“Earth Day should not be seen as a deadline but rather a spark that inspires future action.” Earthday.org
- Plant pollinator plants-Birds, bees, bats, moths, butterflies, beetles, small mammals are all pollinators. These animals pollinate plants and are responsible for bringing us 1 out of every 3 bites of food! Without pollinators the human race would not survive. Something as simple as planting pollinator plants in your garden can significantly help our planet, depending on where you live the plants will vary especially if you live in colder weather climates. Look at this as an act of love for the planet as well as a way to beautify your home environment, I call this a win-win!
- Compost-Food for thought: 80 billion pounds of food is thrown away in the U.S. this equates to 40% of the food supply being wasted. Come on, we can do better than this! Composting your leftovers (think coffee grounds, coffee filters, tea bags, produce, paper towels, egg shells). This is an easy, at-home way to reduce food waste AND at the same time provide nutrient rich soil to fertilize your plants and yard (perfect segue to #3…). Compost bins are less than $200 to store your food waste while it decomposes, and there is nothing you need to do while it decomposes! (*According to the FDA: Wasted food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills and represents nourishment that could have helped feed families in need.)
- STOP using chemicals and fertilizers on your grass, yard and garden-there are natural and healthy alternatives. Chemical runoff from residential usage affects rivers, streams and the ocean, causing algae blooms which ultimately kills fish and other aquatic species. Does this sound like a good trade off? I think most of us will respond to that question with a resounding HELL NO. It may take slightly more work to fertilize using organic products, manure and compost, but it is definitely worth it. Plus since you are already composting you have a built in fertilizer brand in your backyard.
- Sign-up for a clean up-your choice, any clean up, bring your friends, bring your family, bring your dog! Just get out there and help! Every action of kindness and advocacy goes a long way. Visit the official Earth Day 2021 site to find a clean up in your area: https://cleanup.earthday.org/
- Donate-whether you prefer to be out in the community taking an active role or provide monetary support from behind the scenes (or both!), there is no shortage of trustworthy organizations to support. I will make it easy for you and send you directly to the donation page on the official Earth Day website, you can make a donation starting at $10! https://donate.earthday.org/
- Join the Global Earth Challenge-And become a citizen scientist, all you need is a mobile device to participate! I am really excited about this one as I will be participating, and hope you will be too! This is a global citizen science effort to protect our planet. The effort will begin April 1st and all you need to do is download the Global Earth Challenge mobile app from the Android of Apple app store, start collecting data on air quality and plastic pollution, and submit, helping to enrich environmental science with user-submitted data. For more information visit: https://cleanup.earthday.org/pages/earth-challenge
- Reduce plastic usage-Establish daily habits that make a big impact on our planet. I am begging you to ditch the single use plastic water bottle! Go ahead, treat yourself to a beautiful reusable water bottle and rock it every day. Switch to reusable totes for all of your grocery shopping needs, there is no reason to come home from your grocery trips with 30 plastic bags that will head straight to the landfill. In case you need more convincing to say no to plastic bags according to Earthday.org it is estimated that 4 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide annually. Only 1% of plastic bags are returned for recycling.[6] Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags annually. I rest my case, buy some cute totes, keep them in your car and commit to reducing your plastic consumption in 2021!