Make Every Day Earth Day
Every year a lot of people spend an entire day being more conscious of the Earth and work to preserve her beauty. 24 full hours of recycling, conserving water and energy and planting trees and flowers to honor Mother Nature. It is a great day complete with people working together to clean up parks of debris and trash and gives everyone a feeling of a job well done. And then tomorrow comes and no one cares anymore. It’s not enough to be “green” one day out of the year. We have been polluting and destroying our home for many centuries and it’s going to take a lot more then one day to start repairing the damage.
There are many things everyone can do every day to help without completely having to change your living habits. Most of these suggestions even have the added benefit of saving money as well. It is a win for the environment and a win for your wallet!
Drive As Little As Possible
The average driver will produce 7700 kg of Carbon Dioxide per year. Carbon Dioxide is largely responsible for the increase in acid rain due to the increased acidity in the oceans. Mammals that live in the ocean are directly effected and many shelled organisms are dying out because their shells are dissolving and there isn't enough carbonate to form new shells. Acid rain is also harmful to trees and causes early rusting of metals.
How you can help:
-Live less than a mile from your food store? Have one or two things to pick up? Is it absolutely gorgeous outside? If you answered all those questions yes then there is absolutely no reason at all why you can’t walk to the store to purchase your items.
-Carpooling whenever possible is also a great way to reduce the car emissions being pumped into our breathing air, and it will save you $$ the next time you go to fill up. If you live close to someone you work with take turns meeting and getting to work. You might even make a new friend.
Conserve Energy At Home
There are many factors involved in energy usage at home depending on the size of the living space as well as how many people are living there. Despite how big or crowded your habitat is there are ways to conserve energy. Conserving energy will not only help the environment it will lessen your monthly utility bill as well. A few simple things you can do are:
-Installing thermal pane windows and proper insulation. Keeping the air conditioning or heat inside in summer and winter will mean you don’t have to run your AC or furnace as long and it wont have to work as hard to cool and heat and will use less energy.
-Use energy saver bulbs and appliances and turn off lights when you are not in the room.
-Unplug TVs, computers and anything else non-essential when going away for an extended period.
-Convert to a tankless water heater so you aren’t constantly using energy to heat water you aren’t using.
It is suggested that every drink 64 oz of water every day to be healthy. Depending on who you believe there is potentially a limit to the potable water available for consumption so if you don't change your habits now there might not be enough for you to get your daily fill. There are many ways for the average person to conserve water.
-Time your showers. I will admit, I used to be one of those people who would spend a blissful 40 minutes under the showers spray, enjoying watching the days grime wash away. It shouldn't take a person more than 10 minutes to get in and get out of the shower. If you are prone to standing there and having your mind wander like I used to then try setting a timer. Give yourself a 2 minute warning and then a final, really annoying buzzer that will require you to get out of the shower and go across the room to turn it off. REAL big motivator!
-Set up a drip irrigation system for watering your plants. This is a good idea anyway for growing your plants more effectively.
-Don't let the tap run continuously while brushing teeth, washing hands or washing dishes. One of roommates thinks that when he washes the dishes it is necessary to have the tap running the entire time and I have to constantly remind him to turn the faucet off while he is scrubbing. Unless it is actively being used the faucet should be off.
Recycle, Recyle, Recyle!!!
Did I mention that you should recycle? If your town doesn't have a pickup day then find a place that you can drive to that allows you to drop off recyclables. Almost everything these days can be recycled including almost all plastic, cardboard, paper and aluminum. Don't stop there though!
-Reusable water bottles. You know that big case of Poland Spring with 24 bottles in it that you use while running, hiking, exercising, etc? Yeah, that is 24 times the pollution you are contributing to already overfull landfills. A better idea is to purchase for very little money a re-usable water bottle that you can continuously refill and never have to worry about recycling or throwing it away.
-Compost your food scraps. Bet you didn't know that recycling isn't limited to the above mentioned items but you can also "recycle" your food. So, you just finished preparing a wonderful dinner with mashed potatoes, salad, etc and now you have potato shavings, carrot and celery throw aways and much more that you need to dispose of. Instead of throwing it in the trash, utilize a compost container. Not only are you saving the garbage companies from finding a new place to make a landfill to fit your new garbage but you are creating wonderful soil for yourself to use while gardening!
Let's Make This a Better World!
The world might not end in our lifetime but think about your children and then their children. If we want the planet to be livable for the future generations than we have to start now. Every person makes a difference. Ask yourself: How can I make a difference today?