As the Covid 19 pandemic continues to surround us, many people are trying to find things to keep busy. Now is the perfect opportunity to help save our planet. You may ask, "how can I do my part to help the environment"? We will give you 6 easy and efficient ways to go green and help future generations.
1) Plant a tree: Planting a tree is a great way to help the environment. Once you plant your tree and they start to grow, they help halt climate change as they remove carbon
dioxide from the air and release oxygen into the air. Trees also have other benefits such as bringing us shade, attracting wildlife, cleaning the air and bring uniqueness to the environment around us. Of course, you will need space to plant your tree, so whether at your home or somewhere else, make sure you have the room.
2) Ditch single-use plastics: Single-use plastics are all around us in everyday life. Some may not realize how many single-use plastics they use and how harmful they are to the environment. Single-use plastics could be from plastic bottles, straws, cups or even packaging. These single-use items are used and tossed to the side, and this potentially sends billions of objects in landfills across the world. This step might be the easiest one to accomplish as it just asks you to be mindful of what you are using. Instead of using plastic bottles, you could use a reusable bottle that doesn't leave a nasty plastic taste in your mouth. Usually, non-plastic alternatives have other benefits, so you are helping yourself and the environment in a way.
3) Use reusable bags: This tip relates to the previous one. Using single-use plastics bags is extremely bad for the environment. Every time you go to the store, you take bags upon bags home, now imagine how many visits to the store you've taken and tried and fathom how many single-use bags have consumed. Now instead of using single-use bags, you can bring your reusable ones to the store with you! Many stores allow you to bring your bag, use it as an opportunity to show off your personality.
4) Bike to get around: Now, this is a tough ask given the harsh Canadian winters. But this might be one of the most important tips to go green. Biking around instead of using automotive transportation has many incredible benefits for the environment. If you bike to get around, you cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and reduce air pollutants. Biking even reduces noise pollution, congestion on the road and reduces the need for parking spots. Above all, it could lead to more green space and lessen your ecological footprint.
5) Eat plant-based meals: Now, this tip to go green is a significant lifestyle change, but it affects both the environment and your health. Of course, eating plant-based has health benefits as you don't have additives and preservatives in your system. However, eating plant-based has positive effects on the environment as well. One obvious environmental aspect is that it saves animals and their habitat across the globe. Another thing that eating plant-based does is that it conserves water. According to Water Footprint Network via OneGreenPlant, it takes one thousand gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk. Isn't that crazy! Lastly, eating plant-based reduces your carbon footprint and cleans the air. All the manure, yes manure produced, emits nasty gasses that cause harmful effects to the environment.
6) Reduce energy consumption: After some drastic tips, our last tip is another easy one for you to do in your life! All you have to do is use less energy in your everyday life. Using less power brings down emissions from power plants, preserving and protecting the earth's natural resources. You can be energy efficient in various ways by purchasing energy-efficient products to help the environment. If you don't want to spend money, you could turn off things you do not use. Such as turning off lights in rooms where they are not needed, going to bed early and not staying up late or not running appliances when they aren't needed. Plus, reducing energy consumption will have a tremendous impact on your wallet as well.
Hopefully, you find these tips helpful and can incorporate some of them into your everyday life! We should also thank those that helped us make this article: epa.gov, OneGreenPlant, WalkandRoolPeel, National Geographic and Arbourday.org.