Between the blooming springtime flowers to the bright pinks and oranges of a sunrise, there’s no denying that Mother Nature’s gifts are vast and beautiful. But with that beauty comes a big responsibility for every one of us to help keep this gorgeous planet thriving. Unfortunately, humans haven’t always been as kind to our planet as we could and should be.
With Earth Day right around the corner, we have a welcome reminder of the importance of taking action to help protect and conserve our planet. Let’s all work together to do our part in protecting this planet.
In the spirit of giving back to our beautiful planet, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite Earth-lovin’ ideas. Use this list as a catalyst to begin creating the change you want to see in the world:
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Start a Recycling Routine
A great way to get started with better recycling is through adding more recycling bins around your office. Send a note to co-workers (or if you’re at home, tell your family) to make sure that everyone knows where all bins are located.
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Pick Up Trash in your Local Neighborhood
Anyone up for a game of #trashtag?? This fun movement has helped to highlight the importance of cleaning up litter, trash and debris across cities, especially in urban areas. Get in on the movement and grab your friends and a few garbage bags and get out to a local park to help contribute! Don’t forget to share your efforts afterwords!
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Plant a Tree, Garden, or Flowerbed
No need to go all “Johnny Appleseed” and build out acres of orchards (but if you do, awesome job!). Instead, start small and simple by planting some fresh herbs, flowers, or a seed of a tree in your yard.
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Switch to Energy Saving Light Bulbs
The Environmental Protective Agency reports that if every household in the U.S. replaced just one standard incandescent light bulb with an energy-efficient one, the nation would save about $600 million annually in energy costs.
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Eat More Food from Local Sources
Your grocery store’s bright red apples may look harmless, but the amount of fuel and carbon emissions that went into transporting that produce to your store is the stuff of nightmares. Help to cut down on these travelling costs, and also support local farmers, by visiting a local farmer’s market or farm for your produce!
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Fix Leaky Faucets
A leak of one drip per second can waste 259 gallons of water every month, according to the Department of Energy. Do yourself and our planet a favor, and do a thorough “water audit” to make sure all faucets are in tip-top shape.
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Gather up Reusable Shopping Bags to Use When Shopping
Making the switch from disposable grocery bags to reusable ones doesn’t have to be painful or inconvenient, in fact, it can be downright fun if you let it! Gather up some of your favorite reusable bags and hit the streets (you could even re-purpose old material like beach bags, fabric, totes, or get creative with something like a potato sack). If any of you are from Chicago, you’re probably already familiar with this practice, since as of February 1st, the city now enforces a “bag tax” on anyone that opts to use grocery bags rather than bringing their own.
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Power Down & Unplug Electronics
This goes for both your house and your office space. The energy that is wasted through “leaching” from plugged-in electronics is not only harmful to the planet, but it is also damaging to your electronics. On top of that, roughly 10% or more of your electric bill comes from appliances you haven’t turned off! Make sure that everyone who is away from a computer for more than two hours shuts down completely. The surge of energy needed to power up is still way less energy than keeping the computer running for long periods of time.
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Carpool or Plan a Telecommute Day
Use the buddy-system and partner up with your coworkers, friends, or family to get to-and-from your destinations. You could also opt to work remotely, and save that trip and energy altogether! (Just make sure you run it by your boss first…)
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Encourage a “Paper-Free” Day or Week
Ask either your employees, coworkers, or executives to start a movement to go a day (or even a week!) without printing anything out. This will not only save paper in the process, but will also hopefully give all workers pause before they decide to hit that “print” button.
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