Earth Week is upon us! Earth Week is spent raising awareness about environmental issues, reminding people to care about sustainability, and making more eco-conscious decisions. (Shouldn’t that be every week?)
Nonetheless, to celebrate this year’s Earth Week, here’s 10 small things any person can do to lighten their impact on our beloved Earth this week.
- Volunteer
One of the best things you can do is put your time and effort toward helping a community organization who fights for sustainability every day! Check out any events a local organization is doing – join a beach cleanup, plant some seeds, etc.
- Grocery shop with reusable bags
If you do it a few times this week, maybe it’ll become a habit! Any way that you can reduce personal waste is great for the Earth.
- Unsubscribe from paper mailings
Definitely a tedious job, but it’s better for the Earth and you won’t have to deal with so many magazines and pamphlets landing in your mailbox. Plus, most companies send these out on email anyway.
- Use public transportation
Taking the bus, train, or even biking/walking is one of the most impactful things you can do on a regular basis. You’ll be taking the more efficient way of releasing greenhouse gasses, because it’ll be transporting more people. Or you won’t be releasing GHGs at all!
- Start composting
Composting is a great way to ensure your actions are facilitating a circular waste cycle. Whether you’re donating your compost to a community collector or using it in your own yard, both ways are applauded.
- Buy from a sustainable company
This year’s Earth Week theme is “Invest in Our Planet.” What better way than to invest in a company that doesn’t hurt the Earth? One of the most obvious ways is to avoid fast fashion. I recommend using the website Good On You to test your favorite fashion brands!
- Make zero-waste switches
This is one of my personal favorite ways to engage in more sustainable practices. If you’re new, I would start with swapping out paper towels for cloths, shampoo bottles for shampoo bars, and disposable makeup remover wipes for reusable makeup remover pads.
- Support a local small farm
The conventional agriculture industry is causing lots of harm to the environment. We’re lucky to live in Vermont, where there is an abundance of small-scale sustainable farms. Buy your produce from a local farm to support your community and the Earth!
- Read a book
More specifically, a book about the Earth or an environmental topic. It doesn’t need to be nonfiction, sometimes a novel can open your eyes to the world just as much as a nonfiction book. I’ve been wanting to read The Overstory by Richard Powers and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
- Go on a nature walk
This is obvious, but taking a walk in nature will improve your mood and allow you to feel more connected to our planet – the only one we have! Maybe a short walk will spark some motivation in you to do more good for Earth.