event or even refurbished through www.planetgreenrecycle.com. You get paid for every cell phone you turn in.

3. Eat Meat

What you do: As the weather gets warmer, it’s time to break out the grill. You cook all the hot dogs and hamburgers you and your friends can eat.

Instead: Lower your intake of beef and other dairy products. According to the Los Angeles Times each cow behind the meat “Belches about 145 pounds of methane, which has 23 times the warming potential of (carbon dioxide).”

Boca Burgers anyone?

2. Clean your house

What you do: Spend a ton of money on cleaning products that may contain harmful chemicals.

Instead: Try using all natural products. It not only saves you money, but it’s much healthier. The article “3 Homemade Natural Cleaning Products” written by Sarah Aguirre from www.about.com suggests using vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda. While it may look like you’re baking something on your kitchen floor or bathtub, you’ll spend less money on cleansers and leave your house with a natural fresh scent.

1. Shop

What you do: Double bag all your groceries with plastic bags before you haul them out to your car.

Instead: Try to using paper bags. They can be reused and they’re less harmful to the environment. Or use canvas bags. They’re sturdier and will have a lower effect on the environment than plastic bags.

Trash Picking for a Good Cause

Beach goers sifted through sand, not in search of buried treasure or to build the ultimate sand castle. They were searching for garbage.

Senior Communications major Troy Doolittle held his “Save the Beach” event at Bolsa Chica beach on April 26. And I was there, ready to dig my hands into the sand and pick up all the trash I could find.

Ah, California beaches: The warm sand, surfing, Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach shopping. It’s what out-of-staters dream about. But some Southern California beaches have become trashed with litter and tar. It’s well-known that Southern California is home to some pretty dirty beaches.

My friend Jessica Cordova, 24, a Cal State Fullerton graduate came with me. We both have a love for the environment and a beach clean up was just how we wanted to spend our day on a scorching hot Saturday. With our lime green bags in hand Jessica and I set out to clean up the beach.

We found all the regulars: plastic forks, the dreaded plastic bags, straws, wire hangers, cigarette butts, and other garbage. But then we started finding other things: the head of a microphone possibly from a karaoke machine, rusted nails, and a syringe that missing its needle. That was the most surprising.

“Oh, I thought that was an urban legend,” Cordova said.

We got quite a work out at the beach picking up trash at every step we took. There were shoe parts, bottle caps and tops, cans and wrappers. It was like confetti spread all across the beach.

“I didn’t expect to find fragments of whole pieces,” Cordova said. “I bet a lot of stuff is buried.”

After two and a half hours of walking on sand and bending over I felt like I got my exercise for the week. Then it was time for lunch. Hotdogs, chips and chocolate chip cookies was a nice reward for picking up so much trash. As we tossed our bags into the pile of other trash bags, we felt happy just to sit down. Saving baby seals from soda tops and microphones isn’t easy, but it was well worth the workout.

There was also a raffle for fun beach prizes: a tiger shark kite, a skim board, surf shop t-shirts and a body suit.

“It seemed well organized. They had supplies, food and a raffle. It seemed they put a lot of thought,” said Cordova, who won a shirt.

While the food and prizes made the cleanup fun, the amount of trash we compiled was shocking.

“Considering how early it was in the year, it seemed pretty bad,” Cordova said. “Summertime is going to be way worse.”

She’s right. In September 2007, The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board voted to fine several cities neighboring the Santa Monica Bay in hope encouraging them to clean up the beach. These cities could be fined up to $10,000 a day if the water tested did not reach water standards.

MSNBC published a similar story in August 2006, “EPA sued over beach pollution.” This time it was the EPA that was being sued by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmentalist group, alleging that the “Environmental Protection Agency failed to protect the public.” The NRDC made me a list of beaches that did not meet public health standards. Of the 11 states listed, California had the most beaches in violation: nine, including six in Orange County.

Heal the Bay, a nonprofit environmental organization, has monthly “Nothin’ But Sand Beach Cleanups.” Volunteers can help clean Santa Monica Bay beaches. The cleanups are every third Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon at various beaches across Los Angeles County. The next Beach Cleanup is on May 17 at Venice Beach at Rose Ave. No volunteer application is needed.

For more information on beach cleanups, visit, www.healthebay.org.