Did you know that on 22 April every year, humanity celebrates Earth Day? Because of this, as a passionate defender of the environment, as my mom likes to say about me, I cannot help sharing with you my ideas about how we can daily save the mother earth without much effort. No matter how much my 7-year-old me would make you plant a tree in the nearby park, or to collect and throw away in a bin the litter on the street where you live – I’ll keep it simple even for the laziest of us.
1. 780 million people do not have access to clean drinking water… do you use yours wisely?
As much as we do not realise it, we often take access to clean and drinkable water for granted. This negligence, however, will not bring us anything positive – it is estimated that by 2025 nearly 2/3 of the world will face a water shortage. Whether that will happen to us sooner or later, there are many ways to save water, which in return will bring us even smaller bills. Some of them include not leaving the water running while you brush your teeth – or while you’re doing the washing-up unless you have to rinse your plates. Likewise, if you turn off the water while soaping your body with a body wash and lathering your hair with shampoo, you can save at least 20 litres of water per day!
2. Too much effort to plant a tree? Here’s what you can do:
Millions of tons of office paper are disposed of every year. Due to this, if you are working with documents in an office or if you are a student and often have to use a printer, make sure you always print double-sided whenever possible. Similarly, if you are a bookworm, buying and using electronic readers is a good alternative to physical books, which can also be considered an act of protest against tree felling. And if you are a student of a humanitarian speciality like me, printing all those thousands of pages of readings we get each week would be a legitimate crime. For this reason, count on your laptop – you will not be wondering where to store all these materials, and you will not waste the paper – convenient, right?
3. Let’s get back to the water again…
Did you know that one million plastic water bottles are used every minute, 91% of them are not recycled, and their decomposition takes thousands of years? As a result, it is estimated that, by 2050, the ocean will contain more plastic than fish. And all those unpleasant pictures we often see on social media of dead marine animals with plastic in their stomach, unfortunately, are not photoshopped. To change this, stop using bottled water and buy a reusable bottle with a water filter jug to clean the water. One of my housemates introduced me to this thing (thanks Gosia) and it is absolutely genius!
4. Save 40 watts per hour …
…by turning off your TV, computer, laptop or other devices at night or when you are not using them during the day. Plus, save electricity and money by changing your light bulbs with energy-saving ones and turning off the lamp when you leave a room – great effect with minimal effort!
5. To all the beauty gurus…
Contribute to preserving the environment by purchasing shower gels, shampoos and any other cosmetic with packaging made from recyclable materials (and which are recyclable themselves!). In addition, many cosmetic companies nowadays pay attention to their products being eco-friendly, free of substances and chemicals harmful to the air. Also, if you often use cotton pads or tissues to remove your makeup, find a good face wash which is sufficient to clean your face nicely without piling up excess waste with cotton pads.
In conclusion, this is only a small part of the many things that each of us can do to contribute to saving the planet on a global level. Besides, I do not believe that scientists will soon find an identical planet to ours to move to and start afresh, so take care of the change yourself which begins with you.