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Healthy Households

• FACT: The average home contains 62 toxic chemicals, which can enter your body and cause negative health effects.
• WHAT YOU CAN DO: Look for non-toxic cleaning products for your home and for the care of pets, or make your own. Print and share our Greencleaning 101 recipe cards. Look for low-VOC paints to avoid breathing toxins. Keep plenty of plants around the house to detoxify the air. For more information visit www.pollutioninpeople.org.

Making your home more energy efficient saves you money and helps our environment. The Long Island Green Homes initiative is a collaboration between Long Island towns, civic and environmental organizations to help residents achieve residential energy efficiency by providing low-cost or no cost home energy audits. Visit www.longislandgreenhomes.org to find out how to get started.

What's for Dinner?

• FACT: Conventional farmers use around 300 different pesticides to grow foods that are sold in supermarkets everyday. These chemicals can cause negative health effects in humans.
• WHAT YOU CAN DO: Join a community supported agriculture (CSA) group (www.localharvest.org). Purchase organic products such as food, soaps, shampoos, furniture products and clothing. Buy seeds from organic suppliers (www.johnnyseeds.com) and start your own organic garden.

Judy Christrup

Sustainable Landscaping

• FACT: Approximately 7,000,000 birds die each year from exposure to common lawn care pesticides. Imagine how this is affecting your health and that of your children and pets.
• WHAT YOU CAN DO: Sign up for the No Spray List in Suffolk County (www.co.suffolk.ny.us -- search "no spray"). If you must fertilize, use low nitrogen and slow release products. Create a compost pile to recycle yard and kitchen scraps, while producing nutrient rich soil for your garden. Dedicate a portion of your yard as natural habitat for wildlife – leave it alone!

Appreciating Dark Skies

• FACT: Americans waste about $4.5 billion each year powering excessive lighting that degrades the view of our night sky.
• WHAT YOU CAN DO: Support common sense outdoor lighting regulations in your town. Use lighting when you need it and shut off lights when you are finished using them. Use shielded outdoor fixtures that direct light downward. Contact us for a FREE flood light shield.

Reduce,Reuse, Recycle

• FACT: Plastic and other non-biodegradable materials can take hundreds of years to break down. In addition, the amount of electronic materials being disposed of improperly is introducing health-harming mercury into the environment.
• WHAT YOU CAN DO: Recycle old electronics at your municipal transfer station and donate your unwanted cell phones to Group for the East End (drop them at our Southold or Bridgehampton location) for recycling. Reuse or donate items you are no longer using for their original purpose. Use cloth grocery bags in place of paper or plastic. Donate excess building materials to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity (631-924-4966).

Responsible Transportation

• FACT:There are about 240 million cars and trucks on the roads in the U.S. As a nation, we drive about 3 trillion miles each year! In 2006, 68% of all oil consumed in the U.S. (13.98 million barrels of oil) was used for transportation.
• WHAT YOU CAN DO: Support improvements to public transportation on the East End, which will reduce emissions and improve traffic flow on the roads. When possible, turn your car off instead of idling. Have your car tuned regularly to reduce oil waste and ensure efficient tire pressure for better gas mileage. Purchase carbon credits to offset your travel miles on vacation (www.fightglobalwarming.com).