10 FREE Ways You Can Be #SavingThePlanet

#SavingThePlanet is becoming more popular as more heartbreaking images of sea animals stuck in plastic waste surface the Internet—thank goddess! While our efforts as humanity to protect Mother Earth are long over due, it is better late than never to start making drastic changes to help protect our planet, and our cohabitants. It’s easy to become discouraged by all of the damage that we’ve done to the planet thus far, but here are 10 FREE ways you can get started that are just a matter of making different lifestyle choices.

1. REFUSE, REFUSE, REFUSE single use plastic!

For those of you who aren’t familiar, single use plastic is exactly what it sounds like; any piece of plastic that is produced with the intent to only be used once (i.e. straws, produce, and grocery bags, water bottles, to go silverware etc.). Notice the common theme between all of these things, CONVENIENCE! Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a simple mater of making different choices that can add up, and make a HUGE difference. Sure you might only be one person, but think about how many straws/produce bags/water bottles etc. you use in a week. A month? A year? Point being here, it adds up. Some of you may be thinking, “that’s what recycling is for right?” Don’t get me wrong, recycling has its perks, but most people don’t realize small things like straws fall through the cracks at recycling firms, and cant actually be recycled. Plastic bags get tangled up in machinery, and also cant be recycled. Just because you THINK you’re helping the planet by choosing to toss something in the recycle bin instead of the trash... you might not be. Sorry to break it to you...

We can skip the hassle of trying to recycle by simply choosing to refuse these single use plastics all together.

(Pro tip: you can literally just ask the Starbucks cashier to have your drink made in the cup with the lid that doesn’t require a straw. BOOM. Straw refused.)

2. Have a letter sent to politicians about the importance of Saving The Planet!

Notice how I didn’t say “write” a letter to politicians. Many websites (such as WWF.org) have templates of letters to be sent to politicians, and ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PUT IN YOUR NAME! They will fill it in for you, and have it sent. How simple is that??

3. Sign online petitions to take action.

Nowadays there are petitions for just about anything. Why not add your name to one that helps the planet? For example, sierraclub.org is currently fulfilling a petition to ban plastic grocery bags. It takes just as long as it takes you to type your name in to sign it. (WWF.org and peta.org also have petitions to help save our animal friends)

4. Pick up some trash!

“Ew that’s gross,” “that’s not my job,” “someone else will do it.” Come on, y’all. That plastic lid from a fast food cup you saw in the grass while you were walking to the parking garage from work—yeah that takes about 300 years to decompose. OR it takes one second to pick it up off the ground, and at minimum drop it in a trash bin, so at least it has less of a chance of making it to the ocean. If you picked up even just ONE piece of trash per WEEK, that’s 52 pieces of trash per year. If everyone picked up one piece per week (assuming there’s still seven billion people in the world) that’s 364 billion pieces of trash picked up in just ONE. YEAR. I don’t know about you, but I think the sea critters would really dig that.

5. Calculate your carbon footprint at conservation.org.

Conservation International has this really cool carbon footprint calculator where you can input your lifestyle habits, and it will determine about how much carbon you produce, and how you compare to others. Along with that, it will tell you how many trees you need to plant to offset that carbon footprint (or how much money you could pay monthly if you don’t have the time to plant hundreds of trees), AND some personalized tips for reducing your personal footprint.

6. Pick one day per week to not eat meat. #MeatlessMondays anyone?

Did you know the amount of fossil fuels used to produce ONE hamburger could also be used to drive a small car 20 miles? I’m not saying everyone needs to drop meat immediately, and become a vegetarian overnight. But again, these small lifestyle choices add up. See if you can choose just one day per week to not eat meat. Who knows you might find some new recipes, or meat alternatives you actually like!

7. Turn the “heated dry” option to OFF on the dishwasher.

This one doesn’t need a rant. Save some energy by the LITERAL push of a button.

8. Opt for standard shipping for online orders.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s times you have to utilize that Amazon prime next day shipping. You made it through the whole semester without the text book, but the final comes around, and everything that will be on that test is in the book you don’t own. Amazon prime to the rescue. But, if you’re ordering something that you don’t need urgently, choose for the standard shipping, and save a bit of the jet fuel needed to rush your new {insert product here} to your doorstep in 48 hours.

9. Stop using paper towels.

This one takes a bit more time and work, but again it’s free, and just a matter of choosing the planet over convenience. You don’t really realize how often you reach for a paper towel until you’re out, or you choose to stop using them (single use idea again here). You don’t even need to go out and buy cute towels to replace your paper towels. All you need to do is gather up your old wash cloths you don’t care to rub on your body anymore, and dedicate them to being “un-paper” towels. Another easy way to add to your towel collection is go through your clothes, and cut any old t-shirts you don’t wear anymore into various size squares of cloth.

10. Lastly, educate yourself.

We live in a fast moving society that involves being on our phones, or some form of internet for hours per day. It’s as simple as following a few environmental organizations on social media, or subscribing to a newsletter that goes to your inbox that you already check every day anyways. We can’t save the planet if we’re ignorant to the issues in the first place.

(Shameless plug: for more environmental tips you can utilize on a budget, follow me @mamaearf on Instagram!)