April marks Earth Day and the publication of Berks County Living’s annual Green issue. But every day is Earth Day, right? To that end, we asked our Facebook fans how they try to stay earth-friendly. Here’s what they had to say:
- Tania Colamarino, Shillington, and owner of Ama Photography: I use biodegradable cleaners and soy-based cleaners from Sabrina Fernandez, owner of Eco-Friendly Cleaning by Sabrina of Shillington. I also try to repurpose things as much as possible.
- Limarys Rodriguez: I try to do everything online and paperless, from my personal banking to my business transactions. I even have a business questionnaire that is an edible PDF. Any time I can save a tree, it’s great!
- Kelley O’Leary of Reading: I use re-useable grocery bags. If I forget them, I say, “No bag, please.”
- Devyn Damore, who is employed at American Dental Solutions, says: American Dental Solutions is eliminating all X-ray developing chemicals in favor of modern digital X-ray technology. The practice is also going completely paperless and doing virtual patient charting.
- Regena Martis Miller: We replaced our incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones.
- Kristen Voelker Overly of Shillington: I use reusable canvas bags for shopping. I use reusable fabric sandwich bags for my kids’ lunches and small Tupperware-like containers for their snacks instead of Ziplocks. I recycle ALL cardboard and paper (including newspaper and magazines, junk mail, food boxes, toy packaging, etc.). I take all emptied clean plastic bags (bread bags, store bags) back to a store’s plastic recycling bin. All used batteries get dropped at a recycling center. I use a Brita pitcher to filter tap water and drink water from a reusable container instead of buying bottled water at the store. Reduce, reuse and recycle whenever possible!
- Sabrina Fernandez of Shillington, owner of Eco-Friendly Cleaning by Sabrina: I use only biodegradable household cleaners. The great thing about them is that the scent is amazing and they’re non-toxic, too!
- Rosemarie Rotenberger of Mertztown: I installed an 85-percent woodstove and snagged a nice tax deduction in the process!
- Tiffany Fasig of Reading: All my body and laundry products contain no harmful chemicals.
- Ginger Sullivan Motley of Wyomissing: I buy mostly local; use reusable grocery bags and cloth diaper our baby. We use cloth napkins and never use paper plates.
- Jennifer Valanski Moyer: I buy all organic groceries and have a large garden. It helps cut down on GMOs and pesticides in the environment. It also helps support the small, organic farmer.
- Honeybee Gardens., Inc., West Reading: We recycle EVERYTHING that comes into our home office in West Reading: boxes, packaging, mail, paperwork. We find a way to reuse it. Which means our orders get packaged with our shredded office paper and mail, and your order may arrive in a box that isn’t new and pretty, but saves a tree because it’s being repurposed.
