Need some inspiration for eco-friendly ways to celebrate the environment either in the office or at home?
Thursday 22nd April marks the 51st Earth Day and if there is one positive thing this pandemic has done, it is that it has brought many of us closer to nature.
EARTHDAY.ORG’s mission is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide and we all have a part to play.
Read on for six ways to ensure you celebrate…
Show off your indoor plants
Keeping plants takes commitment but its well worth the effort. Indoor plants have manifold benefits, from reducing fatigue to improving your mood, lowering stress and anxiety, to improving focus and performance at work. Plants are proven to increase pain tolerance and boost healing, they also improve air quality and minimise the occurrence of headaches.
Ditch the screen for a good old fashioned book
Business for streaming services has boomed since lockdown was introduced, and while data is kinder to the planet than DVDs, there are other ways we can entertain ourselves without consuming energy. Books lying unread on bookshelves are a great place to start so give your eyes a screen break and start scouring your shelves now.
Compare plastic audits
Earth Day Network, the people behind Earth Day, have created daily challenges to help the public unlock their eco-friendly potential – one being a plastic audit. Try buying in bulk, swapping plastic water bottles for something more permanent and using refillable pens instead of disposables. Once you’ve made the little changes, make a record and share how much plastic you’ve cut.
Share vegan and vegetarian recipes
We all know that going vegan or vegetarian is kinder to the environment, but there seems to be a myth that there aren’t enough veggie options to choose from. We are here to firmly dispel that myth. There are absolutely more veggie options out there than anyone could ever try in one lifetime. This Earth Day make a conscious effort to steer clear of meat and if possible dairy too. Take a pic of your eco friendly dish and share it to inspire others.
Measure your carbon footprint
There are a number of apps and websites out there where you can measure your carbon footprint. Diet, energy bills, use of paper products and more can be taken into account to give you an estimate of your impact on the planet. Find out your footprint and then discover ways of offsetting it. The TreeApp is a great place to start. BE’s CSR manager has been using it since February and already offset 43% of her annual emissions with 71 trees planted in 12 countries on her behalf, all for free.
Test your environmental knowledge
We can all benefit from improved education when it comes to environmental issues. Test your knowledge and learn something along the way with EARTHDAY.ORG’s quick quizzes. For example, I just learned that the US recycles only 9% of all plastics, a shocking statistic.
Images courtesy of Headspaces Southampton, RoyalRegina via iStock and sagarmanis via iStock
