It’s Earth Day!  It’s a great day to bring awareness to how we can be more sustainable and environmentally conscious – we only have ONE earth and it’s vital we take care of it!

The earth is in TERRIBLE shape and it is mostly our fault… climate change is real and becoming more apparent in our day to day lives and a recent study shows there is a 99.99% chance that humans are the cause of global warming.

• The past five years have been the five warmest since record-keeping began in the late 1800s.
• Carbon Dioxide is up 46%
• The oceans are rising due to polar ice caps melting
• The earth’s glaciers are now losing 390 billion tons of ice and snow per year

Let’s make a difference by making changes in our own homes.  To start you can take a quiz to see how much you’re contributing to global warming HERE

Here’s “4 Simple Steps” to becoming more environmentally friendly…

1. Use less single-use products 

Single-use products are FILLING our landfills and our oceans and it’s about time we put an end to useless trash!  If we all stopped using plastic straws in the USA we would eliminate over 500 million plastic straws EVERY DAY!  Those plastic straws aren’t just a waste – they are harming our sea life.

Americans LOVE their coffee, so much so that we consume 587 million cups per day collectively to be exact, so you can imagine how many of those disposable cups end up in the trash.  Bring your own cup and use reusable filters at home to eliminate the trash.

Want to do more?  Try substituting some of your day to day products with these reusable goodies!

1. Reusable Grocery Bags Set of 5 $14 / 2. Set of 8 Stainless Steel Straws $8 / 3. SPLF Leakproof Reusable Storage Bags (5 Pack) $13 / 4. Reusable K Cups For Keurig (Pack of 4) $10 / 5. Superior Reusable Produce Bags (9 Pack) $15 / 6. Collapsible Silicone Cup $15

7. Indoor Kitchen Compost Bin $23 / 8. Saalt Menstrual Cup $27 / 9. Healthish Time Stamp Water Bottle $30 / 10. Bamboo Cutlery Set $11

2.  Eat Less Animal Products

Did you know factory farming is contributing to 30% of the world’s water consumption, occupies up to 45% of the world’s land, and responsible for 91% of Brazil’s Amazon destruction… it’s clear, eating fewer animal products and more plant-based foods like lentils, tomatoes, and broccoli will have a significantly positive impact on the environment.  BUT you don’t have to live like it’s all or nothing – small changes can still make a big impact.  If you’re not ready to go vegetarian or vegan try participating in Meatless Monday’s, eating meat only on the weekends or cooking smaller portions of meat – the world will thank you!

3.  Switch to Renewable Energy

Did you know you don’t have to have solar panels on your roof or a wind farm nearby to get renewable energy in your home?  Head over to Green Mountain Energy to switch over to renewables without changing energy providers, just put in your ZIP code and see if it’s a possibility for you.

4. Recycle and Compost

Recycling and composting are BOTH extremely helpful in reducing waste in our landfills.  When you recycle your materials will be sent to your local municipal recycling center where they can be reused or repurposed into new objects.  Make sure to wash out your recyclables so that they can be re-used.

On top of that… did you know that two-thirds of our household waste can be composted?   Composting is SUPER easy and it can provide you with nutrient-dense material for a home garden.  Consider starting a compost pile in your backyard or get a compost bin for your kitchen!  There are even compost pickups in most cities (it just takes a little googling).