Happy New Year!
For the new year of 2014, TELUS has taken the initiative of creating The TELUS 31 Day Sustainability Challenge. Every day in January, TELUS will be giving new goals on their website on how you can be more eco-friendly for 2014! On Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, people are sharing their ideas on how to become more sustainable with the hashtag #31DaysOfGreen.
Being eco-friendly and sustainable is something anyone can do. Being eco is more than something that just anyone can do, I think that it is something that EVERYONE HAS TO DO. There are many things that we all can do that don’t matter how young (or how old we are). It does have to not hard, you do not have to spend so much time and money on being sustaiable. It’s about making small changes in your daily, weekly and monthly habits.
Inspried my by my friends at Telus, here are my 31 ideas on how to be more eco-friendly!
- Review your local recycling guidelines to make sure that you are recycling the right things.
- Create less garbage by donating things that can be reused by someone else.
- Make your own eco-friendly, non-toxic, cleaning supplies.
- Make eco-friendly choices when shopping. For example: choose products with little packaging or packaging that can be recycled.
- Buy local and choose fruit and vegetables from your local farmers.
- Organize an event to clean up your neighborhood with your friends.
- Unplug your electronics when you are not using them.
- Learn more about the real problems facing the environment – just learning makes a big impact!
- Form an eco-team with your friends and figure out ways to make your neighborhood more clean.
- Pick up litter whenever you see it – every piece of litter that is picked up is another piece of litter removed from our environment.
- Make an eco-friendly recycling center in your bathroom so that you can tell what garbage goes in which bin.
- Find a role model! Learn about people are making a big impact and you can get inspiration from them.
- Use reusable water bottles.
- Use reusable containers to take to lunch instead of plastic bags.
- Turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth to conserve energy and water.
- Buy biodegradable products. They are not harmful to the environment when absorbed by our water-systems and soil.
- Turn off the lights when you are not using them.
- Batteries, ink cartridges, electronics and lightbulbs are all recyclable.
- Get outside and maybe go on a nature trail.
- Reduce your carbon footprint by driving less and carpooling, walking or riding your bike more.
- Shorten your shower by only a minute or two and save over 500 litres of water per month.
- Learn about local challenges while travelling. This way, you become more mindful of the impact on your community.
- Practice the three R’s in this order “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”
- Reduce your use of Styrofoam cups and take-out containers. Styrofoam can take thousands of years to break down.
- Reuse water. Consider getting a rain barrel this year.
- Use reusable shopping bags.
- Part of living a more eco-life is sharing what you know and what you do with others.
- Stack up some GOOS paper ( Good On One Side) to make note pads for lists, notes and doodles.
- When you are staying at a hotel, use your towel more than once, even though they will give you a fresh one every day. This saves water and energy.
- You can donate old towels, pillows, blankets and stuffed animals to a humane society or animal shelter or even your vet.
- Take action! Use your voice, find an organization to support. Participate in events and be the change.
This year lets think of every day as Earth Day and every hour as Earth Hour. We can be eco-friendly all the time, when we are at work, at home and at school. When we talk about being eco-friendly, we use words like sustainable, renewable and resources. We talk about being responsible and taking action.
“The will to act is a renewable resource.” Al Gore
So tell me, how will you take action this year? I would love to hear what you have planned for 2014.
Leave a Reply