Day was first celebrated in the United States on April 22, 1970. Today, more than 190 countries and one billion people mobilize on this particular day. Although many other initiatives have emerged, Earth Day is now the world's largest participatory environmental movement.
Somewhat belatedly, but not without dynamism, Quebec and Canada joined the movement in 1995, organizing all kinds of activities to raise awareness of environmental issues. This movement has spawned numerous environmental action and awareness programs.
Not unimportant, Earth Day sows seeds for a better future. How can we, in our daily lives, make our day Earth Day? The actions are endless. Obviously, we can't do it all in a single article! We'll take a look and give you a few ideas for action:
Adopt one of the following phrases:
''Buy less and buy better''
''Buy less and play more''
Promote a Zero Waste lifestyle
- Carry a reusable water bottle in your handbag or work bag.
- Leave a reusable mug in your car or work bag.
- Refuse straws that are offered to you.
- Leave reusable grocery bags in your car at all times.
- Choose products and foods in bulk.
- Forget individualized portions for lunches, which are more expensive and generate more waste.
Avoid products containing chemical substances
- Choose organic foods and products.
- Choose clothes made from natural, eco-friendly fibers.
- Avoid clothes that require dry-cleaning. Not only is this a polluting process, it also increases the real cost of your garment.
- Gradually replace your household cleaning products with biodegradable ones, which are increasingly available on the market.
- Travel as often as possible by bicycle, on foot or by public transport.
- Avoid petroleum-based textiles such as polyester.
- Avoid everything made of plastic: water bottles, over-wrapping, toys, etc.
- You need to change your car: look for options that consume less petroleum.
Give your discarded items the best possible end-of-life
- Your city doesn't offer composting services? Take two minutes to call them and let them know you'd like access.
- Take an empty jar and drop in any batteries that no longer work. Take them to a collection point. Buy a charger and rechargeable batteries, which will cost you less in the long run.
- Look around your pharmacy for expired medications and take them to the pharmacy.
- Avoid throwing away objects that are still usable, and find an alternative (organization, recycler, friend, family, neighbor, etc.).
Reduce electricity use
- Make sure your home is energy-efficient, from caulking to solar panels.
- Air-dry your clothes.
- Turn down your heating or air conditioning by one degree.
- Reduce your shower time.
- Need to replace an appliance? Pay attention to energy consumption.
- Make Monday your vegetarian day
- Replace or reduce your meat consumption by regularly replacing it with legumes (ex: vegetarian chili).
Of course, this list is far from exhaustive! There are countless ways in which we can be more attentive to our ecological impact. Even here, we're sure that you'll be able to identify a gesture, a behavior that you can easily adopt. The idea is not to radically change all our habits, but to make constant progress. So, what's the next thing you can do?
Ecologically yours,
