Happy Earth Day everyone! I hope you're getting outside and able to enjoy the beauty of the Earth today! I was thinking about how for Mother's/Father's Day, Christmas, Birthdays... we give gifts! Why should Earth Day be different? Here are 5 easy 'gifts' you can give the Earth today!
1. Pick up some liter
Pick up as much liter as you can! This is a really simple way to help keep our world beautiful and clean. I also think avoiding littering in the first place is important and actually cleaning it up can be a good motivator to avoid this:) Today I'm going to go on a short walk and clean up anything I can - and I challenge you to do the same! Even if it's just on your street, or a piece of garbage outside your school!
2. Use a reusable water bottle
This one is talked a lot but I believe it truly makes a difference! The less plastic water bottles used the better - and many schools now have places where you can fill up your water bottles, which is amazing! Lets take advantage of this and use our reusable water bottles today & everyday!
3. Avoid food waste
This one takes a little more effort BUT is still pretty simple. Food waste is actually a pretty big problem and one thing I've been working on is making sure I use up my leftovers and store my food so it lasts longer. Sometimes I even make my leftovers into something entirely new (such as using leftover rice to make rice pudding - recipe coming soon!)
Sometimes I buy ingredients for a specific recipe, but it isn't an ingredient I normally use and so it just sits in my fridge until a) I figure out something to do with it, or b) it goes bad. I'm trying to eliminate b in my life (and doing so saves me a little bit of money too!). Earlier this semester - I got onions for a recipe, but since I wasn't going to use them up very quickly, I actually cut them up and froze them and have been able to use them a lot more!
Something I'm going to do today is figure out a way to use up my sour cream since it's on its last days! I'll be sharing what I come up with on my Instagram story:)
4. Mend/upcycle some clothes
You probably have clothes that need to be fixed or have just lived their life. Mini sewing kits have become my best friend! Throughout the year, I've been able to fix small holes/other things in my clothes to help them last longer! If you have a sewing machine, you can make even bigger changes. Sometimes clothing has been worn so much its not worth trying to fix - instead you can make it into rags for cleaning! If you do a quick search on Pinterest or Google, you'll find other ideas of things you can do with fabric scraps! If you're wanting a bigger project & challenge - you can completely upcycle a piece of clothing and make it into something new! One things I've done before is turn pants that I don't wear anymore into skirts or shorts. There is so much room to be creative! Since I don't have a sewing machine, I'm not going to take on a big sewing project right now, but I am planning on mending a few tiny holes in some clothes.
5. Walk or carpool, when possible
Not only do you save on gas money, but your helping keep the air a little cleaner! I know that carpooling/walking/riding a bike isn't always an option but if it is - totally take advantage of it! Especially on this beautiful Earth Day!
Love isn't anything without action and so I challenge you to show your love for the Earth today by starting some eco-friendly habits. We should take care of the Earth every day but that doesn't mean we can't have a special day to celebrate the progress that has been made and make a commitment to do more!
This article was originally posted 4/22/2022.
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