Submitted by ktfinklea on Wednesday, April 22, 2009.

Happy Earth Day! Check out these great earth-friendly tips below, courtesy of Simple Steps and pass them on to your friends!

Everyday Earth Day

There's plenty of reason for hope this Earth Day -- the United States seems ready to cap the pollution that causes global warming. But there's also a lot of work ahead to curb the damage already done. Here are four simple steps you can take that will have an immediate impact on the environment. By focusing on the areas that will have the most impact, you'll find that doing your part for a sustainable future isn't as difficult as you may have thought. It's that easy!

40 percent of residential energy use is for heating and cooling. To stop global warming pollution and clear our air, we have to be more efficient. Start at home by making a few improvements where it will have the most impact. Take the house tour now to see what you can do.

The typical American prepared meal contains, on average, ingredients from at least five countries outside the United States. Almost 250,000 tons of global warming gases released were attributable to imports of food products—the equivalent amount of pollution produced by more than 40,000 vehicles on the road or nearly two power plants. By choosing local produce and food, you can make a real impact by sitting down to dinner. Find better food, closer to home with NRDC's Eat Local widget and get recipes for in-season produce.

Only 13 percent of plastic water bottles are recycled. When it's tossed out, plastic never disintegrates, it fills up landfills and ends up in our oceans. Plastic pollutes at every step -- from production to disposal. Cut down on your plastic waste by using less plastic and recycling plastic whenever you can.

In 1970, the United States recycled about 5 percent of its waste. Now we recycle approximately 32.5 percent, not even a third. Consider the waste before buying new products, avoid excessive packaging and unrecyclable materials.

Submitted by ktfinklea on Monday, April 13, 2009.

Inevitable. Unavoidable. Tax Day is quickly approaching. So while you're cramming to finish your return at the last minute check out this post from our friends at Simple Steps to find out how you can save money by investing in the planet.

New Energy Efficiency Tax Credits

Now's the time to invest in energy-efficient home improvements and take advantage of new federal tax credits. Tax credits are available for 30 percent of the cost of qualified windows, skylights, doors, insulation, water heaters or solar panels. Tax credits, unlike tax deductions, are as good as a rebate -- they come straight out of Line 46, the taxes you owe.

You may not be able to claim tax credits for energy efficiency improvements to your home on this year's return (unless you installed a geothermal heat pump, solar water heater, small wind energy systems or fuel cells) but this is a good time to consider making improvements in 2009 and 2010. The economic stimulus package restored and expanded tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements made in 2009 and 2010.

Why is the government so interested in your windows and insulation? Heating and cooling account for a whopping 40 percent of U.S. residential energy use. Poorly insulated homes, single-paned windows and old inefficient water heaters and boilers are wasting energy and money. By increasing our homes' energy efficiency we can save money, reduce the emissions that cause global warming and reduce the need for new power plants. Learn more about where you may be wasting energy (and money) in your home. Take the house tour.

Tax credits are available for 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500, for qualified windows, skylights, doors, insulation, metal and asphalt roofs, HVAC, non-solar water heaters and biomass stoves. The credit is available for existing homes and it must be your primary residence. For windows, doors, insulation and roofs, the credit is only for the cost of materials, not installation.

There's no upper limit for geothermal heat pumps, solar panels, solar water heaters, small wind energy systems and fuel cells through 2016 for existing homes and new construction. And you can include the cost of installation when figuring your 30 percent tax credit for these as well as HVAC and biomass stoves.

In addition to the federal tax credit, you may also be eligible for rebates or other incentives from your state when you make energy-related improvements to your home. For state-by-state details, see http://www.dsireusa.org/

Not all Energy Star labeled products are eligible for the tax credit so choose carefully. Learn more about qualified products and credits on the Energy Star website. Check out IRS form 5695 to learn how to claim residential energy credits. Remember to keep your receipts and the Manufacturer Certification Statement.

Submitted by ktfinklea on Monday, March 30, 2009.

Ask Dr. Gina

Are the phthalates in perfumes bad?

I have heard that there are good phthalates and bad ones, and that a lot of the perfume industry uses the good one, but the public thinks they use the bad ones. What is right?

You're right to be concerned about phthalates. Many phthalates (pronounced thal-ates) interfere with hormones (especially testosterone), and have been shown to alter normal reproductive development. Phthalates are found in a wide array of consumer products, including cosmetics and fragrances, pharmaceuticals and vinyl products. A number of different phthalates have been found in perfume products in the past but a recent report published by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that many perfume manufacturers had lowered the levels of phthalates in perfume and were primarily using one phthalate, DEP or di-ethyl phthalate. DEP is also used in air fresheners as revealed in a NRDC report.

DEP has been reported to be a "safe" phthalate because there is no evidence from animal studies that it causes hormone disruption or interference with the development of the male reproductive tract as other phthalates have been shown to do. However, in human studies, DEP has been associated with numerous impacts on male reproductive health including changes in hormone levels and genital development in baby boys. There is scientific debate about why these differences in the animal and human studies exist and in the meantime, the widespread exposure to DEP continues. CDC studies have shown that every single person in their sample of over 2,500 Americans from ages 6 to greater than 65 years carried residues of DEP in their bodies. It is possible to make perfume and air fresheners without DEP or other phthalates, so I’d recommend avoiding exposure where possible by avoiding synthetic fragrances or choosing brands that have removed phthalates from their formulation. Learn more about phthalates in cosmetics and personal care products and what you can do to avoid them.

Got a question for Dr. Gina? Ask her!

GINA SOLOMON is a senior scientist and physician in NRDC's health program. Gina specializes in internal medicine and occupational/environmental medicine. She is also an associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco where she is a teaching physician at the pediatric environmental health specialty unit. She received her medical degree from Yale University and her specialty training at Harvard. She is a co-author of Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment.

Submitted by ktfinklea on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.

Many eyes may be on Ireland today, but quite a few are on Washington D.C. where the 4th Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week is taking place. Citizens from across Appalachia and the rest of the country are lobbying Congress to put an end to mountaintop removal coal mining and pass the Clean Water Protection Act(H.R. 1310). The bill would ensure clean drinking water by preventing mining companies from dumping mine waste into valley streams, a provision made legal during the Bush Administration which has already buried an estimated 1,200 miles of waterways. You can help by contacting your representative and asking them to co-sponsor the bill.

Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

If you can't make a phone call, take action by writing your representative here.

Then urge the EPA to enforce stronger regulation for the diposal of Contaminated Coal Waste. You can sign our petition here.

To learn more please visit www.NoMoreMountaintopRemoval.org and please check out this video. Pass it around, tell your friends, and help prevent a mining practice that is quickly destroying the oldest and most biodiverse mountain ranges in the country.