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Recently, climate change and how we live have been brought to the forefront of human attention. This in turn has caused a myriad of posts to appear. I have been seeing a bunch of new posts centred around “the things you can do this Earth Day to help our planet.” It bothers me tremendously to see efforts being focused on only one day of the year. Why wait until Earth Day to do things to help the planet? Here are 7 ways you can make every day Earth Day:
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7. Shop Locally Whenever Possible.
I never really thought of where things came from when I went shopping. It didn’t matter to me if the blueberries came from Canada or South Africa. I didn’t even think about what it meant for the environment if my salmon came from the wilds of Norway or my own backyard in British Columbia! Now we try our best to buy locally sourced items from local markets or, if we have to, items that have been shipped the shortest distance possible. So check out those local markets, support local businesses and reduce your carbon footprint all at the same time.
6. Purchase Carbon Offsets
Websites such as Carbon Footprint, Green-e, Myclimate, and Gold Standard are great resources when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint. Some even come equipped with ways to calculate your yearly or monthly footprint. They also give great options to offset your footprint. We should all do our part in reducing our footprint and offsetting what we can’t reduce. Especially as travellers tend to have a larger carbon footprint.
Although one of the ways to make every day Earth Day, I would like to point out that there is some gaslighting happening with carbon footprints. Much like with recycling, the term “carbon footprint” was invented by some of the companies that are among the worst of the culprits. They coined this term so that they could take the responsibility off of themselves and put it on you, the consumer.
After all, 100 companies are responsible for over 70% of GHG Emissions. Just let that sink in.
5. Wash Laundry with Cold Water and Air Dry
It surprised me to find out that the way we do our laundry contributes as substantially to our carbon footprints as it does. If you want the rough numbers, ABC has a great article on it. However, if you want exact numbers, you can read an article from the Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences here. Summed up, switching to only cold water will lower your emissions from laundry by about 15%. Switching to air drying can reduce it astronomically more.
4. Reusable Bags and Water Bottles.
There is a bit of debate on just how much each type of reusable material affects your footprint. It seems to come down to how many times you use the item before it either neutralizes or negates the amount produced. Ansys has a small chart and some information on it here. According to that, the biggest danger with disposables is how the plastic ends up all over our countryside and in our oceans.
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3. Walk, Bike, Carpool, and use Public Transit Regularly
As a North American, the transition from using a vehicle to get everywhere to walking and public transit was hard. It took time to get used to it, but over time the public transit systems have gotten a lot better and much more reliable. I love taking the train now!
Walking, biking, longboarding, and rollerblading are also all good ways of minimizing your impact and getting great exercise while at it.
2. Grow a Garden and/or Keep Plants
I have never personally been one with a green thumb. My wife on the other hand absolutely adores her plants. She can’t live without them. Every day there seems to be more. We even have a pine tree on our balcony. They are definitely everywhere at this point. However, I can’t complain. Whether it’s a garden in the yard, a windowsill garden in an apartment, or a literal forest in the house, it all contributes to cleaning the air of carbon and producing oxygen. Not to mention you can always grow your own food in the garden!
1. Switch to an Energy Company that is 100% Renewable.
Nowadays, a lot of companies are switching over to renewable energy sources. Why shouldn’t you as well? Between solar-, wind- and hydropower there are a lot of companies you can switch to so you aren’t relying on coal, gas or, god forbid, wood-powered electricity. Depending on where you are, it’ll either be only a bit more expensive than what you are currently paying or, as in our case, it might actually be the cheaper option. Otherwise, you really won’t notice a difference.
Read about the goals and reasoning behind “Nomadic Inscriptions” here.
In Conclusion:
It can be quite surprising when you realize how big of an impact such small changes can make towards lowering your carbon footprint. Now, I’m not by any means saying that climate change is our fault as much as the conglomerates that lied to us for years, but it’s a step in the right direction for all of us to do our part. Even if that means only making small, little changes. Here are 7 things you can do to make those changes and make every day Earth Day:
7. Shop Locally Whenever Possible
5. Wash Laundry with Cold Water and Air Dry
4. Reusable Bags and Water Bottles
3. Walk, Bike, Carpool, and use Public Transport Regularly
2. Grow a Garden and/or Keep Plants
1. Switch to an Energy Company that is 100% Renewable.
Is there anything we missed? What are you doing to impact your carbon footprint in a positive way? Let us know in the comments below!
