We just observed the 38th annual Earth Day; however, the event has decidedly taken a backseat to our everyday realities. This is no longer about “tree-huggers,” it’s about our quality of life. United Way is not an environmental organization, but as an organization that is focused on The Common Good, we can’t escape the fact that everything on our planet is connected.

Last week I heard the CEO of Vectren speak at a Ball State commencement and he predicted that this generation of college graduates will see our country transform into a more European lifestyle: smaller houses, smaller cars, shorter commutes. Our intern is talking about buying a smart car. But even if we can’t make such a drastic change in our transportation, we can make sure our tires are properly inflated. If all of us did just that, we would save nearly 2 billion gallons of gasoline a year. 

Whether we are natural born environmentalists or just facing the realities of the pocketbook, we are all taking a new look at what it means to be green. In our office, we have long recycled paper (after using both sides, of course) and aluminum cans. We take our used electronics to the solid waste facility. But there are still Styrofoam cups and plastic bottles in the meeting room, so we have a way to go. I remember hearing a tip years ago that seemed obscure at the time, but it was easy to do, so I’ve made it a practice: change the defaults on your computer page set up from 1.25 margins to 1 inch. More on a page, fewer pages.

My personal resolution this year has been to take my own canvas bags to the grocery. After years of attending conferences, I have a vast supply of these stacked in a closet, so I put a couple in my car. I’m getting better at remembering to actually take them into the store. I also recycle aluminum and paper at home, and I try to purchase less overly packaged and processed foods, and eat more vegetables, fruits and grains and less meat. (The health benefits of this change are vast, and it takes 1/20 the amount of raw materials to grow these than to raise animals.)

Choosing organic and locally grown produce is another way to conserve energy, the environment and health. This year, The Center for Mental Health is offering access to local produce through its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. This new Social Enterprise also benefits the clients of CMH by offering employment opportunities. For more information, call (765) 641-8286 or log on to www.cfmh.org.

A quick check of the Internet revealed tons of sites with good advice about going green. While no one can do everything, we can all do something. One bit of advice: donate instead of toss. With pocketbooks increasingly pinched, a donated item can really help someone else, and I have to admit that I think about everything I put in the trash these days — including the trash bag! 

Of course, I also found sobering statistics on the Web. We toss enough wood and paper every year to heat 50 million homes for 20 years. We toss 25 billion (yes, b) Styrofoam coffee cups and enough soft drink cans and bottles that, if placed end to end, would reach the moon and back 20 times. Also every year, 1 million sea birds, 100,000 marine mammals and 50,000 fur seals are killed as a result of eating or being strangled in plastic.

Eighty-four percent of a typical household’s waste can be recycled. If every one of us recycled just one-tenth of our newspapers, we would save about 25 million trees a year. So, now that you’ve read this column, recycle it please.

Nancy Vaughan is president of United Way of Madison County Inc.