First and foremost, what is Earth Day?
Earth Day is an annual event that takes place on Saturday, April 22, 2017. More than 193 countries will get together to raise awareness and demonstrate support for environmental protection.
Every day, we are becoming more aware of the affects of global warming. It is important to understand and teach the next generation about what Earth Day represents, and how we can keep the environment free from further damage every day.
Implement some of our eco-friendly suggestions below, and we’re sure Mother Earth (and your wallet) will thank you!
Eat less meat
Meat can be expensive, and it’s not great for the environment, either. Not sure where to begin? Start with Meatless Monday! Going meatless once a week can help “reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer and cardiovascular disease… and [it] can also help reduce our carbon footprint and save precious resources like fossil fuels and fresh water.”
Use cloth napkins
Ditch those disposable napkins! It’ll reduce your trash output (meaning less energy will be used transporting and processing your waste), plus cloth napkins are far more durable anyway!
Take shorter showers
We’re all guilty of this from time to time — we really don’t need to shower for more than 5 minutes. Did you know: you’ll save nearly a thousand gallons of water every year if you shorten your daily shower by just one minute! Also, did we mention the huge savings on your water bill?
Change your lightbulbs
Swap out your lightbulbs for compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). Sure, they’re more expensive than your regular lightbulbs, but they use a quarter of the energy and last 10 times longer, so it’s worth the switch in the long run.
Carpool (or take transit)
Carpooling or taking transit means fewer cars on the road, aka less carbon emissions. Plus, you’ll save on gas money, so it’s a win-win situation!
Monitor your windows
If you have heat or air conditioning running, keep a close eye and make sure all of your windows and doors are closed tight so no air is seeping out of your room. Why waste your money (and energy)?
Recycle
This may be a no brainer, but if there’s a bottle return center near you, save your bottles and cans and stop by once a month to claim some extra cash!
Last Words
We hope we’ve inspired you to be more mindful of our environment. After all, this is the only Earth we’ve got (until we discover another habitable planet anyway… but that’s a whole other topic)!
How do you reduce, reuse, and recycle?
