It’s Earth Week!

This week is dedicated to care and maintenance of our precious planet. I thought I’d take a little break from the healthy eating advice and provide you with some tips on our to keep Mother Earth happy and healthy. There are tons of small ways you can pitch in and make a difference.

Photo courtesy of citywindsor.ca

Here are some things you can do to keep our planet looking beautiful:

• Recycle! – This is one of the easiest things you can do to help out. There are recycling bins everywhere, from local businesses to college campuses, and even apartment complexes. Sorting out paper, cardboard, plastics, cans, and other recyclable materials from your trash helps reduce our impact on the environment by keeping landfills less full and by reducing the amount of new materials being produced every day. Click here for more information on recycling and how you can get involved.
• Reuse! – Reuse some of the old things lying around your apartment. You can turn an old ratty t-shirt into a cleaning cloth, you can make arts and crafts out of used plastic bottles to decorate your place, and you can use those old magazines to make a collage. Use your imagination! Also, you can always donate the stuff you don’t use anymore to a local thrift store, like Goodwill or St. Vincent DePaul. That way, someone else can make use of your stuff instead of it sitting forever in a landfill.
• Reduce! – Reduce your use, and reduce your impact. Doing simple things like shutting your lights off when you leave a room, unplugging a charger when your done using it, and opening the windows instead of using the A/C all save energy and reduce your impact on the environment. You can also invest in some reusable grocery bags and bring them with you when you go to the store.

There are other great ways to help the Earth this week and every week. Walk or ride your bike to school instead of taking the bus or driving. Plant a tree in a park, or start your own mini garden in your back yard or on your porch. There’s tons of ways to get involved. Just use your imagination and start doing good to our planet!