Eight easy ways to make your Earth Day count

Earth Day might seem like a superfluous event if you find out about it that day through a trending hashtag. But it's marked in increasing ways every year, and it's not all that new. Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970, has hundreds of organized events all over the world dedicated to spreading awareness and improving the environment. At the very least, it's a moment where many of us pause together to appreciate our shared space. Here are some simple ways you can observe Earth Day and reconnect with the world around you – this week and beyond!

Drive much (much) less

If you think not driving for a day is too insignificant; taking your average midsize car just 12km, to and from work, five days a week for a year emits 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide. Ideally, none of us would rely on a car to get to work every.single.day. Can you commute via walking, biking, public transit, carpool or even telecommuting to work this week? If that isn't practical, see if there's an alternative to driving your kids to school. Go public with your goal to make it work; challenge your partner, family or friends to see who can use their car the least. If the loser buys dinner, you'll find another way to get to work.

Get muggin'

Let's say you buy a cup of coffee 5 times a week; that's 20 cups a month equalling 240 cups a year, plus plastic lids, paper sleeves and stir sticks. If you buy just one travel mug, you could avoid all that waste, not to mention keep your coffee warmer and better tasting. In 2010, Canadians used an estimated 1.5 billion(!) coffee cups, made from over half a million trees. Even worse, there's the added issue of disposal as many of these cups end up in the garbage. Still need mug-convincing? Starbucks offers a personal cup discount.

Disown your old phone

We all have them; those relic phones that were the hottest on the market a few years ago, now collect dust in our drawers. Heck, you probably have a flip phone lying around somewhere, too. All the metals, plastic and glass that make up a phone were used by you, then totally wasted by sitting in your home. It was estimated in 2015 that 68% of Canadians owned a smartphone, equalling almost 24 million phones that are waiting to be reused. By recycling your old phone, you'd not only be avoiding the forever-bloating landfills, you'd be allowing those raw materials to be turned into new phones again (which you'll be buying every few years anyway). Furthermore, it couldn't be easier; there's a free smartphone recycling program with all the info you need.

Localize your dinner

Before the food we eat goes from our plate to our mouths, it travels, on average 2500 km to get to our tables, depending on the food and where you live. That's a large carbon footprint for an apple, plus many foods are harvested early to make the trip, compromising quality and necessitating chemical use. Buying local (within a 100 km radius) solves these problems and then some. The short distance takes a big burden off the environment and you're directly supporting an industry that makes renewable use of the land in your area. Many local foods are proudly organic, saving your body and the environment the onslaught of chemicals. To start, see if you can keep up with 78% of Ontarians and eat local once a week. Each week, see if you can tighten your radius and get even more local, there's plenty that can be grown in your own garden. If you don't know where to start, there are farmers' markets across the country just waiting for you.

Unplug

We're all familiar with Earth Hour, but on Earth Day, see if you can take the personal challenge of turning one hour into 24. If this sounds impractical and near impossible, that's the point. Bringing awareness of how much electricity we use may trigger some much needed changes in our routine. Do we need the light on in the bathroom when it's already lit by daylight? Probably not. We certainly don't need to be incessantly charging our phones or laptops and many of us have multiple screens going at the same time for no reason. Don't just shut off those gadgets and appliances, take their plugs out of the sockets too, because they might still be using electricity and costing you money.

Taper your paper with e-bills

As of 2014, Canadians consumed 5 million metric tons of paper and paperboard. Take a look at the slew of crumpled paper, used envelopes and scribbled notes on your desk and you'll get a pretty good idea of just how much paper our nation is wasting. Switching all your statements to online billing has a few other benefits too; it's cheaper (companies may offer incentives and discounts for switching), they're easy to access, you'll never lose or misplace them and they won't be cluttering up your home. But most importantly, if you average 5 bills a month, you're likely to save almost a 1kg of paper and over 30kg in greenhouse gases in one year and that's just on your end. If you factor in the printing, mailing and delivering of your bills, going paperless can have incredible environmental benefits.

Get dirty

Want to clean up your act in a major way? Well actually, Canada may be keeping it a little too clean. Canada has ranked among the top water consumers in the world (double the use of Europeans), which is alarming considering that we regard water as one of our most important resources and realize how limited it really us. A major source of our consumption is in the bathroom – we've all had multiple-shower days and wasted far too much shower time admiring our vocal ranges – not to mention that hot water use can strain our home's energy use even more. Cut the water to cut the waste and see if you can go a whole day without showering. If that's too dirty for you, maybe only wash your "essentials" and see if you can cut your average shower time in half. Every minute counts – an 8 minute shower can use over 60 litres of water.

Get in touch

Perhaps many of us don't do our environmental duty because we're out of touch with what's really around us. With an ever-encroaching concrete jungle around us, it can be easy to forget just what this entire place is really made of. One way to fix that is by literally getting in touch with the nature around you. Take off your shoes and go for a walk, or do yoga in the grass without a mat. Go find a ravine and dip your hands into the water or plant something in your garden. And when you're out there, have a moment to yourself where you stay totally still and silent. We're usually bustling through this world, and it's amazing what you can truly tune in to and hear when you shut everything else off – wind, water, trees, birds and bugs – which makes it impossible not to have a greater appreciation for Earth. You might want to turn this exercise into a weekly practice; routine silence can lead to improved memory, a stimulated brain, reduced stress, heightened awareness and, importantly, to the motivation to help this beautiful world of ours.

RJ Skinner is an actor, writer and pro wrestler, so he rants and raves in various states of undress. Follow him on IG @rjcity and if you're feeling crafty, behold the Cynical Crafter.