Even though we are spending more time at home these days, which means less commuting and less pollution, each of us continues to leave an environmental footprint. Consider these 5 steps you can take to reduce your environmental footprint today:

1. Wash your recyclables before Throwing Them in the Recycling bin

Ensure that your good intentions of recycling come through by cleaning your recyclables. 27% of all recycled content is discarded in landfills because it is not clean. Simply rinsing your recyclables to remove any remaining residue closes the loop on recycling. 

2. Shift Towards Using Reusable Products

Avoid using single-use plastics such as plastic cutlery and plastic water bottles (40% of which contain city tap water that is readily available to you already). Invest in a water bottle that is reusable to minimize your environmental footprint.

3. Turn on your ceiling fans

Instead of lowering your thermostat to cool off, turn on your ceiling fans. Remember, every time you drop your thermostat by 1 degree to cool off, you raise your energy costs by 3%.

4. Give your plants and home garden some more love

Reduce your kitchen waste by using food scraps to make a compost bin and then use the soil in your next home garden project. Then buy a rain barrel to recapture water from your roof and gutter system to provide some extra care for your plant babies.

5. Support your local farmers

Food production and transportation account for over 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The United States imports about 15% of its overall food supply with seafood as the top contributor. When you support and buy from your local farmers, you reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. You also receive more nutrients from the fresh produce that hasn’t been in transport for the last month.