5 Quick & Meaningful Ways to Celebrate Earth Day in One Hour
Set a timer…In just one hour today, you can take big steps to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and waste! Join our one-hour Earth Day celebration to make real change from home! You don’t even need to leave the couch. ????
Sustainable living is a lifestyle
Around here, Earth Day is every day! We love to do our part to help the environment and share easy, eco-friendly tips with people trying to do the same thing.
There are simple things you can do right now from the comfort of your own home to reduce your carbon footprint! They’re often inexpensive and may even save you some money in the long run.
5 Earth Day celebration ideas that take less than an hour
1. Look into alternative energy options with your power company
Time required: 20 minutes
Did you know that many electricity and gas companies offer opportunities to switch to renewables or off-set your carbon usage?
For example, I pay about 10% more per month (usually $4-8) to switch 100% of my electricity to renewable energy. This is with my regular, required power company! Read more about this here.
If this is not available with your energy company, you can check out Arcadia for a monthly option to switch to solar energy.
2. Check into green bins or local composting
Time required: 5-10 minutes
I’m a big fan of backyard composting, but it’s not for everyone! You might be able to compost with your local waste company for less than you’d think.
For example, we pay about $20 every 3 months for a giant green bin that can take things your regular backyard composter can’t like meat, bones, and fat. We also compost grass clippings, garden waste, veggies scraps, cardboard, paper, and more.
This is an incredibly easy way to reduce your greenhouse emissions because this waste would normally break down in a landfill and release methane into the atmosphere.
With a strong home composting system and basic recycling, you should be able to reduce your regular trash waste, too! Maybe you want to downsize to the smallest bin while you’re at it! ????
3. Know what your local recycling company actually takes
Time required: 5 minutes
A lot of people do something called “wishcycling,” which is when you recycle things you wish could be recyclable! This slows down the recycling process and makes it less efficient.
Your recycling company likely has a pamphlet or website to walk you through exactly what they can take and how it must be received. Print this out for your fridge!
Practice throwing nonrecyclables into the trash can and not the recycling bin. If that makes you feel anxious or stressed, keep a list of products you buy that aren’t recyclable and start looking for alternatives.
TIP: Set up a zero waste kitchen or zero waste bathroom to ditch your plastic habit.
4. Unsubscribe from brand marketing
Time required: 15 minutes
So many of us are guilty of buying more than we really need simply because it’s on sale. That’s why there are sales all the time…We’re falling for marketing and often spending more than necessary to take advantage of free shipping or a bundle discount.
Take just 15 minutes today to unsubscribe from brand emails & you’ll have less email clutter. Chances are…you probably won’t even notice those emails are gone!
If you’re lucky, the amount you’ll save from doing this will offset any extra expenses from switching to renewable energy or adding compost services!
TIP: Remove your stored credit card information from your browser. This will slow down how quickly you can make a purchase, giving you a little extra time to decide if you really need that item.
5. Join our free 30 Day Sustainability Challenge!
Time required: 10 seconds
If you really want to work on living more sustainably, you’ll need to build the habit! We have a free printable challenge we can send to you right away!
This is a wonderful way to push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new zero waste or sustainable habits that might feel funny otherwise.
Subscribe and get access to our FREE resource library!
Get all of our free printables like our pantry staples list, meal planning template, 30 Day Sustainability Challenge, and more by signing up for email updates!
If you follow us along on Instagram, we’ll be sharing reminders & tips for the challenge with #30daystosustainableliving!
Okay, time’s up!
How did it go? Did your power company or waste management company have any useful tools for you?
Share what you learned in the comments below!
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