Trail to Earth Day #4: Lower Your Carbon Footprint During this Rite of Spring
The Trail to Earth Day, a series of simple tips to help the environment (with music at the end!) will run through the 50th Earth Day, April 22. We’d be happy to send you one a day via text. Sign up here.
April 4, 2020 — Breaking News! A reported surge in spring cleaning is about to hit homes across the U.S. If you’ll be taking part in this spring ritual, seize the opportunities to make it an eco-friendly experience.
We all have different tolerance levels for clutter, but no one can deny the good feeling of clearing out those unused items taking up space. Rather than making their ultimate destination a landfill or incinerator, consider the alternatives.
Take stock of your possessions to see how you could reuse and repurpose them. Old clothes, towels, and those perplexing single socks make great cleaning cloths and cut down on paper towel use. Use an old shower curtain as a drop cloth.
Instead of discarding broken items, repair them. Mend that hole in your garden glove. Re-glue the handle on your coffee mug. You’ll reduce your carbon footprint if you make your belongings last longer and cut back on buying new ones.
For items that still work — electronics, small appliances, tools and household décor — research ways to sell, donate, or recycle and give them a second life once the COVID-19 crisis subsides.
According to Planet Aid, the average American throws away about 64 pounds of clothing a year—that’s about 191 T-shirts! There are many organizations that divert donated used clothing from landfills. Learn how Planet Aid does this in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
Organizations that provide home or shelter for animals always need donations. The Center at Fairfield’s Animal Care “wish list” includes pillow cases, towels, washcloths, mops, brooms, dustpans, animal carriers and newspapers.
If you’d like to donate, please call the Center at 203-259-6305 when we re-open.
Natural cleaning methods and products can be safer for your family, home and the planet—and many are already in your cupboards. Vinegar and baking soda are good household cleaners. A half lemon sprinkled with salt makes a great scouring pad to polish metal. See these tips from the Sierra Club.
Reduce paper consumption by stopping unwanted catalogs to cut down on junk mail. Switch to online bills instead of paper bills.
De-cluttering and cleaning offer many spirit-lifting and energizing benefits. With a little care and thought, they also offer ways we can help heal our planet while we’re waiting at home for the tide to turn. — Liza Hickey
And while we’re on the subject of buying too many items of apparel, give a listen to this satirical gem from the mid 1960s.
