NBSB Provides 8 Tips to Celebrate Earth Day
The Theme for 2022 Earth Day is “Invest in our Planet”
2022 Kicks off the 52nd anniversary of Earth Day. Since its inception in 1970, Earth Day has forever been a day to celebrate & clean our earth as well as advocate for ways to improve it. This initiative began as a way to recognize and deal with serious issues at the time such as toxic drinking water, air pollution and the side effects of pesticides. On that day in 1970, more than 20 million Americans showed their support for Earth Day.
Today, we celebrate Earth Day in various ways, yet the need for awareness has not lessened. It is easy to forget that taking care of our Earth is both an individual and group responsibility.
In recent years local individuals have grouped together to clean their communities. Community clean-ups are an amazing way to get everyone involved in keeping their communities clean. However, in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, we will need to explore some ways to celebrate and act on this great day while keeping in mind social distancing and mask requirements. Consider taking it upon yourself or within your neighborhood, to make an agreement to keep certain areas clean. Having everyone work together gets more done on a more consistent basis.
Although it may seem more difficult to participate this year than in the past, we have included a list of 8 things you can do right now to help save the Earth.
Remember, even though we join together to recognize Earth Day on April 22nd, these small steps could be put into practice all year, for a more sustainable lifestyle and Planet.
Support our Bees: We need our bees now more than ever. They support our environments by pollenating essential vegetation. As more and more individuals use bee-killer and pesticides to protect their gardens, this could be causing a larger, global issue. If we lost all of our bees tomorrow, the vital plants we need to survive on many levels of the food chain will cease to exist. This downfall could have a snowball effect, leaving other animals/insects in the food chain to perish. Consider making a bee friendly garden habitat to fuel these efforts. NBSB has made this change and for 2022, we are focusing on Native flowers and plants at our locations when possible.
Recycle and Repurpose: It can be easy to repurpose papers and plastics within your home. Save old newspapers for craft projects, reuse glass and plastic containers for storage. Before tossing that item in the trash, considering if it could be repurposed or used in another way. If not, follow recycling protocols in your area to dispose of it correctly. Many times, these non-biodegradable items are thrown away to later end up in our oceans, killing wildlife we may have not even had the chance to discover yet.
Conserve Water: We do many tasks on a daily basis that use much more water than we think. Knowing how we overuse or waste can open our eyes to how to protect overuse of water. Consider times you leave the water running. Whether you’re rinsing/peeling vegetables, washing your hands, brushing your teeth, washing your dishes or showering, all these tasks leave the water running. Sure, it doesn’t seem like much at the time. Did you know that if you leave the water running during these activities, this is how much water you’ve let go to waste?
Teeth Brushing= Single person, one 2 minute session: 4 gallons
Dishwashing by hand= 1-3 gallons/ 1 minute
Peeling/Rinsing Vegetables= 1-3 gallons/ 1 minute
Showering= 17 gallons/ 8 minutes
To learn more about how to save water and importance of clean drinking water here: https://www.northbrookfieldsavingsbank.com/north-brookfield-savings-bank-spreads-awareness-of-world-water-day/
Bring Nature into your garden: Plant wildflowers and other plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Butterflies and hummingbirds also support your garden because they are both pollinators. In addition to incredible pollination, these gorgeous creatures will be sure to bring a smile to your face.
Go Native! Plants thrive the best when they are native to your area. Planting and growing something that will produce better could mean more fruits, vegetables or flowers for your garden!
Plant more trees: This can be done in your own yard. You can also reach out to local government to see about planting trees or native garden beds in public areas. As we lose more and more of our forests each year to over-logging, it is important, now more than ever for us to take action and keep our Earth Green. After all, we need plants to breathe!
Get kids involved! Getting today’s youth passionate about going green is more than just planting trees, it is about the future of our planet. It is our job to educate the children today about the importance of Earth Day and the issues that go along side it. Continue the trend of saving our planet!
Go Paperless! With the implementation of many things in our world being digital, consider getting your bank, mortgage, credit card and other mailed statements via email. E-statements are easy to sign up for and reference later on. Just think of how much going paperless could help you save resources!
Want to learn even more ways to get involved? Visit https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-tips/ for more actions and tips to make a difference.
