10 Ways to Help Your Planet

For the 50th annual celebration of Earth Day, I thought I'd share some tips to help reduce the burden we place upon our beautiful loving Earth. Our planet is a wonderful interconnected system of various ecosystems, habitats and environments which depend on one another to function properly and smoothly. Unfortunately, the ways in which many of our everyday lives have been constructed has led to oceans filling with plastic, sea temperatures rising, deforestation, animal extinctions and many other sad realities. But this is not an article for doom and gloom, it is for hope of a better and more sustainable future where you can take charge of your reality and change these sad realities for the better.

Here are ten tips which I try to use in my everyday life in order to reduce my impact on the planet. Of course, nobody is perfect. Our society has been designed against all of these efforts, so it is hard to combat them at every step and requires a lot of personal effort and time. Going against the grain to live sustainably is hard, there is no doubt about this, but the more effort we invest into living this way, the more reward we experience in the long run, hopefully having a happy, flourishing and sustainable future for all of the life on Earth.

With that being said, don't try to applicate all of these at once! Mastering even one of these can have serious positive repercussions on a global scale. Take it one step at a time. Unless you are Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec, you will be overwhelmed trying to implement all of these simultaneously. Choose one tip and work at it everyday until it becomes second nature and part of your habit. Changing our habits is the priority. Here are ten ways to do so and reduce your impact on our planet!

1. Combatting Apathy

This comes first and foremost. Apathy must be combatted to succeed not only in the effort of sustainability, but many things we hope to achieve in life. Apathy is at the opposite end of empathy. The biggest relation they have to each other is the recognition of an issue and the harm it causes. What separates them is our response to the issue.

Approaching the issue with apathy is choosing the mindset that what we're displeased by and don't like in the world won't ever change, so why should we do anything about it? There is nothing we could ever possibly do to fix these problems and nothing will ever change. These thoughts are precisely the kind that massive corporations, corrupt politicians, and other harmful, powerful individuals want us to have. When we fall victim to apathy, they are rewarded with greater profit and greater power. The longer we as a society are apathetic, the longer these issues will exist, and the worse they will get.

Approaching the issue with empathy is having a mindset of how you as an individual can be a solution to the issue rather than a proprietor. What in my life can I change? What issues in my community can I solve? How can I help the world be a better place? This way of thinking is powerful, and promotes solutions. Through an empathetic approach, we slowly chip away at the issue, reclaiming our power as individuals in making the world how we want it to be. We are the ones who provide the corporations, politicians and powerful individuals with their money and power. If they are producing a world we aren't happy with, we have the power to direct them to meet our demands. Our power is hidden from us, but we must find, claim and use it for our advantage.

2. Composting and Saving Food Scraps

According to a Harvard study and the USDA, Americans throw out nearly 133 billion pounds of food waste worth $163 billion annually. According to the UN, worldwide, we throw away nearly 1/3 of our food supply, which is 1.3 billion tons, a number we cannot comprehend. This accounts for 7% of global emissions, making it a crucial issue in tackling climate change

What we don't realize and aren't taught about food is that it does not belong in a trash bag. When we throw our food away in a plastic trash bag, we are taking it out of the cycle of decomposition. The vital nutrients within every piece of food are meant to be recycled into the earth for more plants to grow, but being trapped in a large plastic bag doesn't help that. A big issue is when these bags the food is in do break down hundreds of years from now, millions of micro plastics will end up within the nutrients making them harmful and dangerous.

It is hard to see with how normalized we are to throwing food away, but this is not how things were for a very, very long time. We must work to end throwing food away as soon as possible. Fight for composting legislation in your local cities, hassle your city council, begin a composting club, anything that will have an impact, do it. Cities like San Francisco have already mandated composting city wide.

If you live in a house or somewhere with a big backyard, start your own composting system. If you have a garden, this will be super helpful and allow your cute little plants to benefit from your leftovers, rather than them going to waste. If you live in an apartment like me, look into if your city has a composting service you can donate food scraps to. Get an old coffee container or tupperware and sit it on the counter in the kitchen. Any food waste you have, eggshells, avocado husks, coffee grounds, banana peels, put it in the bin. You'll slowly realize just how much food we individually throw away, and trust me, its more than you would think. Once it is full, drive to your compost site and donate it. If you live near a university, chances are it has a composting club/service you can donate to.

3. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

This is probably one of the most common and obvious ways to help the Earth. Unfortunately, Americans generate 251.3 million tons of garbage per year. The most effective thing is to reduce your waste as much as possible. Some great ways to do this are by minimizing how often you go out to eat, and being conscientious whenever you do. If your waiter offers you a straw, say no thank you. A thought I recent had was that every single straw I have ever used in my life still exists somewhere in the world. I cannot begin to imagine that number, and what was it all for? Was it worth it for me to sip sweet tea in a specific moment for the possibility of a sea turtle choking to death in its natural habitat? This perspective helped me a lot.

If you get food to go, ask for no bag and carry it. If you don't finish your dinner, maybe bring a tupperware container for your food instead of using the styrofoam or plastic togo box. We are very normalized to the restaurant and fast food industry not realizing how much waste it creates annually. The average restaurant can produce 100,000 lbs of garbage and 200,000 lbs of food waste, which really adds up. When you go grocery shopping, bring reusable bags and if you buy fresh produce, put it straight in your bag or in cute little mesh ones like these. Try to buy as little items packaged in plastic as you can. If you forget your bags, simply tell them not to bag your items, put them back into your cart and into your car. It is a hassle, but the damage of plastic bags, which kill 100,000 marine animals annually and use 12 million barrels of oil annually, is not worth the minor convenience they afford your monthly grocery trip. Whenever you do have any form of plastic waste, check out tip number 7 on how not to send it to landfills.

Reusing is also very effective. Save any glass jars you use, they have many benefits like taking them to the grocery store to use in the bulk section, which saves you money and packaging. You can use them for plants, as a pen 0r toothbrush holder, storing food/drink in your fridge and more. You can reuse cardboard as a painting canvas, old socks to separate and store small items, the possibilities are infinite! Check out this list of 55 ways to reuse common household items.

When you use any plastic, aluminum, or cardboard items or anything that can be recycled, recycle it., but do so informatively. Go out of your way to wash and clean plastic cups, straws or ramekins before recycling. Do the same with hard plastics like containers for dish soap, laundry detergent, and milk jugs so they can be properly recycled. The sad reality of this is that the majority of plastic isn't recycled, which is why it is crucial to reduce our plastic waste as much as possible, and use the power of our dollar to support zero waste companies and make them the norm going forward, which is tip 8!

4. Eat Vegetarian and Vegan

Notice I didn't say become a vegetarian or vegan. A false narrative has been created that to eat vegan/vegetarian, you have to do so all the time, but that doesn't have to be the reality. While it is better to change your diet completely, you can eat vegan three days out of the week, and still have a tremendous impact on your body and environment. Cutting red meat out of your diet, not eating meat daily, and normalizing meals without meat are all beneficial. And I promise, it is much easier than you have been lead to believe!

Eating meat is not bad, nor the problem. The problem is our society's relationship with meat. One big issue is consumption. Americans consume far more meat than almost any other country in the world. It is not uncommon for someone to have bacon/sausage for breakfast, chicken/turkey/ham for lunch and then a steak or burger for dinner. That is one day for this person to eat, which required multiple animals losing their lives. While eating meat three times a day is normal, it is unnecessary for proper nutrition and health, actually, it can be quite unhealthy. Most Americans eat an average of 222.2 lbs of red meat and poultry annually. Our process of factory farming and the treatment we subjugate these animals to is downright immoral, and we all know it. Our country and meat industries take every turn to desensitize us to this reality and disconnect us from it. When we order a steak at a restaurant, we don't see the whole process. Two animals mate, one grows an organism for months, it is born, experiences life waking up, going to sleep, eating, and having fun everyday, just like us. It was then slaughtered, harvested, processed, packaged, delivered to a restaurant, prepared by another human being, and then brought to your table. So before you send back that mis-cooked steak or throw away that half of a cheeseburger, think about all that went into you getting that animal to your plate.

We must consider how much water and food is required for these animals, the gases they produce into our atmosphere, the environmental toll of the packaging and delivery, and the effects of mass producing a living organism. Cows, chickens, turkeys and pigs have reached an adverse population in order to meat (pun) our demands and it has an adverse impact. Globally, animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than all global transportation combined. It can take more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef, while producing 1 pound of tofu only requires 244 gallons of water. By going vegan, one person can save approximately 219,000 gallons of water a year. (PETA)

I was an avid meat eater. Born and raised in central Texas. I ate ribs, pork chops, chicken tenders, 12 oz steaks, brisket, wings, so on and so forth for years, and I did so proudly. One day, I was working at Chili's and having chicken bacon ranch quesadillas for a late dinner. I thought back to the morning and realized that was the fourth time I ate chicken that day! That means at a minimum, four chickens had to be raised, slaughtered, processed, packaged and delivered for me to eat just that day alone. This way of living is not only unsustainable, it is unconscionable. We have been systematically raised to believe otherwise and must fight to deprogram ourselves and naturalize better, healthier and more sustainable eating habits.

5. Buy Organic

When grocery shopping, try to buy all organic produce and foods. Look for the non-GMO labels and pay the extra few dollars or cents for the organic products. While a lot of the healthier, sustainable/eco-conscious, and organic food options are more expensive now, we can change this for the future.

The power of the dollar is stronger than we are taught to believe, and we can control the market through recognizing and harnessing this power. If we continue to buy factory farmed, genetically modified and corporatized foods, we continue to empower their oligopoly on our food. When we buy organic and local, we slowly chip away at their massive profits while simultaneously empowering the better option. Those who are choosing to produce food consciously are fighting a massive battle right now, and we must take up arms alongside them to save our planet.

However, I am a pragmatic and recognize the reality of how hard it is to survive economically in this society, and do not not push for anybody to always shop this way if they aren't economically able to, and many Americans live in systemically designed food deserts preventing their access to organic, healthy foods. A potential possibility is buying organic every other grocery trip, or every third grocery trip. Buy half organic and half not, find specific items you can afford to buy organic versions of, and get used to the habit of choosing those.

The strongest message I am attempting to send to those reading this is that every decision you make has some sort of impact. Even making one different decision can have massive chain reactions and positive effects for people you don't even know. We have been mislead and lied to, taken advantage of and controlled, but we hold the power and once we recognize this, there is no stopping us from changing the world how we see fit.

6. Shop Local

This tip is pretty easy and somewhat a continuation of above. Shopping local is good for the environment and planet because it reduces the amount of packaging, transportation, and emissions for you to get your necessities. Additionally, instead of your buying power supporting multimillion dollar companies, CEOS and corporations, it goes into your community. Find local stores that sell organic foods and items, locally made clothing, locally made art and house or self care supplies. This benefits all kinds of small businesses and local small farmers. To find your local stores, just do a quick google search of "Health food stores near me," or "local shops."

7. Bottle Bricking

Bottle bricking is an amazing practice to begin, especially if you are like me and suffer from consumer guilt throwing away plastic. As we learned from tip number three, even if we are conscious and recycle, it ends up not being recycled the majority of the time.

Bottle bricking is a practice where you dispose of any kind of plastic, packaging or wrapper you use by putting it inside a used plastic bottle. I usually do the bags my bread comes in, cereal bags, the wrappers for protein bars, or any kind of plastic bag something I buy and use comes in. Once it begins to fill up, you compact the plastic down by using a stick of some sort.

Eventually, this will make the plastic bottle as hard as a brick. Then, you can build cool things with them once you acquire enough, donate them if anyone in your community builds with them, or just store them up to reduce your waste, trust me, one bottle can hold a ton of small plastic. Here is some more info from Ecobricks.

8. Buy Zero Waste

As our global society is waking up to the massive issues produced by consumerism, fast fashion and over packaging, online zero waste stores are popping up all over the place. Zero waste stores use biodegradable packaging, plant trees to counteract their emissions and typically sell vegan products as well as products that are biodegradable or compostable. Check out this list of five awesome online zero waste stores!

We cannot sustain filling our one and only Earth with garbage any longer if we wish for those who are born a hundred years from now to have a good chance at experiencing the beauty of nature and a fair shot at a living good life. Imagine being born into a world where there is more than 30 billion tons of plastic in the ocean? Imagine being a fish born into an ocean with 30 billion tons of plastic. Neither of these situations are fair or moral in any sense, but if we don't correct our current habits, this will be a reality in the year 2100. We have to change, and we have to change now. Check out this plastics in the ocean counter to understand the reality of these growing issue and why change is necessary and imminent for survival of life on Earth.

9. Buy Second Hand

Fast fashion has a major negative environmental impact. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the entire world, and one of the major contributors to the rapid filling up of landfills around the globe. Americans toss out 25 billion pounds of clothing every year, so to counteract, donate or sell your clothes. Go hit up the thrift store to save yourself money, save your planet, and be looking mad fly. This way you won't be caught wearing the same shirt as someone else at the party, totally not cool. Or shop at depop!

Not only can you buy secondhand clothing and shoes, but you can practically buy secondhand anything. One huge piece of advice is to never, EVER buy a brand new car. Absolutely one of the biggest scams in America, considering they lose half of their value the second you drive them off the lot, and you will be incurring a large debt. Buy from used car stores instead, or on Craigslist. Buy used books from places like half price books. Buy your kitchen necessities like plates, pots, and mugs from Goodwill. Ask your friends and family if they have extra items laying around for whatever you need. I have gotten curtains, a rug, a vacuum, tools and plates all from my family who didn't need them anymore. Save money and save the Earth? Win, win! Here are three reasons to shop secondhand.

10. Donate

This final tip is suggested and not necessary. If you have the money in your budget to make donations, try to become a monthly donor with one organization or group working to fight the good fight. Monthly donations are what allow a lot of these good organizations to exist and do the great things they do. I'm a bit of a radical decentralist, so I suggest donating locally, or using your money to support any positive environmental efforts within your community. Donate to your local goodwills, half prices books, river cleaning organizations, environmental research projects or any local organizations working to reduce plastic pollution, deforestation, pollution or poor farming practices in your community. An organization I am a monthly donor to is a cool group called 8 billion trees. They do a lot of amazing work and are fighting on the front lines to plant enough trees to reduce global harm from climate change, fighting illegal deforestation projects and saving animals lives who have been damaged or impacted through deforestation. The NRDC also does a lot of amazing work and is fighting to resist the land of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge being leased to oil and gas, you can read my article on that here. Do what works best for you, and what you are capable of.

These steps are all important practices to applicate moving forward for a greener and more sustainable future. If we desire to be fair to the millions of humans, wildlife, plants, trees, soil, water and air who will exist beyond 2050 and cannot defend themselves against our destructive habits, we have to change our ways and we have to change them now.

Some of the important concepts for you to take away are 1) be aware of your impact and conscious of how you affect the world around you through your daily habits and decisions. 2) Recognize the power of your dollar and realize how you can harness that power to change the world through your buying decisions into a world you are proud of. 3) Study the full depth of these issues and why and how they exist in our world. 4) Understand these problems exist not solely because of us, but because of the lack of concern and care for our planet from massive corporations, government officials, and years of misinformation, manufacturing of consent, and lies. Believe in yourself and your personal power to change the world into a better place.

If everybody in the world did just one of these 10 tips, the impact would be massive. We are capable of great things. I promise that you hold so much more power than you are currently aware of. I am not being emotional, but transparent with what I believe. You can be the change that you want to see in the world. All I ask is that you try your best to reduce your impact and help save our planet, because all it takes is a little bit of effort from everyone to make an amazing impact.