Here at HYDAWAY, Earth Day is one of our favorite days of the year. So we strive to help our planet a little bit better by making Earth Day every day. We do this by preventing thousands of plastic, single-use water bottles from entering our landfills every year and if you use Hydaway you are helping too.
In this blog, there are a couple of other easy ways you can help the earth by reducing your carbon footprint.
Find Alternative Modes of Transportation
If it only takes you five minutes to drive somewhere, consider biking or walking instead. If you can, carpool with a co-worker who lives in your area or use public transportation. By limiting the number of cars on the road you can greatly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that’s being released into the environment. Just one car can make a huge difference when comes to making everyday Earth Day. Plus if you swap your bike out for a midsize car for a 10-mile commute every day, you can save 1.3 tons of carbon dioxide from going into the air.
Invest in Reusable Products
The average American produces about 4.3 pounds of trash in one day. That’s almost 1,600 pounds a year! Many products are packaged for the convenience of the consumer as opposed to what’s best for the planet. It’s our responsibility as consumers to be aware of the packaging of the different products we consume and offset that as much as possible.
One of the easiest solutions is to stop purchasing single-use water bottles and reach for a reusable water bottle instead. The HYDAWAY collapsible bottle is great for those on the go. If you’re biking or walking to work, you can easily toss it in your backpack and fill it up once you get to the office.
Turn Off Electronics When Not in Use
One of the easiest things to do to help the environment is to simply turn off electricity when you’re not using it. Turn off the lights and fans if nobody’s in the room and unplug things from outlets when not in use. Even if the appliance isn’t on, this can draw a tiny bit of current out, upping your electricity usage. Try putting your commonly used items like portable electronic chargers on a surge protector, and then when they’re all charged, unplug the whole protector from the outlet.
This also applies to your thermostat. An easy way to make sure that you’re not using up too much power is to get a programmable thermostat to only turn on when you’re home. This simple tip can really help the earth.
Recycle What You Can
You may be throwing away something that you could be recycling. On the bottom of many of your plastic products, there is often a recycle symbol with a number within it. This indicates the type of plastic the product is made from and whether it’s recyclable. Double-check with your local recycling center to see which plastics are acceptable to place in your curbside recycle can. This can help tons of plastic from ending up in our landfills or oceans and help turn an old bottle into a new park bench or a bicycle rack.
Eat Local and Eat Less Meat
According to the EPA, it’s estimated that 13% of US Greenhouse gas emissions are from the transportation of food due to truck’s petroleum-based fuels. By eating locally produced organic food, you’re cutting the amount of transportation happening from the time the food is produced to the time you’re eating the food.
Another simple way to cut your carbon footprint is by limiting the amount of meat you consume. You don’t have to give it up completely; you can start by eating like a vegetarian or vegan one day a week. The amount of water it takes to produce one pound of beef is about 47 times more than what it takes to produce a pound of vegetables. The meat industry helps contribute to the greenhouse gas effect by releasing almost 80% of ammonia emissions into the air. Even one meal a week can help make an impact on the environment.
Make Earth Day Every Day!
Even making small changes to your lifestyle can help make big impacts on our environment. If everyone works together to achieve a common goal, all the small changes add up to help the bigger picture.
We want to know how you help the environment! Share your tips with us by using the #MyHydaway tag on social media!