It’s Earth Day on Friday, and though we try to take care of our planet every day, it’s nice to have a special spot on the calendar for reconnecting with our own efforts at stewardship and sustainable living. We also love to help our children discover their role as guardians of the planet, and involve them in discussions about how we can live greener, and spend more time in nature. We can all take steps towards more sustainable choices by being conscious of the ways we celebrate Earth Day.
Here’s our list of 10 simple ways any of us can celebrate Earth Day.
1. Visit your favorite outdoor space with garbage bags and gloves and do a litter clean up. Enlist family and friends, or turn this into a romantic date with a picnic supper as your reward.
2. Spend time outdoors: in your garden, on a walk, just get some fresh air and try to connect with nature any way you can
3. Walk or bike to work – Take transit, just for one day. Do what you can to reduce your carbon footprint.
4. Bring your lunch to work. Don’t forget a cloth napkin, reusable utensils and containers.
5. Reuse your kitchen waste – Before you throw it out or add it to the green bin, ask yourself if you can use it again somewhere else. Like in the garden:
Just last week we gave you a few great ideas for reusing tea and coffee:
6. Enjoy an evening by candlelight – Reduce your energy consumption and unplug. Enjoy candlelight dinner, wash the dishes together by hand, play some board games or read to each other in the warm glow. This is a great self-care practice, a romantic change of pace, and an amazing way for the younger members of your family to unwind.
7. Get on board with paperless billing – It’s incredibly easy to have your utility bills and bank statements delivered to your inbox, and it makes tax time a breeze. Call your service provider or visit their website to make the change. We did, and now the only mail we get in our mailbox is the fun kind!
8. Break up with bottled beverages – Treat yourself to a glass or stainless reusable on-the-go drink container that reflects your personal style and say goodbye to bottled water once and for all.
9. Tackle your electronic waste – We have a graveyard of old computers, monitors, printers and other electronic dinosaurs in our basement. Earth Day is a great opportunity to unload this out-to-pasture gear on the people who can recycle it. Find your local drop off here:
In the U.S.
10. Plant some food – Start an herb garden, a veggie garden or plant a fruit tree. Make sure your wooden garden beds or planters are treated with products that are safe from toxic soil leeching. We can help you with that. Check out our eco-safe wood treatment here.
We’re always looking for ways to simplify our lives, rid ourselves of consumerism, slow down, connect, and respect our responsibility to care for our planet.
Earth Day is a great opportunity to reflect on how we’re doing our part to live more sustainably, and whether or not there is more we could be doing. Luckily, there’s a virtual sea of ideas out there, so we thought we’d share some of our own favorite green living websites.
Awesome Earth Lovin’ Websites
The Blogs at the David Suzuki Foundation
Colin Bevan (aka No Impact Man)
And check out this amazing roundup of sustainable living blogs via The Good Trade!