Happy Earth Day!

Happy earth day! Although I am someone who tends to enjoy nature from a distance, I still believe that it is so important to take care of the earth! That is why this earth day I have decided to look into simple ways I can be a more sustainable person, and do my part to help the earth stay beautiful. Below are five habits that I hope to improve on, and focus on when it comes to trying to put the earth first.

Cutting down on plastic straw use

• I love going to get an iced coffee in the morning, honestly, it is one of my guilty pleasures. Although I try to wash out the cup and recycle it when I am done, there is one thing I can cut out of the order altogether and that is the plastic straw. Through the sippy cup lids most coffee shops offer now, and my own reusable straw I believe this is a capable goal. Although this only cuts a little bit of plastic out of my day, it is a starting place, that I can grow from.

Using reusable products as much as possible

• This builds off the idea of the straw. When you go to the store and come home with plastic bags, or drink out of a plastic water bottle that creates waste. Plastic waste has become a major issue and cutting as much plastic out of my lifestyle as possible is key. My solution to the shopping bag is bringing my own reusable ones (which are easier to carry) and continuing to use my reusable water bottle, taking it with me almost everywhere I go. The less plastic used the better and becoming more conscious of when I could use a reusable product is a key aspect in cutting down the use of plastic.

Using cold water when washing clothes

• Fun fact according to the American Cleaning Institute most of the energy your washing machine uses (90%) is used when heating the water. This means that washing your clothes in cold water is better for the environment, keeping your carbon footprint a bit smaller.

Cutting down on the amount of paper used

• Ever since I have gotten my Ipad the amount of paper I have used has gone down significantly. However, I still find myself printing things that become pointless pieces of paper within 20 minutes. Cutting down the amount of paper I use will not only help me from having papers everywhere but will also help the earth as the less paper used, the fewer trees that will be cut down.

Conserving electricity as much as possible

• We all have the bad habit of leaving the tv on while taking a nap, or leaving things plugged in when we run out to the store. I want to make a goal to become more aware of this and try to conserve electricity when not using it. It is simple to flip a switch on a power adapter or to turn off the lights, and the less electricity used the better.

These are just 5 simple habits that I want to get better at doing. We only have one earth, and it is time to start treating each day like earth day. It starts with a change and changing a few simple habits can slowly start to make a world of difference. There is so much more I can do than avoid using a plastic straw, however, we must acknowledge the importance of these little changes along with the big ones!