Environmental Stewardship

EARTH DAY 2021 WE ACT with Volunteerism While we cannot gather or organize in group volunteerism this year due to the pandemic, we can still contribute individually and with our households in a socially distanced way to preserve the environment around us. Below are ideas to consider. • Review recycling options within your community and commit to recycle more from home and work, where possible. • Pick your favorite park and plan a cleanup to find and dispose of waste in receptacles and recycle when possible. • Clean out your closets and donate any unwanted clothing to a local charity. Ask if any socially distanced volunteering is available to process the donations. • Clean out your shed or garage and donate any unneeded items to a charity. Ask if any socially distanced volunteering is available to process the donations. • Write letters of gratitude to waste haulers, recyclers and composters. • Pick your favorite river, stream, creek or ocean and help clean it up. • Teach or attend an online class on how to save energy and water at home. • Evaluate solar power for your home (photovoltaics), including tax credits and utility rebates. This can reduce your energy costs and improve your home's resale value. • Evaluate green energy or carbon offset options with your home electrical or natural gas utilities. Often these programs are a small premium on your utility bill. • Commit to energy efficiency at home, including assessing current energy use and selecting ENERGY STAR qualified products at the time of replacement when possible. • Volunteer at a local farm that donates to food pantries or food banks. • Contact your Parks and Recreation Department to volunteer in the parks to plant seedlings, salvage native plants, or remove invasive plant species. • Create an electronic recipe book with vegan/vegetarian recipes to encourage others to reduce their meat consumption, which is greenhouse gas and water intensive. • Minimize food waste at home, and purchase fruits and vegetables from a local farmer's market and deliver to a homeless shelter or food pantry. • Get ideas about creating gardens at ministries and how green teams harvest the fruits and vegetables for local community charities and share with fellow caregivers. • Plant a native and/or non-invasive plant or tree with your family. • Reach out to homeless shelters to find out what types of cleaning products they may need and offer to purchase "green cleaning" products to help reduce exposure to chemicals for those living in poverty. • Create and use your own "green cleaning" products that you can make from ingredients in your pantry or look for less toxic cleaners as substitutes at home. • When considering pest control services search for natural treatments over chemicals that harm insects such as bees, butterflies and other pollinators. • If you use weed preventatives at home, consider organic weed prevention over chemicals that get washed into our watershed. • Consider safe streets where your family can conduct a roadway cleanup. Dispose of waste in receptacles and recycle when possible. • Volunteer for an organization that offers delivery of food to those that are homebound. • Use alternative transportation to get to work or somewhere else such as walking, biking, mass transit, when possible. • Organize your household to take a dedicated hike or bike ride and stop along the way to clean up an area of the route. • Collect broken/used bikes and then volunteer with an organization that dissembles, sorts and distributes bicycles to those who need them. • If you are considering a new car purchase during Earth month, consider electric or hybrid vehicle options rather than gas powered cars.

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