Look for products made from recycled materials, natural ingredients, and minimal or biodegradable packaging. Burt’s Bees, for example, uses recyclable packaging. By supporting eco-friendly companies your green supports the greater green. Jon Bell http://www.epostmailer.com

If you sign up for a checking account at Regions bank and choose the option for paperless statements...your checking account is free AND you get a nice green tote bag.  Not a reason to sign up for an account...but if you need a new one anyway it's a nice little perk.  

Earth Day is feel good nonsense. You know those plastic tote bags you buy at the supermarket? They don't last and are cheaply made, but what the hell, your guilt is assuaged. Let's call "Earth Day" what it is: White Liberal Non Guilt Day.

With all the industrial corporations knowingly destroying the earth for many decades these idiots concentrate on recyclable bags??????  I stopped recycling until these clowns get their priorities straightened out... Yep, everything goes in the garbage on purpose!

i think they are a whole lot of bigger issues about our enviroment than worrying about shopping bags and the product i prefer to clean with.

When I need a bag to tote stuff around in, my first stop? My closet.

Seriously, I get whole idea that these freebies are based on doing something "green" and meant as a carrot, a reward for doing something that is politically/socially considered a good deed.

But these efforts really miss the bigger point:  One can go "green" without all the fashionably "green" products (Seventh Generation cleaning supplies, that eco-friendly tote bag, and such).

It does not address mindful consumption vis a vis one's own life (many would use the term over-consumption, an unhelpful term, IMO. What looks like over-consumption to me, may in fact be necessary to the one consuming).

Being mindful to me, doesn't mean ONLY consuming the essentials one needs for life (how boring would that be?). It means being realistic about and having respect for one's own financial situation, living situation, and such.

One reason so many people are facing financial difficulties (not the only reason) is that they were NOT realistic and did not have respect for their finances. Thus they were not mindful consumers.

Many people accumulate so much stuff because it's cheap/on sale/they needed one more in a different color/whatever, without being realistic or respectful of how much space they need for said stuff.  Sometimes this also ties in to a precarious financial situation. Thus they were not mindful consumers.

This is not to tell people how to live. If people choose to be unrealistic about and disrespectful to important aspects of their life, so be it. Those people have also made the choice to reap the consequences. I empathize with the difficulties faced, but I have little sympathy.

As for myself, I can't possibly afford separate Seventh Generation cleaners for each cleaning task. At least baking soda and vinegar have endless cleaning uses.  And I'll skip that free gift from Disney. I don't need more stuff to feel good about myself.

If you really want to stop pollution and global warming at the same time, I have a suggestion. My suggestion may sound funny at first, but I think it would go a long way towards reducing pollution and global warming.especially after I explain myself. Not only that, but our country could save billions of dollars that are needed right now. Lets all write to our governmeent and tell them to shut down the space shuttle. Most everyone has seen at least one launch. Think about all the pollution that puts out. Now, consider the amount of heat that is also being produced. Then think of the money that would be saved. There are 11.7 tons of solid propellant in the solid boosters. The main engines burn at about 6,000 F, and the whole launch takes about 6 minutes to get the shuttle into orbit. The total output in Watts is almost 12 Gigawatts. Most of these facts came directly from the NASA site itself. There have already been 126 launches. That folks, is a lot of pollution and a lot of heat going into our atmosphere. Now add that to all of the intra and international commercial flights, and that is a whole bunch of pollution and more heat. There are thousands of them everyday. It's no wonder there is so much global warming with all those fossil fuels being burnt up. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out either. All it takes is a little common sense. My theory is to shut down the space station, go get the astronauts, and only have intercontinental flights, with limited intracontinental flights, only for business or emergencies. Everyone else should plan on driving to their destinations. Now, some people seem to think that autos are a major source of pollution. I don't believe that autos are the major source  of pollution. Autos these days are more efficient and cleaner burning than ever before. I think the government wants to be able to put out more pollution from businesses, so they say that autos are the cause, and make us get emisions inspections and special stickers on autos that are totally unnecessary. That way, they get more money from us, when we pay for those tests, and pass it along as tax breaks for major business. The government needs to realize that we are all not fools.

HAHA Hippie Tree Huggers must run MSN-

first of all they need to stop putting chemicals in our food including fresh vegetables ,fruits, cereals, etc. there is no such thing as "FRESH VEGETABLES" or 'FRESH NON-VEGE" or even the 'MILK" please learn from other Countries like Australia, New Zealand & Fiji, go taste their chemecal free Milk & foods. in USA there's not even a box of cereal that is sugar free, it has sugar subtitutes, try going natural & see the difference. That is healthy living & protecting our Earth. Using reusable bags as a way to go is simly far less than SO many other things we don't think about & the list goes on & on.

So far all of these 'green tips' are of no use to me where I live. I buy produce at local produce stands because we only have one grocery store & they have a horrible produce section plus I do prefer to support our local farmers. There is no public transportation & riding a bike or walking to my job 20 miles away is not reasonable - especially when I have a young child I have to drop off at daycare on the way. I cannot afford the Seventh Generation cleaners, nor can I afford a hybrid vehicle. Going paperless is hard to do when I do not have internet access at home - dial up is only affordable option (no cable or dsl in the country) & I have no real need for internet access at home - playing with my son is more important. We also do not have trash pickup - we take our trash to the county landfill so we don't get those nice plastic bins for recycling. I respect our planet & am raising my kids to be responsible as well but I feel that the 'go green fad' is not realistic for my family. Nor do I feel it is right to vilify those who do not subscribe to the same beliefs as the global warming crowd. Just my 2 cents - all I can afford in this economy!!