The world’s wildlife needs us all to step up!
If you take a step today, you will save species tomorrow.
Take a look at the amount of plastic you use in your everyday life and reduce it. Make an effort to use less plastic.
Bag your own dry-cleaning by bringing your own garment bag.
Try using a bar form of shampoo or conditioner instead of bottled ones.
Try using something other than balloons for decorating, like streamers, ribbons or banners.
Avoid glitter as it is made of plastic and is polluting our ocean.
Take a look at the food you eat and think about where it comes from and how much you really need.
Eat more plant-based food — try going meatless for a day or only eat it on the weekend. Try plant-based milk too!
When dining out, ask where your fish comes from? Asking, shows you care. Use seafoodwatch.org to choose sustainably sourced fish.
Cutdown on food waste. Freeze leftovers and save for later using reusable containers. Purchase the “ugly” fruit and veggies so they don’t go to waste. Compost or even start a garden.
Take a look at the clothes hanging in your closet. Buy less, wear longer and share or recycle your clothes.
Take the “30 Wear Challenge.” If you won’t wear it at least 30 times, then don’t buy it.
Join a group who shares, repurposes, recycles or donates their clothes.
Recycle your jeans and other clothes, there are organizations that will take these and turn them into unique items.
From your bathroom to your office, take a look at the paper products you use every day. How can you reduce your paper usage, recycle used paper, and purchase sustainably sourced paper?
Use reusable coffee mugs instead of disposable ones.
Replace paper towels with cloth ones that can be reused and washed.
Try using pages of an old magazine for gift wrap.
Invest in cloth napkins that can be reused and washed. Even your coffee filters can be replaced with a washable, reusable one.
Check your bathroom tissue with NRDC’s Toilet Paper Sustainability Scorecard to see which toilet paper is the most environmentally friendly.
Investigate your water usage and see how much water you are wasting, using and polluting.
Convert to a low-flow shower head and set a timer for a seven-minute shower.
Turn off the water when brushing your teeth.
Plant native plants so you don’t need to water your lawn as much.
Only run your dishwasher when it is full, and running your dishwasher is more efficient than hand washing.
Set your washing machine to cold, it is just as effective. And only run it when you have a full load of laundry.
Install a rain barrel and use the water to water your lawn or garden.
Eat more plant-based foods, they use less water to grow than raising animals for meat.
Most modes of transportation use fossil fuels to run and these emissions are warming our planet. Take a look at your travel and purchasing habits to see where you can help.
Bike and walk whenever you can and support your local communities’ efforts to help your city be more bike and walk friendly.
Attend virtual conferences to help cut back on your air travel.
Purchase local made and grown products to reduce the amount of distance these items need to be shipped.
Invest in electric cars when you can. And if not, here are some tips to help: Stop idling, get regular tune-ups, keep your tires at the recommended pressure and carpool.
Use public transportation or check out longer distance travel by train or bus.
Young people are the future of our planet, take time to help cultivate their love for our planet.
Plant a garden with your family and use the produce to cook with. Cook together and talk about where your food comes from.
Encourage them to get outside and play! Kids need space and time to just play and doing it in nature is even better. This will help them appreciate wildlife around them. Let them dig in the dirt, play with bugs and worms, make a bird feeder or plant a pollinator garden.
Join a local nature club or environmental group and get involved as a family. Cultivating a love for nature starts at home.
Conserve water, don’t waste food, reduce your reliance on single-use plastic and recycle. For example, recycling a single aluminum can avoids habitat destruction caused by mining, prevents associated pollution and reduces greenhouse gases.
Jane Alexander shares seven simple actions to help birds.
Learn More
We each need to turn awareness into determined action to protect our planet. In large measure, conservation depends on personal discipline. Considered action – whether big or small – can bring immense change for a vulnerable species.
Get out into the field to experience nature firsthand, whether it’s through ecotourism to some exotic destination or another remote corner of our planet, or through volunteer opportunities, education programs or periodic visits to natural areas in your own backyard.
Every individual in this world can make a difference and we can go out there and we can actually achieve our dreams.
Tell two friends that you love lemurs and want to save them from extinction. And tell each friend to tell two additional friends. We need awareness as the first step.
Recognizing now that polar bears can help us carry a message about what we need to do to preserve a climate on Earth that we can continue to thrive in, to me that was the best news of all because there is still time to save polar bears.
Support companies whose products are made using certified sustainable palm oil.
The Sustainable Palm Oil Shopping Guide app can help you find “orangutan friendly” products.
Orangutan populations have declined significantly over the past hundred years and in recent decades have succumbed to the destruction of their native habitat due to in part to unsustainable palm oil production.
