Simple Ways to Help the Earth
Every year we humans take a day in April to celebrate and bring awareness to saving our little planet. It seems that most people only think about making changes without actually doing anything differently. I’ve come up with an easy list with changes we can make today to help our environment. Some of these I’m sure you’ve heard of before but if you’ve yet to actually make the change then I encourage you to take the time and get yourself doing these things today. It doesn’t take a lot of time to put a little effort into preserving the spinning rock we call home.
- Use reusable coffee cups and reusable water bottles. This is an easy fix to avoid having a lot of plastic and paper cups end up in landfills and the ocean.
- Reusable zip lock bags. I am addicted to using zip lock bags, but had always felt guilty using them once and tossing them. I started reusing them but came across these actual reusable washable zip lock bags! I will be using these over and over. Check them out here.
- Recycle! I don’t understand how people cannot do this. For me it is second nature now. Recycling is the best way we can all help the environment. Most cities have amazing recycling programs. It is easy and a small but effect thing we should all be doing.
- Mind your water use. This includes turning off the tap while brushing your teeth, or just filling a small glass before your start brushing to reduce your water usage. Along with this try cutting down on your shower time. A lot of water is wasted while taking baths, but short showers are something we are all capable of doing.
- Walk to places more. Leave the car behind and walk to work, school, or when running errands.
- Eat less meat! Did you know that 2500 gallons of water is used for a single pound of beef? That is a crazy amount. Just by skipping meat a few days a week would save a ton.
- Don’t use paper napkins. I am so guilty of using paper napkins, but cloth napkins work just as well and you don’t have to keep spending money in those every few weeks.
- Stop getting all that junk mail in the USA the average household gets 40 pounds of junk mail a year. What a waste! Use this website to get more info.
- Go paperless on your bills and statements. This one is so easy. Most business let you switch through your online account or just by calling. I know you can get this done today, if you don’t already have paperless bills.
- Invest in rechargeable batteries. Next time you are at the store check to see if you can buy at least a pair of rechargeable batteries to try them out.
- Volunteer to clean your community’s parks. If you don’t volunteer today at least look up volunteer programs in you city to make the effort of getting out and cleaning your public parks much easier.
- Turn off lights when leaving a room and unplug appliances and devices when not using.
- Use the cold water when using the washer and don’t dry you clothes in the dryer. If you are able to hang dry your clothes to use less.
These are just some of the simple things we can do every day to keep our planet cleaner and healthier. Imagine if everyone on this planet did all of these things! I hate seeing stories off all these plastic/trash islands floating around the ocean. I will take responsibility for my waste and I hope you will as well.
