April 22, 2021 marks Earth Day! Earth day is celebrated around the world for people to work as a team and help preserve our environment. Many of the activities that take place on Earth Day include cleaning parks and highways, recycling, planting trees, or educating the public on sustainable living.
We ourselves will be participating in park cleanup this spring as a way to give back to mother nature and make our local parks more enjoyable for those who visit them.
You might be wondering how you can contribute to Earth Day this year. Your local community likely has a list of activities going on that you can partake in, but one of the biggest ways to make an impact is actually being consistently environmentally conscious at home. Here’s an added bonus– these little changes at home will even save you money.
Use reusable food storage
You may have noticed that your restaurant drink order no longer comes with a straw. That’s because a lot of restaurants are doing their part in reducing their plastic consumption. Plastic production takes an enormous amount of energy and resources which is hurting our environment. One way to combat this at home is by buying reusable containers, zip locks and straws. Over time this will even save you money since you won’t need to buy one-time-use items for food storage when you run out.
Additionally, it’s becoming increasingly popular for stores to charge for plastic bags. If you’re noticing this happening, another great way to cut down on plastic usage and save money is by bringing your own bag to the store.
Make your home more energy efficient
Are you renovating your home in 2021? If so, consider energy efficient upgrades that help mother nature and can reap large savings in your wallet! Better insulation and energy efficient utilities such as your air conditioning unit or furnace have a positive impact on earth alongside reducing your utility bills.
Not planning a big upgrade this year? No problem, work on setting your air conditioning a touch cooler in the winter, or if you don’t have pets at home, consider turning your AC off while you’re gone during the day in the summer. These small changes will have an impact you can feel in your wallet and on the environment.
Start an herb garden
Spring is the perfect time to start some seedlings for a summer herb and vegetable garden! Not only is a garden eco-friendly, but it will also help cut down on trips to the store, plastic packaging to put your produce into, and carbon emissions from shipping. A small garden only costs a couple of dollars to start, but can save you lots of money throughout the summer on vegetables and herbs that you’d be buying anyway.
If gardening’s not in the cards for this year, another solution is to shop for your produce at the local farmers market, where a lot of these same sustainable principles apply!
Is going green an important initiative to you? Let us know and we can organize events in the future to help our local community preserve mother nature together!
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.