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Five Easy Ways to Help the Earth

This Earth Day, Here Are Some Tips to Make Our Earth a Little Cleaner

By Amanda ClarkePublished 5 years ago 5 min read
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Let's be blunt, the Earth is our only home right now and it needs our help. Various scientist and climate specialist have estimated that we have about twelve years to start dramatically fixing the damage we've caused to the Earth and reduce pollution to make the Earth more habitable for us all. Several scientist have even said that by 2036 the Earth will have crossed in climate danger territory, making the world even hotter and the weather more unpredictable.

Now, here's how you can help. Below are five easy ways that we can start helping the Earth this Earth day and attempt to make our Earth cleaner and more livable.

1. Reduce plastic use.

This means cutting back and using as little plastic as possible, preferably none at all. There are tons of places where you can purchase reusable shopping and grocery bags that you get more use out of, and are helping the environment. This also relates to plastic straws and plastic bottles. As an alternative to these, look into a refillable or reusable water bottle, such as a Nalgene or various other brands that can be washed and reused, for years to come. And instead of plastic straws, look into metal straws. Many places sell them and you can reuse these too.

Plastic does not decompose well in our environment (it takes hundreds to thousands of years) and harms wildlife both on land and in the sea.

2. Recycle

"Reduce, reuse, recycle" is probably a slogan you've heard your entire life, but it's true! Recycling is important. You can recycle cans, glass, metal, cardboard, paper and even plastic.

For any of these items that you can't cut back on using, (such as papers and plastics) consider starting recycling. Many cities have a recycling pick up, and if your city or county does not offer that, there are various recycling locations these items can be dropped off too.

You may be thinking, why take time to sort through some things you may consider trash. Well, recycling can transform something old into something new, and on top of that, it benefits the environment in a number of ways, from saving wildlife to keeping things that do not decompose, like plastic, out of landfills. Recycling also keeps less waste in landfills, saves energy during manufacturing and can even create jobs in cities.

3. Turn off electronics.

Did you know that your every day electronics can hurt the environment and contribute to our environmental issues? There are ways you can fix that though, simply by unplugging electronics you aren't using. When you aren't watching the television, unplug it instead of just turning it off. An electronic appliance being plugged in keeps drawing power or using electricity, even though it's off.

Another simple thing is to unplug the phone chargers you aren't using. I know it's a force of habit to leave it plugged in all the time, so it's easier to plug your phone up. However, unplugging your charger when you aren't using it will help a little bit, as well as make your phone charger last a little longer.

Also, turning off lights to rooms that are not in use. I am guilty of this often, where I go into a room turn the light on and leave without remembering to turn the light off. But this contributes to electricity pollution as well, especially if the lights you have aren't energy efficient.

Just unplugging a few things not in use, and remember turning off lights can reduce the carbon dioxide in the air and from that, pollution as well.

On top of just unplugging things, look into electricity generated from clean, renewable resources such as solar and wind, where less carbon pollution is emitted.

4. Reduce water waste.

You know how you may leave the water running when you rinse or wash dishes and brush your teeth? Well turning the water on only when you need to use it and not leaving it running helps the environment as well!

The more water is running, the more it is wasted. It takes energy to move to and from where it needs to go, and if it is left running less, that is less energy required to move the water, meaning less pollution in the air.

Did you know that running the tap while you brush your teeth can waste four gallons of water? If you brush your teeth at least twice a day, every day, that's 56 gallons of water wasted in ONE week if you leave the tap running.

Basically, leaving the water running equals back to pollution, too. Only use the water you need for brushing your teeth and other essentials, this way there is less pollution and less water wasted.

5. Carpool

This is another one you've probably heard numerous times over the years, or even done hopefully. It is obvious that most cars pollute the environment, but some cities just don't have enough mass transportation for that to be an viable option yet. This is where carpooling comes in. If you are going to the same place as a friend or someone, you should drive together, rather than taking two cars. With one less car on the road, that's less carbon dioxide in the air.

Carpooling keeps our air, water and land cleaner, simple as that.

With all of that being said, happy earth day! Let's make our earth a little cleaner and more livable for years to come.

If you have any other interest about energy facts and waste, here is an amazing article I found.

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About the Creator

Amanda Clarke

Virgo, movie blogger, lover of Halloween, Olive Garden and dogs! Huge Marvel and Disney fan and hopeful writer.

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