Each year, April 22nd serves as a day for us to celebrate the planet and remind ourselves of the necessary steps we must take to protect the environment, preserve nature, and reverse the impacts of climate change. While we love a good celebration and encourage everyone to participate in earth day activities like group clean-ups, outdoor adventures, demonstrations, and eco-friendly crafts, at LOMA, we believe that every day is Earth Day.
Here are five changes you can make to your routine to respect and protect the planet all year.
Compost and Recycle
It’s estimated that globally, 1.02 billion tons of food are wasted each year. Not only does uneaten food unnecessarily waste freshwater, but it winds up cluttering landfills alongside non-biodegradable materials.
In addition to investing in recycling programs where you can responsibly get rid of your cardboard boxes, soda cans, and single-use bottles, consider beginning your compost journey. Whether you make your own DIY compost area or seek out a compost bin that can do the tough work for you, this is an excellent option for getting rid of excess food waste (just be sure not to compost animal products).
Eventually, your food waste will be turned into soil which can be used for your garden or house plants!
Low-waste Lifestyle
In another attempt to reduce plastic consumption, we can try our best to adopt a low-waste lifestyle. You might already be on your way to cutting down waste. If you use reusable grocery bags or water bottles, you’re helping eliminate the 100 billion plastic bags and 50 billion single-use bottles the U.S. goes through each year.
Other low-waste lifestyle choices you can make include purchasing bamboo staw and utensils for when you go out, using cloth rags to clean instead of paper towels, and so much more.
Sustainable Fashion Choices
Fast fashion, while convenient, is a major culprit when it comes to putting a strain on natural resources and polluting the environment. If we’re looking to respect the planet, even as fashion lovers, quality over quantity is key.
There are dozens of clothing companies that have taken on producing sustainable, ethical clothing that has far less of an impact on our environment. Other ways to make sustainable fashion choices can include thrifting, which helps to reduce textile waste, or developing a capsule wardrobe—which essentially means having a smaller collection of timeless, quality clothing that can be worn year-round, rather than buying into short-lived fashion fads.
Cut-Down Animal Product Consumption
Reducing our carbon footprint is critical if we’re looking the reverse the effects of climate change. The meat and dairy industry has played a significant role in over-using natural resources and contributing to increased greenhouse gas emissions, which have a detrimental impact on our ecosystem. To move toward a carbon-neutral future, meat and dairy production must slow.
This is not to say that you must take on a vegan lifestyle. There are several easy ways to cut down on your animal product consumption, like switching to plant-based milk alternatives and experimenting with fun vegetarian recipes at least once a week!
Know Your Products
Finally, one of the easiest ways you can be a climate warrior all year round is to know your products. Unfortunately, the beauty industry is not without fault when it comes to harming the planet. Here at LOMA, however, we are committed to creating natural products that are non-harmful to you or the environment.
From refraining from harmful chemicals and only including vegan, organic ingredients in our products, partaking in eco-friendly manufacturing processes, and using recyclable packaging. We know that clean, green bath and body products are just one of the many ways we can respect the planet every day.