Actually Earth Day was yesterday, 22nd April, and I must say I had a pretty good one.

I actually spent the morning at Pasir Ris Park walking through the mangroves on a boardwalk. Yes, who would have thought that our very own “pristine” little park in Pasir Ris has a mangrove. I was pretty surprised too. I mean I’ve of course heard of Sungei Buloh but never thought there was another one closer to home. We spent time with the Handicapped Welfare Association and NParks volunteers who walked with us through the Kitchen Garden and the mangroves.

With Stella (3rd Runner up) and Amira (1st Runner up)

I got a chance to flex my muscles that morning and pushed a wheelchair the entire way through in the sweltering heat while listening to the tour. The various plants of Kitchen Garden are commonly used in culinary cooking and the garden that grows them is, hence, affectionately named Kitchen Garden. The mangroves were full of various biodiversity but probably not as much as I remember seeing in Cek Jawa.

Coincidentally in line with the Earth Day theme, it’s also the time of the month where I feature a green beauty and her eco-friendly tip from the Miss Earth calendar. What better month to feature my dear and close friend Miss Earth Philippines, Sandra as she was here just last month. I had a good time showing her around and doing all sorts of girly stuff together. Also, this month is when the Miss Earth Philippines pageant comes to a close! This means Sandra will be handing over her crown to her successor.

In fact, I’m going to her Coronation in Manila tomorrow and I’ll see the crowning of the new Miss Earth Philippines 2010 first hand! Whoooohoooooooo!

So as part of her farewell routine, I will help her share her green tip featured in our green calendar.

Iron clothes twice-a-month mass to save electricity.

Instead of ironing one shirt a day, why not be economical and efficient and iron your clothes mass?

This month and the following others, I’ll be featuring the Top 4 winners of the Miss Earth contest! They’ll share with you their environmental tip; the little things we can do to help save the our planet.

Starting with the 3rd Runner Up, Miss Earth Fire: Miss Spain, Alejandra Echevarria Pedrajas.

Green tip: Use a bike when going on short distances. One less car on the the road means lower carbon emissions and cleaner air.

Increased carbon emissions in the ozone layer trap more heat and increase the greenhouse effect. This causes global temperatures to rise, damaging crops, changing weather patterns and melting icecaps. By reducing carbon emissions, we can slow down the greenhouse effect and prevent global temperatures from rising.

Okay. Well, sort of. The recent Miss Earth competition put all the girls competing in a calendar.

A green calendar, of course. We were all given a green tip and had to model the tip. It’s pretty fun to look at the calendar and the tips cause it reminds me of all the amazing girls I met and our strong messages for the environment. But that aside, they are helpful green tips that you can use everyday! It’s the small little things we can do for our environment that will make the bigger change.

Because not everyone can lay their hands on this limited edition calendar, Ima be nice and feature one tip a month with one hot girl of course. Haha. Who doesnt like to look at calendar girls right? I’m obviously starting off with me: Miss Earth Singapore, Valerie Lim. Picture self directed and shot outside my own house. Haha!

Green tip: Save energy by loading your washing machine to its full capacity.

Instead of washing a little laundry each time, load your washing machine to its maximum capacity and cut down the number times you have to do laundry.