Lemondrop

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

You already recycle and bring reusable bags to the grocery store. But are you constantly feeling like maybe you could be doing just a little bit ... more!?

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we found ten amazing women intent on saving the planet, one good act at a time. Their talents range from planning green weddings to saving the whales (really!) to answering every eco-question you could ever have.

Curious about how you can help? Read on to hear their very personal save the Earth tips.

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Meaghan O'Neill, 36

Claim To Eco-Fame: Helped found and grow TreeHugger.com

Got a green question? Meaghan has the answer -- whether you just want to buy safer sunscreen or are looking to build a prefab house out of old blue jeans.

Formerly of Interior Design magazine, she was inspired by the early '00 boom in eco-design and sustainable architecture and helped launch TreeHugger back in 2004. Then she co-authored Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living , making an eco-friendly existence easier for the rest of us.

Her Save The Earth Tip: "Invest in green power. 2) Take one fewer flight per year. 3) Reduce the amount of red meat you eat. You can slash your carbon footprint in half with these three big-ticket items."

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Anna Lappé, 36

Claim To Eco-Fame: Green Food Guru

The daughter of eco-pioneer Frances Moore Lappé (author of Diet for a Small Planet ), Anna has green in her DNA. She and mom co-founded the
Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund, which have raised over $500,000 for environmental organizations, including two Nobel Peace Prize winners.

In her latest book, Diet for a Hot Planet, she argues that if we're serious about global warming, we have to talk food. "Most of us don't equate it with our lunch," she says. "But the food system is responsible for as much as one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions."

Her Save The Earth Tip: "Be curious about where your food comes from. It will help you connect your choices to your own health and the health of the planet."

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Danielle Venokur, 33

Claim To Eco-Fame: The (Green) Wedding Planner

Don't worry, the former floral designer won't suggest hemp for your wedding dress. "You can have a clean, hip style, and still be green," she says. The ex-manager of renowned L'Olivier Floral Atelier, her green ethos blossomed when she fell in love: "My [now-husband] and I began doing everything we could to lessen our footprint," she says.

Then she started to eye the waste at work. "There were flowers shipped from China, packing materials used for a few hours then discarded," she says. In 2007, she launched dvGreen, an eco-chic alternative for brides.

Her Save The Earth Tip: Swap paper napkins for fabric. "Suddenly everything will feel more elegant, and you'll forego a lot of waste over time."

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Sally Bjornsen, 46

Claim To Eco-Fame: Giving up shopping -- for a year.

Sally hasn't bought a single item of clothing in seven months -- and she'll stay retail-free until September. After 25 years in advertising and retail, she wanted to see what it felt like to just say no to new apparel.

"Would you spend time admiring patterns in nature instead of patterns in polyesters?" she quips. Now a slew of women (and men!) will join her in the Great American Apparel Diet, blogging about their conscious consumption.

Her Save The Earth Tip: "Reinvent the hand-me-down. So much of what we buy is such bad quality. I remember wearing my mother's ski sweater she wore in high school. How many things you buy today will last?"

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Emily Hunter, 26

Claim To Eco-Fame: The Eco-Huntress

As the eco-correspondent for MTV News Canada, Emily specializes in reporting from the trenches, most recently at Copenhagen's climate change summit. The daughter of Greenpeace's first president Robert Hunter, she's no stranger to protests and has sailed around the world on activist ships, helping to save animals and fight climate change.

She's currently working on The Next Eco Warriors, a collection of stories from new green crusaders. "It's not just about banner waving now," she says. "We're talking documentaries, blogging, biking, anarchy, art and online networking."

Her Save The Earth Tip: "Use your talents for the betterment of planet Earth. If you're an artist, create a message. If you're a geek, mobilize via the internet. And if you have a voice, yell loudly!"

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Sara Harari, 20

Claim To Eco-Fame: Making green energy cool.

Sara, co-author of Red: The Book, first got interested in alternative energy in high school: She ran a wind feasibility study in her backyard and discovered she could power the whole neighborhood.

Now an engineering major, she was head of ops for this month's Tufts Energy Conference, which joined leading minds in the energy industry with 400 green-curious students. "Once, handing out pamphlets on wind energy, a guy told me he did recycle but didn't want to give up his view," she says. "If we keep this up, we won't have a view."

Her Save The Earth Tip: "If every house replaced ONE light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, we would save $700 million -- and light 3 million homes per year."

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Elizabeth Rogers, 44

Claim To Eco-Fame: Shifting one habit every day.

The creator of "Trippin," MTV's eco-reality show starring Cameron Diaz, and author of New York Times bestseller The Green Book, Elizabeth is a walking encyclopedia of easy on the wallet eco-tips.

Trade disposable water bottles for a canteen? You'll save $500 and 30 pounds of plastic waste. Do the wash in cold instead of hot? Save $50 and 500 kilowatts of energy.

Now she's compiled them all in Shift Your Habit: Easy Ways to Save Money, Simplify Your Life and Save the Planet-- and at ShiftYourHabit.com.

Her Save The Earth Tip: "Mix a half cup of white vinegar, a quarter cup of rubbing alcohol, two cups of water and a few drops of essential oil to make a completely natural glass cleaner."

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Annie Leonard, 45

Claim To Eco-Fame: Telling the Story of Stuff.

In December 2007, Annie released the hit 20-minute web film that takes viewers on an eye-opening tour of the hidden costs of consumer-driven culture. Generating over 10 million views in 200 countries, it's one of the most successful environmental-themed viral films of all time.

In her new book (by the same name), she gets down and dirty with our sneakers, iPods, and shower curtains, ensuring you'll never see a trip to the mall the same way again.

Her Save The Earth Tip: "Look within and know when you have enough. After a point, stuff stops increasing our well being and, instead, undermines ecological systems, makes us feel burdened and cluttered, and displaces the things that really do make us happy: community, friends, leisure."

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World

Who: Skye Bortoli, 18

Claim To Eco-Fame: Saving the whales. Really.

This Australian teenager has been obsessed with whales since she spotted her first humpback at age 11. Since then Skye has created Teens Against Whaling, collected over 40,000 signatures to protect the southern ocean whale sanctuary, convened a youth forum for the 2009 International Whaling Commission conference in Portugal, and starred in numerous YouTube videos to raise awareness.

"Last year we launched our biggest campaign to date, postcards for preservation," she says. "We want to deliver more than a million of these individual messages to President Obama." No wonder she's nominated for 2010 Australian of the Year.

Her Save-The-World Tip: "First find an environmental issue that you're passionate about, then spread the word."

10 Super Women Who Are Saving The World