Make a Difference on Earth Day

Happy Earth Day.

If you weren’t aware, April 22nd is Earth Day.

And this year I am going to make a big lifestyle change on Earth Day. I think you should too.

Let’s take a look at a list of some of the things you can do on Earth Day to make a difference.

1. Ride your bike. Reduce your carbon footprint and do something good for your body. This is a win-win.
2. Buy reusable bags. It’s scary how many people don’t use reusable bags when shopping. Buy some really cute ones and store them in your car for shopping. And, if you are at the check out line at the grocery store and you have forgotten them, don’t panic. Just load your purchased groceries into your cart and put them in the bags when you get to your car.
3. Buy a super cute refillable water bottle. And stop buying water in plastic bottles. It’ a good idea to get a new refillable bottle every once in a while. Now use it. Water is the best thing for you!
4. Unsubscribe to catalogs. Be brave and get rid of them all. Or at least get rid of the ones you don’t even look at. Save them for the next month and unsubscribe to them when they arrive. It’s that simple.
5. Buy produce from a farmer’s market (on a regular basis). It’s simple. Buy local because food in the grocery store is trucked a gazillion miles and imagine all the energy that is saved. Not to mention the fact we are supporting our local farmers.
6. Plant a garden. I put in raised vegetable beds and I love my garden. No matter where you live, you can grow a garden of flowers and vegetables. Now is the perfect time to start.
7. Start composting.

And that’s what I did for this year’s Earth Day! I am now composting.

I started with stainless a compost pail that I ordered from Amazon. (It’s less than $25.) It sits on my kitchen counter right next to my sink. I put all vegetable scraps, egg shells and coffee grinds in the pail. (Meat, bones, and dairy products don’t belong in the typical household compost pail.) So far with my pail, there is no smell and it looks pretty cute.

Check out this list of the do’s and don’t for what should go into your bin.

The next step was ordering a compost bin. I did a lot of research and ordered this one on Amazon. It’s a perfect size, it holds a decent amount of compost and it was reasonably priced. Putting it together was the most painful part. By far.

There were over twenty pieces and forty screws and bolts. Find a partner before you do this. It will be much easier.

But I did finally get it together.

Next, I did some research on what goes into the compost bin. There’s an easy, color-coded formula to follow. Add two or three parts carbon-heavy “browns” for every one part nitrogen-centric “greens.“ The “browns” include shredded newspaper and other paper, dead leaves, and food-soiled paper napkins. (Just don’t use any coated, shiny paper, including milk cartons—they won’t break down sufficiently—or any treated or painted wood.) For “greens,“ toss in fruit and vegetable bits (scrape off any plastic stickers first), breads and grains, coffee grounds and filters, and grass clippings.

I highly suggest you talk to your husband and/or gardener so everyone can be on the same page and help with the composting.

Once you are composting, you can use finished compost in a layer on top of your soil to nourish all of the plants underneath. This will keep your soil more nourished as water will carry the nutrients down into the soil.

Earth Day is a great day to make a difference. Get your kids involved and make a difference.

The earth depends on it.