Five simple ways to make everyday Earth Day

In 1969, peace activist John McConnell put forth the name and concept of Earth Day at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Conference in San Francisco. Denis Hayes, who was the national coordinator of the very first Earth Day in 1970, made the event “go international” in 1990. He organized events in 141 nations. Today, 175 countries mark Earth Day on April 22.

By now, we’ve all been bombarded with talk about climate change, greenhouse gases, and such. Some green advocates have all but shoved jargon-laden tips down our throat. We figured we’d do away with the complicated lingo and present practical moves that you really can do everyday. There’s no reason why you can’t do at least two or three (or all) of these moves.

It really doesn’t take much to start being kinder  to the world we live in. For starters, you can do the following:

Eat home-cooked meals or dine in. If you go for take-out or have food delivered that means the restaurant has to provide added packaging for the stuff you buy. That means added garbage. If you don’t cook, walking to your chosen food spot and eating there is the best thing to do. Unless, of course, you’re OK with bringing your own food containers so the restaurant can place the food your order in them.

Become a locavore. This means you should be more mindful about buying local produce. The less stuff we import, the less energy is used to transport products from one place to another.

Bag it up. When you buy your groceries (or other items), use your backpacks and other large bags to hold the items your purchase. Who cares if people stare at you and wonder why you’re carrying a huge empty bag to the counter?

Take a bath using a pail and a dipper. A five-minute shower can use up 20 to 40 gallons of water—and not all of that is maximized. Most of that water is just wasted. Sure, it’s not “cool” to use a pail and a dipper—but it’s kinder to Mother Earth. For that, we can all afford to be “uncool.”

Think secondhand. If you can help it, hold off buying brand new stuff. Need new furniture? Send a shout out to your relatives and friends who may want to unload some of their things. Call it proactive recycling.