It's Earth Day, and while every day is technically a day to be kind to the planet, this is a day to show a little extra appreciation and get into any new habits you’ve been thinking of. There are so many little things you can do to celebrate and help save the Earth. We’ve got some super easy ideas for you to get started with below!
Turn the Faucet Off
Did you know you can save up to eight gallons of water a day just by turning off your faucet when brushing your teeth? You can also conserve a lot of water while washing your hands (even more so now!) - just turn off the tap for those 20 seconds you're scrubbing with soap.
Fix Your Leaky Faucet
Those tiny drops of water add up big time when it comes to your water bill.
Unplug Appliances When Not In Use
Yes, your household appliances are using up and wasting energy even when they're not turned on! Instead of leaving things like the coffee maker, toaster, and even the lamps plugged in, make a small effort to unplug when you're not using them.
It also helps to get into the practice of powering down your electronics overnight.
Modify The Way You Use Your Appliances
Wash Laundry in Cold Water About 90% of the energy your washing machine uses goes towards heating the water. To save energy, wash your laundry on the cold water setting for at least one load a week.
Turn off the Heat Dry Function on Your Dishwasher The same goes for your dishwasher: Instead of using the heat dry function on your dishwasher, consider selecting an air-dry cycle to dry your dishes. This will save about 15 percent of your dishwasher's energy use!
Turn off Your Lights When You Leave the Room Another great but easy way to save energy is by turning off your lights when you're not home, or even not in that room. This can significantly cut down how much energy you're using.
Ditch the Single-Use Products
Use a Cloth Towel Instead of a Paper Towel Save the money you spend on those weekly rolls by switching to cloth towels instead.
Stop Drinking out of Plastic Water Bottles Replace your single-use plastic bottles with glass or stainless steel reusable water bottles.
Bring a Reusable Cup to Your Coffee Shop Bring your reusable coffee mug to your regular coffee shop and ask them to put the coffee in there — chains like Starbucks and Dunkin will even give you a discount! (With the current situation, however, coffee shops are not accepting reusable cups for the time being.)
Replace the Plastic Straws Americans use nearly 500 million plastic straws every day. Replace your plastic straws with a set of reusable ones made from stainless steel, silicone, or bamboo.
Switch to Reusable Bags Make all of your shopping outings BYOB (bring your own bag) and reduce the need for plastic.
Invest in a Bidet
Americans use 36.5 billion rolls of toilet paper every year. That’s 15 million trees! A more environmentally friendly option is to invest in a bidet instead — not only are these devices more sanitary (and cheaper in the long run), they can also lower our use of toilet paper to save both trees and water.
Go Paperless
Pretty much everything is online these days. Think about how much paper you can save just by getting bank statements and bills sent electronically and paid the same way!
Those were a few things for when you wanted to start at home. If you’d like to expand your eco-conscious efforts beyond that, here are a few ideas to consider!
Volunteer. Volunteer for cleanups in your community. You can get involved in protecting your watershed, too.
Educate. When you further your own education, you can help others understand the importance and value of our natural resources.
Plant a tree. Trees provide food and oxygen. They help save energy, clean the air, and help combat climate change.
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Get produce from a local farmer’s market Visit a local farmers' market. Not only will you be supporting growers in your area, but buying local helps save transportation energy and fossil fuels.
Spend time outside!
The simplest thing, of course, is going out to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of our planet. spend the day outdoors reading, having lunch, or just taking in deep breaths of the fresh air. Go for a long walk without any distractions or noise. Just try and spend some time outside.
Remember, we don’t need a few people being perfectly environmentally conscious, we need everyone to imperfectly play their part!