4 Easy Things You Can Do To Celebrate Earth Day

Those who have been following this blog for a while know that I am very passionate about protecting our planet. And I have been since I was about 10 years old.

Even as a child I could see that the way we threw things away was both wasteful and harmful. My parents would roll their eyes when I would get after them about recycling, but it worked. Even my dad recycles now.

Whenever people ask me about recycling or complain that it is hard to remember, I remind them that it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to transform your entire way of life overnight, just take little steps until they become habits. After a while, you will wonder why you ever resisted doing little things to protect our planet.

Earth Day is an annual reminder to be more attentive to the world around us, and this year I hope you will commit to at least one small change in your life to make a difference.

Recycle Everything – Sure you have gotten good at recycling your bottles and cans, you even recycle the newspaper. But if your recycling efforts stop at the basics, you are filling our landfills with precious materials that can be reused. And what about the bathroom? Did you know that only 1 in 5 people recycle items from their bathroom – like shampoo bottles and packaging. 

One of the easiest things people often forget to recycle is packaging. Nearly every item we buy comes in additional, and unnecessary, packaging. (I’d love to talk to manufactures about cutting down the ridiculous packages, but that’s another story.) Many, if not most, packages can be recycled.

Let’s take something as simple as a toothbrush. You can’t recycle the toothbrush easily, but both the paper backing and the plastic bubble can be recycled. By simply separating them they can be added to your curbside pickup.  

Get more tips about recycling in your bathroom and learn even more about how to recycle household items.

Speaking of bathroom items, HEALTHY ESSENTIALS® is a great resource for printable coupons, tips & tools and more. You can save more than $55 in April and signing up for HEALTHY ESSENTIALS® program. Don’t forget to recycle your empties when you are done!

Sign up to get tons coupons from the HEALTHY ESSENTIALS® program today.

Donate A Photo – I take a LOT of photos, and with the free Donate A Photo (DAP) app I can use my photos for a good cause. The DAP app helps you make a difference by raising money and awareness for causes that you care about through one simple act – taking a photo.

(That’s me on the left with the crazy hair at Disney California Adventure’s Radiator Springs Racers.)

For every photo shared through Donate A Photo, Johnson & Johnson will donate one dollar to one of its non-profit partners, which each consumer can choose from a rotating list. Right now you can help causes like:

• Water.org
• Save the Children
• American Heart Association
• And more

Join RecycleBank – RecycleBank is an online community that rewards you for learning more about ways to help the planet. Yes, you get rewards just for learning about what you can do to make a global impact. In some areas you can even earn rewards for actually recycling (although that program is not available in Florida). 

Join today and get started learning facts about recycling and what you can do to help the planet. Plus get rewarded along the way with gift cards, high-value coupons and magazine subscriptions.

See Disneynature’s Bears – Moviegoers are invited to see Disneynature’s new film Bears during opening week (April 18-24), and for every ticket purchased during this period Disneynature, via the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, will make a contribution to the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, to protect wildlife and wild places across America’s national park system. 

My family saw a special preview of the movie last week, and it is amazing how close they got to this adorable family of bears. If you are already considering seeing the movie, go see it opening week and your ticket purchase will do even more good for bears in the wild.

Happy Earth Day — everyday!