April 22 is Earth Day. It’s an opportunity to remind ourselves that everyday should be Earth Day! Let’s invest in our planet and adopt these five good habits to take care of Earth:
- Fill your green bins! The City collects green waste (food scraps and yard trimmings) curbside every week. Putting food scraps in the green bin instead of the garbage is an easy way to reduce your impact on the climate.
By using their green bins, the Metro Vancouver region has:
- Saved 420,000 tonnes of food scraps from the garbage.
- Prevented over 1.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases since 2015 – comparable to taking 250,000 cars off the road!
- Diverted enough organic material to create 140,000 tonnes of finished compost.
- Learn how to properly dispose/recycle your waste. Try the Put Waste In Its Place sorting wizard! Enter the name of an item and find out how to dispose of the object – a lot of your waste can be diverted from the landfill.
- Think thrice about your clothes: reduce, repair, reuse to minimize waste. The fast fashion industry has caused significant harm to the environment, with only a small percentage of clothing being recycled, and the industry being responsible for 10% of all carbon emissions.
When we think thrice about our clothes not only do they last longer, we help to minimize landfill waste which can help make a positive impact on climate change.
- Let’s rid our environment of waste and plastic pollution. Ditch the plastic water bottles and fill a reusable water bottle before heading on your walk or hike. Plastic pollution is one of the world’s most complex problems. How much do you know about plastic pollution? Take the quiz.
- Reduce paper waste and switch to online billing: Sign up for MyWhiteRock to receive property tax and water utility billing notifications directly to your inbox.
Participate in a Park Clean-up
Celebrate Earth Day with the Lower Mainland Green Team at Ruth Johnson Park on Sunday April 23 from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. and help clear invasive plants. This family friendly, fun activity will help build community and care for nature. Sign up at http://ow.ly/tmxc50NKS1E.