This year’s theme for Earth Day is Invest in Our Planet. Investing has a few meanings but, the one that resonates the most with Earth Day is “to make use of for future benefits or advantages.” If we invest in our planet now, we are making it better for future generations.
We asked our team what they do at home and at work to help Invest in Our Planet. And many of the answers are easy to incorporate into your lives too.
The most common answers from our team for steps they take at work were:
1. Reusable products. There we many variations of this from water bottles, cups, straws, and bags.
2. Recycling. Recycling is an easy way for anyone to help take care of our planet.
3. Save electricity. We make sure all the lights are turned off at the end of the day.
4. Working from home. Many of our employee’s work remote, or a hybrid schedule. There are benefits to working from home such as not driving as much, use less paper, and reduced power consumption, to name a few.
5. Don’t liter. Along with recycling, not littering is up there with being one of the easiest things you can do.
6. Corporate Volunteer Events. We schedule team events to volunteer to clean up the community.
7. Infrastructure. We consolidate our client’s infrastructure to a single platform and that saves a ton of energy.
8. Less Travel. We cut down on unnecessary trips to client sites.
While most of the answers about what steps the team takes at home overlapped with work answers, such as reusable products, saving electricity, and recycling, there were a few new answers to add to the list.
9. Group effort. Some team members are a part of groups such as a wildlife conservation and clean water initiatives, and take canoe trips to help clean up marinas.
10. Clothing. The fashion industry plays a huge part in the environmental impact of our planet and by purchasing longer lasting, higher quality or even secondhand clothing items, helps keep it out of the landfill.
11. Electric vs. Gas. Driving an electric car and using battery powered tools and yard equipment.
12. Diet. You don’t have to be vegan in order to help the planet. Simply eating less red meat can make an impact.
13. Garden. Growing a vegetable garden, composting, and collecting rainwater to reuse.
Other things you can do to invest in our planet:
14. Use the internet, not trees.
15. Pick up trash while you run or walk.
16. Meal prep.
17. Skip plastic, buy glass or paper products.
18. Switch to online billing.
19. Practice a simple act of green every day.
20. Take the environmental literacy quiz.