10 Simple Ways to Help the Environment

Most people want to do their share to save the planet. There are simple ways to help the environment. Each will have an impact, even though these are simple things the entire family can do to help.

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Different Ways to Help the Environment

1. Use a Refillable Water Bottle

This saves using wasteful disposable water bottles. Anything we can do to reduce the plastic in the environment is a good thing.

2. Bag it Yourself

Before heading out to shop, grab your reusable shopping bags and enjoy the trip knowing you are not using the plastic bags. Plastic bags are a big threat to ocean wildlife.

3. Borrow Rather Than Buy New

Some neighborhoods have a full-on cooperative. They share tools, cleaning supplies, etc. rather than double up on things that they don’t need to use all the time.

These same neighbors combine running errands which save on using their cars and gas emission into the environment. Every little bit helps.

4. Carpool Whenever Possible

Maybe taking turns driving kids to school and going to work is one of the great ways to help the environment. It’s fun to alternate schedules and you create a better bond with work friends as well.

5. Save Water When You Can

Try to turn off the faucet in between when you brush your teeth and rinse. Maybe let the water run less before you jump in the shower.

Even a little bit will save water and save on your water bill!

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6. Reduce Beef Intake or Stop Completely

Cows require 3-30 gallons of water each day depending on their size, age, stage of production, and environment. A lactating cow doubles the water intake.

Water is the new gold around the world. There are some places that do not have clean water at all.

Cattle production leads to large amounts of nitrous oxide and methane, greenhouse gases more potent than carbon dioxide.

If giving up beef feels like too much to handle, try “Meatless Mondays”, or cutting meat a few days each week. Any small effort will help our planet.

Cattle also eat a large amount of grain. David Pimentel of Cornell University said: “If all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million.”

7. Reduce Food Waste

We talk a lot about how much we eat, but the simple truth we should focus on is how much we waste. Americans waste 40% of what they prepare for a meal or order in a restaurant.

This food, unless it is composted, goes into a landfill and eventually turns into methane gas.

Try planning meals and servings more carefully to produce less waste. This one little thing will help the environment and lessen the production of greenhouse gasses.

8. Use a Compost Pile

And speaking of food waste, think about creating a compost pile. Composting means recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem, which keeps food out of landfills.

Composting enriches the soil. Check your Pinterest board for ideas to make a compost bin to suit your needs. You can even compost indoors.

9. Give Up Plastic Straws

At international coastal cleanups, volunteers have picked up more than half a million straws and stirrers.

This makes straws one of the top ten items on the environmental list. Straws pose a real danger to animals like sea turtles, albatross, and the fish who can eat them.

The average person uses 1.6 straws each day. If only 25,000 people give up straws, that would reduce 5 million straws in our landfills.

This would prevent many of those from entering the ocean and perhaps harming wildlife. Giving up the straw in drinks is a very simple way to help save the planet.

10. Restructure Your Yard

Many people have turned their grass into growing food. Instead of watering grass, water plants. If you live in a dry climate, try going back to the natural vegetation of rocks and desert plants that do not need extra water.

Watch this video from Smile and Learn to learn more ways to help the environment:

There are many more simple ways to help the environment. We have to do our part to find sustaining ways to eat, drink and live on this planet so generations to come will be able to enjoy it too.

Do you have anything else to add to the list of ways to help the environment? Share it with us in the comment section below.

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