Happy Earth day! Some of you might not know this, but I am very passionate about helping out the environment. Being from the Pacific Northwest, it’s something that kids are educated on very early in their lives, and it’s drilled into them that something needs to be done to help the Earth. This was how I grew up, and I’m very glad that I did. My family has always been really good with separating out trash and recycle, making sure nothing bad goes into our water, and just generally trying to help out the environment. It can seem like a daunting task sometimes, and people often think that it’s a lot harder than it actually is. Anymore, there are so many easy switches you can make now that can help the environment later; here are five!
I know this one is the most obvious, but it’s also something that helps out a lot. It’s super important to try and find ways to cut out the use of fossil fuels because it’s something that hurts the environment very much! There’s so many different options for getting places, so make sure you check out yours before you immediately get into the car.
This applies to many different aspects of your life, anywhere from plastic packaging to leftover food. Try to remember to bring reusable bags to stores instead of using the plastic ones they give you. If you’re really bad at this like me, put some in your car, or right next to your purse so you’ll see it as you leave. If you do end up forgetting them, use the paper bags instead of plastic since you can end up reusing those for a lot! For food waste, start a compost bin so you don’t have to throw out as much food! There are a lot of great guides online, so I definitely recommend checking those out on how to start one, how to use it, and how to regulate it. There’s also a surprisingly amount of things that you can compost, a lot more than you would think! Also, get a reusable water bottle so you aren’t constantly getting plastic water bottles from the store. This not only cuts down on waste, but is also better for you! Bottled water often sits in a warehouse for long periods of time which allows the chemicals from the plastic get in there, which is not good for you at all.
There are so many ways you can cut down on electricity use, like getting higher efficiency light bulbs (they’re sold at virtually any hardware stores nowadays), LED lights, putting a sweatshirt on instead of turning on the heat, or opening a window instead of turning on the AC. All of these tricks end up saving you money as well, so it’s really a win-win! I love to use little fairy lights to light up rooms rather than ceiling lights, because they are a lot more energy efficient anymore, they look prettier, and I just generally don’t like rooms with really bright lights. You can also light a couple of candles for lighting, smelling, and general pretty appearance!
Cutting down on shower-times can be hard at first, especially when you have a lot of hair to wash, but it get’s easier with time! This is a great way to use less water since people tend to use a lot of it while they shower. If you like to leave the water on while you brush your teeth, turn that faucet off! This uses a lot of completely unnecessary water, and adds up over time. If you really want to save more water, you could even install more efficient shower heads and faucets.
Eating locally is something that not a lot of people think about when trying to help out the environment. Not only will you find some yummy food to eat, but you also eat things that didn’t have to use fossil fuels in order to travel to the store. Big name brands ship out their products all across the country, and consequently, end up using a ton of fossil fuels to make it happen. Eating locally also supports small businesses, and can just generally be a lot of fun to find new places. Local food is often organic as well, which most often means that it wasn’t sprayed with any harmful pesticides. It also feels great knowing where your food comes from!
Alright, there are five ways that you can help the environment in honor of Earth Day! This is such an important day, and really helps to bring awareness to the disparities the environment is facing in the world today, and it’s also a great way to celebrate this awesome planet that we live on!