With Earth Day around the corner, it’s a great time to start thinking about simple things we can all do in our everyday lives to reduce our footprint and be better to our planet.
1 – Reusable Water Bottles
It’s estimated that 65 million empty plastic water bottles per year end up as garbage in a landfill waste sites. Think about ditching the disposable water bottle and invest in a good quality, reusable plastic, glass or metal bottle. Look for bottles that have a large enough mouth so that they can easily be cleaned.
2 – Light bulbs
A quick, effective and money saving way to do your part for the environment is to swap out your incandescent lightbulbs for compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) which last on average 10 times longer, and use at least two-thirds less energy than standard bulbs.
3 – Reusable Bags
When out shopping, be sure to tote along your own reusable bag to carry home your goods. Flimsy plastic bags often provided by retailers have become a scourge to the environment. It is estimated that a upwards of a trillion plastic bags are used worldwide annually often ending up in landfills where they can take years to break down, or worse yet, strewn in the natural environment where the cause irreparable harm to plants and wildlife.
4 – Compost
When possible reduce the amount of solid waste your household produces by composting. Instead of tossing fruit and beg scraps, coffee filters, egg shells and leaves, chuck them into a homemade compost heap and let nature do the work.
5 – Park your car, and keep it parked
Make a concerted effort to drive less, whenever possible. By keeping your car off of the road, as little as two days a week can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,590 pounds per year.