What did you do this Earth Day 2013?

Every year Earth Day comes and goes. People do something special on Earth Day then go back to their regular life style afterward. This year on Earth Day I looked at what I can do and keep doing every day. I wanted to make it as painless as possible. Below is my list.

1. Use more CFL bulbs around the house. I noticed when you put the lamp shade over a CFL bulb; you can’t even tell it’s a CFL. There are certain areas I won’t use a CFL because it takes too long to get to full brightness. Areas where everyone forgets to turn the light off like the garage, attic and basement all have been converted to CFL. Now I need to test how good are those dimmable CFL? If anyone has experience with dimmable CFL, please let everyone know.
2. My town has a Nifty 50 Goal where each resident tries to recycle 50% of their garbage. This will reduce our town’s waste disposal cost and it’s good for the environment. You will be surprised to learn how much of your garbage is recyclable when you put more thought into it.  
3. Keep your tires inflated to the correct pressure. This is getting easier now. I used to manually check the tire pressure on all the cars in my household every month. Now I just inflate the tires to the highest recommended pressure level. All our cars have pressure monitor system built in so if one tire has low pressure, a warning light goes off.
4. Change my workout routine. I used to drive to the gym 3 to 4 times a week and do my 45 minutes of workout then drive home. Now I ride my exercise bike at home or ride my bike on the road. I do more band work and light dumbbells with high repetitions. I figure the time and gas I save driving to the gym is good for the environment and me.
5. Do more manual weeding. I used to walk around with a canister of weed killer every 3 to 4 weeks. Now I do the weeding with a narrow hand trowel and an empty bucket. The speed is slower but I think the result lasts longer. I make sure I dig down to the weed’s root and not just break off the top portion.
6. Don’t keep the water running when you are brushing your teeth or shaving. At first I thought I was going to wear out the faucet washer. Then I checked my faucets warranty. Faucets now come without washer and they are lifetime warranty.