It struck me that millions of people are celebrating Earth Day this weekend through Wednesday. Earth Fairs, recycle events, litter clean ups… but the reality is Earth Day can be everyday. In fact celebrating Earth Day Everyday, not only will you go green you can save a lot of green.
Families that are going toward the Zero Waste are saving up to 40% a year and it’s simple to do. Just Say No, and make Reduce, Recycle and Reuse part of your daily mantra.
Learning to Saying No is the hardest part, yet this this the most crucial in saving green and your health. Remember that 2/3 of Americans are considered overweight or obese. Add in the health problems that are associated with unhealthy eating and obesity.
One of the easiest ways to Green and Save is in the kitchen.
Say No To Food Waste: We in the USA throwaway $165 billion per year by tossing away unwanted snacks and meals. That equals $529 per person each year. (See Grocery Waste Can Cost You) Buy, make only as much as you can eat. Compost leftovers if you have that option. Better planning will save you hundreds in grocery bills and help keep our landfills empty.
Saying No to Plastic Bottles drinks, saves water, the environment, your waistline and increases your bank balance.
- The Average American drank 30 Gallons of Bottle Water in a year in 2012. If you drink eight glasses of water a day from the tap. Cost equals $.49 per year. Bottled water= $1,400.00/ year. That is quite a bit of Green Saved. Think about this one, more than 25% of the bottled water you drink comes from municipal water supplies. Basically you are paying to drink the same water in a bottle that comes out of your Tap.
- Not only that the energy we waste using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes.
Saying No to Sugary Drinks will save the environment, help keep our cities litter free, save your waistline and save some green.
- The average American drinks 44 Gallons of soda per year. Sugary drinks come in glass, aluminum and plastic.
Coke Products - A single 12-ounce can of soda has around 13 teaspoons of sugar, usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.
- Coke uses 300,000 tons of aluminum for its cans every year just for its US operations. That’s equal to 17.4% of what the entire US aluminum industry produces. For a drink that is bad for you.
Saying No to Snack Foods.. saves water, trash, your weight and your bank balance. We are being fooled and taken in by the Food and Beverage Industry, they spend $1.79 Billion/year marketing to us, with the majority of that marketing going to kids.
- Worldwide, snack sales rose 2 percent to $374 billion for the year ending in March 2014
- In 2018, Americans will be eating snacks as meals 86.4 billion times a year, according to the NPD Group.
Say No To Meat: Giving up meat is one of the most eco-friendly things a person can do. I admit, I love a good hamburger and carne aside burrito. But in the course of the last couple of years, I now say to Tuna and really try to eat less meat.
- Cows eat 16 pounds of feed in to get 1 pound of flesh. 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce a pound of meat (25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat).
- One hamburger uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles and takes 660 gallons of water.
- A typical pig factory generates the same amount of raw waste as a city of 12,000 people.
- The Environmental Protection Agency affirms that raising animals for food is the number-one source of water pollution.
10 square feet of primary fast food wrappers on the beach - California officials identify agriculture, including cows, as the major source of nitrate pollution in more than 100,000 square miles of polluted groundwater.
- In the USA, roughly 29 million pounds of antibiotics — about 80 percent of the nation’s antibiotics use in total — are added to animal feed every year, mainly to speed livestock growth. This widespread use of antibiotics on animals contributes to the rise of resistant bacteria, making it harder to treat human illnesses.
- 87% of agricultural land is used to raise animals for food. About 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to produce feed for animals raised for food.
- The meat industry is directly responsible for 85% of all soil erosion in the U.S.
Say No To Fast Food. This is probably one of the hardest to give up. Snack foods are on the rise in the USA, with $117 Billion wasted on Fast Food.
- Americans spend 10% of their disposable income on fast food every year. (Source)
- The Average American spends $1200/year on Fast Food (Source)
Say No To Coffee Trips . Many people claim they cannot live without coffee. Personally, I quit the coffee and tea habit 3 months and guess what I am still alive. Savings per year most likely around $1000.00. What I miss the most reusing the coffee ground in my compost.
- Americans who regularly buy coffee throughout the week spend on average, $1,092 on coffee annually.
- 14 billion paper coffee cups are thrown away every year (Estimate)
- Coffee waste has grown so much that it now generates 40% of all solid waste going into landfills.
Saying No to GMO products. With the savings in reducing snacks and bottled drinks.. you can well afford to buy local, organic and non- GMO Products.
Say No To Cigarettes; This one is not so easy but not only is this one of the worst thing you can do for your health, it is one of the most littered items. Quitting Smoking can save up to $2,555/ per year.
Lastly, in the grocery stores use reusable bags. Any packaging such a cereal liners, cereal boxes, plastic bags can be reused as trash can liners.
Resources
- Pacific Institue
- National Resources Defense Council Livestock Pollution
- Care2– Do American Snack To Much