Take the time out on April 22nd to truly celebrate our beautiful planet and acknowledge that we cannot continue to dismiss her worsening condition! We need to spread awareness and show people that even one good act for Mother Earth is better than none at all. Hopefully, through the help of legislators and proactive citizens, we will be able to slowly reverse some of the damaging effects we've had on her. It starts right here with you and continues on as you spread the message to a friend, co-worker or family member and then they do the same. Saving the planet doesn't have to be an impossible feat. Get your children involved and make it fun! After all, they will be the future generation responsible for keeping this green movement alive and improving upon it so that many more generations will be able to enjoy this planet's beauty. Here are some small ways in which you can help make a big difference:1. TURN OFF LIGHTS AND APPLIANCES you aren't using. Sounds easy enough, right? Turn off the lights every time you exit a room. Simply turning off your computer or television when you aren't using them will be taking a small step in the green direction. Turning your thermostat up or down even one degree will cut down on energy use and in turn, save you some green!
2. PLANT SOMETHING. Plant a seed, a tree or an entire garden, depending on the space available, and reap the benefits of cleaner air and the beauty of watching something grow. Children love digging in the dirt and will be more than enthusiastic about helping you! Have them help water and keep the weeds under control!
3. GROW YOUR OWN FOOD. Take planting something to a whole new level and grow your own fruit and vegetables. Not only will your homegrown produce far exceed the store-bought variety in taste, it won't be tainted with harmful chemicals or pesticides that can also seep into our drinking water. Even organic produce can take it's toll on the environment when it has to travel from across the country (or from another one entirely) just to make it onto your plate!
3. GROW YOUR OWN FOOD. Take planting something to a whole new level and grow your own fruit and vegetables. Not only will your homegrown produce far exceed the store-bought variety in taste, it won't be tainted with harmful chemicals or pesticides that can also seep into our drinking water. Even organic produce can take it's toll on the environment when it has to travel from across the country (or from another one entirely) just to make it onto your plate!
4. USE LESS WATER. Simply turning the water off when brushing your teeth or hand-washing your dirty dishes rather than loading them in the dishwasher every time will make a worthwhile impact. Opt for showers over baths and try limiting them to once a day as well as shortening their duration, if possible. You can even build your own rainwater collection system, like this one, which you can then use the recycled water for your lawn and garden, creating less waste!
5. RECYCLE! This is the biggest thing you can do to drastically cut down the amount of waste thrown into landfills each day. Some cities offer recycling drop-offs so that community members have the option of recycling without the extra monthly cost usually involved. In order to make sorting the recyclables easier, choose a container for each type of material and let the kids decorate and label each one with non-toxic paints. Keep them actively involved in the recycling process and make it fun for them. You can turn sorting into a game and turn in your aluminum cans for cash! Let the kids spend the proceeds or save them up so that you can do something fun together as a family with the money you've made. Click here to find a recycling center near you.
6. REDUCE the amount of waste you create. Opt for regular plates, silverware and cloth napkins rather than their tossable counterparts. Instead of buying cans or individual bottles of soda or water, buy two-liters or gallons. Read magazines and newspapers online instead of in print. Whenever possible, buy in bulk. Sure, individual servings are convenient, but they come at a higher price both out-of-pocket and at the expense of our planet. Even though recycling dramatically reduces waste, there is still a lot of energy involved in physically getting those recyclables to the processing plant and turning them back into a reusable materials.
7. REUSE things. The disposable mentality that our society has so freely adopted is doing a great disservice to our earth and cannot continue without drastically negative results. Wash plastic containers and ziplock bags and use them several times before recycling them. If you are cleaning out the garage or moving, donate unwanted items to the good-will instead of trashing them. Donate (appropriate) magazines and newspapers to local schools so that they can use them for art projects, etc. Bring your own canvas or reusable totes to carry your groceries in instead of the paper or plastic bags at the store. Use both sides of a piece of paper before it ends up in the trash. Try to fix what is broken before you replace it with something new!
8. DRIVE LESS. Walk or ride your bike instead of driving whenever possible. If you live in a remote area, you can still do your part by combining errands and scheduling multiple activities in one outing so that you don't have to drive as often. Carpool for your drive to work, school or extracurriculars, if that is an option. You can search for riding matches here. You'll be cutting down on carbon emissions and saving money on your fuel costs.
9. CLEAN UP YOUR COMMUNITY. Whether you volunteer through a local organization to clean up parks in your area or simply collect trash and recyclables from the ground in your neighborhood, no good deed is ever too small! You can easily teach children through your positive example that littering is wrong and taking pride in your community by keeping it clean helps make our world a more beautiful place.
10. COMPOST. It is way easier than you might think and the result is rich, organic soil that your plants will love. Decaying food and yard waste, buried in landfills, releases methane gas, which is a greenhouse gas even more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide. By composting, you will keep a considerable amount of waste from entering a landfill and causing more harm to our ozone layer. You can compost vegetables, fruits, coffee grinds, egg shells, tea bags, paper towels, napkins and newspaper (shredded works best) from inside and combine it with grass clippings, yard waste and dead leaves from outside. You can easily create your own compost bin or pile in your backyard. Just make sure you keep it in a black plastic container or covered with black tarp and in direct sunlight and "stir" it often so that it will decompose quickly. You want the materials to remain damp, but not too wet. If you are limited on space or don't have yard waste, an indoor home composter that emits no odor, like this one, would be the perfect solution. Learn more about composting here.
5. RECYCLE! This is the biggest thing you can do to drastically cut down the amount of waste thrown into landfills each day. Some cities offer recycling drop-offs so that community members have the option of recycling without the extra monthly cost usually involved. In order to make sorting the recyclables easier, choose a container for each type of material and let the kids decorate and label each one with non-toxic paints. Keep them actively involved in the recycling process and make it fun for them. You can turn sorting into a game and turn in your aluminum cans for cash! Let the kids spend the proceeds or save them up so that you can do something fun together as a family with the money you've made. Click here to find a recycling center near you.
6. REDUCE the amount of waste you create. Opt for regular plates, silverware and cloth napkins rather than their tossable counterparts. Instead of buying cans or individual bottles of soda or water, buy two-liters or gallons. Read magazines and newspapers online instead of in print. Whenever possible, buy in bulk. Sure, individual servings are convenient, but they come at a higher price both out-of-pocket and at the expense of our planet. Even though recycling dramatically reduces waste, there is still a lot of energy involved in physically getting those recyclables to the processing plant and turning them back into a reusable materials.
7. REUSE things. The disposable mentality that our society has so freely adopted is doing a great disservice to our earth and cannot continue without drastically negative results. Wash plastic containers and ziplock bags and use them several times before recycling them. If you are cleaning out the garage or moving, donate unwanted items to the good-will instead of trashing them. Donate (appropriate) magazines and newspapers to local schools so that they can use them for art projects, etc. Bring your own canvas or reusable totes to carry your groceries in instead of the paper or plastic bags at the store. Use both sides of a piece of paper before it ends up in the trash. Try to fix what is broken before you replace it with something new!
8. DRIVE LESS. Walk or ride your bike instead of driving whenever possible. If you live in a remote area, you can still do your part by combining errands and scheduling multiple activities in one outing so that you don't have to drive as often. Carpool for your drive to work, school or extracurriculars, if that is an option. You can search for riding matches here. You'll be cutting down on carbon emissions and saving money on your fuel costs.
9. CLEAN UP YOUR COMMUNITY. Whether you volunteer through a local organization to clean up parks in your area or simply collect trash and recyclables from the ground in your neighborhood, no good deed is ever too small! You can easily teach children through your positive example that littering is wrong and taking pride in your community by keeping it clean helps make our world a more beautiful place.
10. COMPOST. It is way easier than you might think and the result is rich, organic soil that your plants will love. Decaying food and yard waste, buried in landfills, releases methane gas, which is a greenhouse gas even more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide. By composting, you will keep a considerable amount of waste from entering a landfill and causing more harm to our ozone layer. You can compost vegetables, fruits, coffee grinds, egg shells, tea bags, paper towels, napkins and newspaper (shredded works best) from inside and combine it with grass clippings, yard waste and dead leaves from outside. You can easily create your own compost bin or pile in your backyard. Just make sure you keep it in a black plastic container or covered with black tarp and in direct sunlight and "stir" it often so that it will decompose quickly. You want the materials to remain damp, but not too wet. If you are limited on space or don't have yard waste, an indoor home composter that emits no odor, like this one, would be the perfect solution. Learn more about composting here.
Earth day comes only once a year but forming green habits and instilling them in our children will last a lifetime. Whatever each of us can do to reverse the negative affects we've already had on our planet will be better than simply doing nothing at all. Plant the seed, spread the word...
MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!
image via Hinton Library
2 comments:
Plant tress, save the Planet Earth.
I can't believe I left out some really obvious stuff that we do all the time like hang our laundry outside on a clothes line to dry, making rags out of old clothing that are not in good enough condition to donate, borrow books from the library instead of purchasing new ones...
I'm sure I'll think of even more!!!
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