Happy Earth Day! Often times, we get caught up with work, school and life in general that we forget to give this planet a little love. There is so much we can all do to protect and help the Earth. It’s as easy as shortening your shower by one minute. Did you know that by doing so, we could save enough water to fill up 22 million Olympic sized pools? Helping out isn’t as hard as you think and sometimes, it doesn’t take a lot of effort.
We are now getting familiar with warmer weather after a long winter season, so, instead of isolating ourselves to stay warm, get up and moving! If the ride is short enough, walk instead of driving. Try riding a bike as well. Using a bike for traveling short distances is a win-win for the Earth and for your well being.
Surely, when passing by woods or sidewalks, we notice all the garbage decaying on the ground. Get some gloves, a few garbage bags and clean it up. Gather a few friends for help and get the job done quicker. A clean environment is important, and it looks nice.
Make sure to recycle all glass, metals, paper/cardboard, plastics, batteries/bulbs and electronics. Most glass is endlessly recyclable. Recycling steel and tin cans saves over 70 percent of the energy used to produce them. Paper is one of the world’s most used products. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, paper products make up about 71 million tons (or 29 percent) of the municipal waste stream. Plastic is good for convenience, but it consumes fossil resources for its manufacture as well as contributes as waste for our environment. Car batteries are the most recycled product in the United States. According to the federal government, if every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star-approved CFL (compact fluorescent lights), the United States would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars. Electronics, especially computers, should never be dumped into a landfill. They are very beneficial to make secondary raw materials.
Plant a tree seed. This small action goes a long way. Trees filter pollution from the air, help recycle water, prevent soil loss, provide homes for animals, make food for humans and wildlife and much more. Without any trees, there would be no life on the planet.
These are just a few out of the thousands of things you can do to help protect the Earth! This is the only world we live in so pay it forward and help out a little today. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
