Happy Earth Day!
You may be wondering what this day actually means. The truth is, it’s not just a day to celebrate our planet and all the wonderful things on it. It’s also an opportunity for us to reflect upon how we’re treating the environment. Remember that everything has an impact on Mother Nature: from your morning coffee or lunch break at work, right through to turning off lights when you go out of a room or washing clothes in cold water instead of hot water. If you think about it, there are so many ways you can make a difference each day – even big things like buying local food and recycling your trash!
While major issues such as climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking/poaching, and pollution can seem too large to tackle, there are many small changes we can make as individuals that can have a large positive impact on our environment. Some tips include:
- Use environmentally friendly, non-toxic cleaning products.
- Replace inefficient incandescent light bulbs with efficient CFLs or LEDs.
- Properly dispose of medications and chemicals. Never flush them down the drain!
- Choose reusable bottles for water and bags for shopping.
- Recycle paper, plastic and glass. Reduce your garbage by 10% and your carbon footprint by 1,200 pounds a year.
- Turn off and unplug electronics you are not using. This includes turning off your computer at night.
