Make an Earth Day Pledge Today!
Earth Day is just a few days away. What commitment will you make to have a more positive planetary impact? (My commitment for this year is to reduce food waste — more on that soon!)
Need some ideas? We’ve got you covered with the following suggestions:
Learn More
Read a book. The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time
and the Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World
are packed with simple changes you can make to the ways that you live and shop that can have a big impact.
Join a Club
The Sierra Club, The National Audubon Society, Northern Virginia Native Plant Society, American Horticultural Society, are just a few of the many, many great clubs that focus on conservation, wildlife ,and other environmental issues. Be sure to also check out the “Friends of …” at your favorite parks and nature centers, e.g. Friends of Dyke Marsh.
Reduce Waste at Home
- Reduce the amount of junk mail coming in by getting off direct mail lists
- Waste less food (buy less, use what you have, freeze what you can’t use before it spoils)
- Use eco-friendly cleaners, or even make your own!
- Use less water
- Wash your laundry in cold water
- Keep you cat inside (your cute and cuddly kitty becomes a predator to vulnerable creatures when let outside at meal times and after dusk)
Green Your Backyard
- Reduce the use of pesticides
- Get your yard certified as a wildlife habitat through the National Wildlife Federation and/or the Audubon at Home programs
- Remove English Ivy and other invasive plants from your yard, and especially from trees.
- Add native plants, especially those that will attract pollinators, to your yard and garden
- Start a vegetable garden. You can even use containers if you are short on space.
Shopping
- Choose products that use less packaging and recycled packaging
- Avoid buying single-use items, especially those made from plastic
- Actually use those reusable shopping bags you have been collecting
- Ask retailers to carry eco-friendly brands and products
This is just a small sampling of the many things that you can do to have an impact. Feel free to add your own in the comments section!
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Filed Under: Earth Day • Eco-Active Resources • Eco-Activities • Environment • Native Plants • Nature
