Earth Day – April 22, 2018

Earth Day - Tips to save our planetHere we go again, Earth day, Earth month… When are we going to stop debating and start doing?

The shear volume of scientific data and articles about the state of our planet’s environment and what we should be doing about it is overwhelming. It is truly alarming how fast climate change is accelerating and I think we can all agree that we are not doing enough as both individuals and as a global community.

Lets get this done for the benefit of our planet. What could be more important for our own health and the future of mankind? Lets make this Earth Day count!

We would like to share some simple changes that we can all make to have the biggest overall impact for our planet and our local communities.

Tips To Help Save Our Planet

1. Eat Local, Organic Produce:

If we can change just a few of our food habits, we can have a tremendous impact on climate change.

  1. Eat more veggies and less meat. It takes an incredible amount energy and resources to produce, process and transport meat. It is also estimated that 18 per cent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to livestock production. This is why meat production has a huge climate impact. Vegetables are super healthy and take much less resources to produce… the best of both worlds.
  2. Buy organic. Research demonstrates that conventional farming uses about 45 per cent more energy per unit of production than organic farms, which rely on natural inputs.
  3. Buy local. The average North American meal contains ingredients from more than six different countries, and travels thousands of kilometres before reaching a plate. Choose to eat food grown closer to home. It will have fewer transportation emissions associated with it, and supports your local economy.
  4. Reduce Food Waste. Sadly more than one third of all food produced worldwide is wasted (that’s 1.3 billion tonnes per year). Unused food in a landfill is one of the top sources of greenhouse gases. Let’s compost unused food and be super conscious about our consumption.

2. Protect the Bees!

Bring Bees and butterflies to your local community. Plant bunches of wildflowers in yards, balconies, roadsides, parks and schools. The goal is to create habitats for pollinators.

3. Be Energy Efficient

Canadians have a huge appetite for energy. In fact, we are the second largest consumers of energy per capita in the world. To make a difference:

  1. Fix water leaks. A leaky faucet can waste up to 11,350 litres of water each year. Water leaks are Canada’s biggest source of wasted water (this includes leaks from our cities infrastructure too).
  2. Reduce, repair, and retrofit. A typical household can reduce household water consumption by 40 per cent or more, and they won’t feel a hit to their lifestyle. From installing a low-flow toilet, to using an outdoor rain barrel, to taking shorter showers there are thousands of ways you can save water at home.
  3. New light bulbs. Replace the most used bulbs in your home with energy efficient bulbs. Save money and the environment too.
  4. Wash your clothes using cold water. 90% of the energy used by your washer is to heat the water. You can help take pressure off the power grid by using your washer and dryer at night. Use wool dryer balls to help speed up your drying process.

4. Protect Our Clean Water

We can’t live without clean and abundant water supplies, yet climate change is already having profound effects on the quality, quantity and availability of our resources. Canada’s track rate isn’t great—we have the second-highest per capita water consumption in the world.

  1. Reduce toxic chemicals going down the drain. Unfortunately the cosmetic industry is one of the worst offenders. So many micro-plastics and toxic chemicals end up going straight back into our water supply. At NAYELLE we produce formulations that are free of toxins, parabens and micro-plastics.
  2. Ditch plastic water bottles once and for all. They pollute our waterways, leach toxins and to often end up in landfills. We can do this!
  3. Contact your local MLA and government officials. Let them know we want laws that enshrine the right to a healthy environment and clean water protection. Everyone should expect that it’s their right to live in a healthy environment with access to clean air, safe food, a stable climate and, of course, clean water.

It is going to take a monumental global effort to repair and reverse climate change and the damage we have done to our environment. However, we all need to start somewhere. And remember that it is important that we share our efforts with family and friends. Talking about what you have done to reduce your carbon footprint and your daily environmentally friendly choices can influence others to do the same. We can do this together :)