10 Ways to Give Back to the Environment

There’s only one Earth, and we’re living on it. If you’re looking for ways to give back to the environment, there are many ways, big and small, that you can help contribute to giving back to Mother Earth. To get started, whether you’re deciding to swap out your current beauty care routine for clean beauty products or deciding to ditch single-use plastics, here are ten ways to give back to the environment now.

1. Use Less Water — There are simple ways throughout your day that you can start using less water. Don’t leave the sink running when you’re brushing your teeth or between washing dishes. If you don’t need to pre-soak your dishes in the sink, don’t waste the water. If you have your own home and run the sprinklers every day, consider running it only every other day or just a few times a week.
2. Start an Urban Garden — You don’t have to have a sprawling front yard or back  yard to start a garden. If you live in an apartment building with a rooftop that’s open to tenants, you can start an urban garden up there. Even if you don’t have access to your building’s rooftop, you can start growing plants indoors with a miniature hydroponic garden. Want to start an urban garden at your building? Ask your landlord to do so and understand the benefits of sponsoring an urban garden: It can reduce a building’s energy requirements and extend the life of the roof system, helping them save costs in the long run. Plus, they’ll be giving back to the environment.
3. Ditch Single-Use Plastics — According to Keep Prince William Beautiful, one supermarket goes through about 60 million paper bags each year. In between single-use paper bags and plastic, it’s best to switch to reusable bags whenever possible. Some states have already initiated plastic bag bans. In that case, you have little to no choice but to use reusable bags. Get creative with how you get groceries, such as driving to the grocery store and picking up groceries with collapsible laundry baskets for easy transportation.

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1. Switch to Clean Beauty Products — It’s important to be eco-conscious not only for the environment but for your own health and wellness. You’d be surprised by how small lifestyle changes can benefit the environment. One thing you can do is switch to vegan beauty products. There are so many benefits that go along with switching to clean and vegan beauty products. Because vegan beauty products don’t have nasty, synthetic chemicals in them, your skin will remain hydrated without being exposed to harsh and irritating ingredients.
2. Try Composting — In simple terms, composting involves recycling organic matter like leaves and food scraps. You may not have leaves just lying around, but you likely have food scraps that you could very well compost instead of throwing into the trash. Make coffee every day? Your coffee grounds are compostable. If you eat eggs and toss egg shells, if you like bread with the crusts cut off, if you peel oranges, these are all compostable food scraps.
3. Donate Old Items — What’s junk to you might be a treasure to someone else. If you have gently used clothing or books, donate old items instead of just throwing them in the trash. You’ll be giving your used items a second life. Items like used makeup cannot be donated, but if you are going to start using makeup, opt for vegan makeup, moving forward, to be more eco-conscious.
4. Be Charitable — In addition to donating to organizations that help out our environment, purchase from brands that give back. If you aren’t already purchasing cruelty-free products, now is the time to start buying consciously, such as cruelty-free skincare products.

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1. Improve Indoor Air Quality — Improving your indoor air quality is great for your lungs, but it’s also helpful for the Earth! When you add greenery to your home with houseplants like areca palm or ficus plants, these kinds of houseplants can use airborne toxicants as plant tissues to isolate them rather than releasing these harmful toxicants back into the air.
2. Walk or Bike More — If you live in an area where everyone drives, it can be so tempting and easy to just drive everywhere you go. Whenever possible, or if you live in an area where you have public transportation readily and easily available, use public transportation. Walk or bike whenever you can. Less vehicle traffic means less smog and fewer emissions.
3. Make Your Voice Known — At the end of the day, you are one person and you can’t do it all. However, you can make your voice heard as part of the collective. Make your voice known through local organizations or through local politicians that represent you as their constituents. Speak up about causes that matter to you, such as climate change and the health of the environment.