5 Simple Things You Can Do This Earth Day

Earth Day began in 1970 as a day to celebrate the planet and encourage people to be more environmentally friendly. So what can you do to help our beautiful green planet stay beautiful and green? We made a list of some simple things that you can do to make the world a better place.

Plant a Tree

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Our planet is currently losing over 15 billion trees each year due to deforestation, land development, and bad forest management. To put that in perspective, it takes 500,000 trees to create the Sunday paper. And that is just newspaper, think about all the other paper that is needed around the world. By planting a tree, you are doing your part to positively affect the environment! Trees produce oxygen that reduces air pollution and they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is the major contributor to global warming.

Refuse Plastic Bags

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Reducing your use of single-use plastic bags is the easiest way to lessen your plastic consumption. 95% of all plastic bags end up in our landfill or the environment. If every person in New York City used one less grocery bag it would cut waste by 5 million pounds. One person really can make a difference. Switching to a reusable bag is so simple and so effective. Check out these uber cute reusable bags from Etsy.

Carry a Refillable Water Bottle

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The facts on plastic water bottles are mind boggling! Just think about how long you actually use a plastic water bottle for, probably about an hour during your workout. Well, it takes about a thousand years for that one plastic bottle to naturally break down! Plastic bottles also contain a harmful substance called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which is dangerous to human health. So, not only are plastic water bottles expensive and damaging to the environment, they are also unhealthy. Switching to a reusable bottle is a win/win/win and a surefire way to eliminate the above problems. Not to mention, there are a ton of cute reusable bottles out there. So get to shopping!

Eat & Shop Local

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Each dollar you spend on a local business returns three times more money to your local economy, which is better for your community. But also for the environment’s sake, by purchasing locally grown foods you help maintain farmland, greenery, and open space in your community. Buying local also reduces the environmental impact of products by reducing the distance they have to travel to reach your plate. So, head to that farmer’s market this Sunday and stock up!

Go Paperless

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Each U.S household receives about 850 pieces of unwanted mail per year. Literally everything you get in the mail can be accessed online nowadays. Think about all the trees you would be saving with the simple click of a button. Paper Karma, a paper saving app, allows you to take a picture of your unwanted mail and have yourself automatically removed from their mailing list. Ta da! A magic solution to your unwanted mail problem and one that helps our Mama Earth!

These five simple tips can make a world of a difference, not just on Earth Day, but everyday. There is no better day than today to start helping our planet! Think about the impact you can personally make by doing at least one thing on this list. Be the change you wish to see in the world!

Happy Earth Day!

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