In honor of Earth Day that just passed, let’s take a look at a few ways you can contribute to helping make the Earth a cleaner place to live.

There are various ways we all can live a more sustainable life, and some of them are very simple and easy to implement into our everyday routines.

For example, one way to help out the Earth and reduce waste is to use a reusable water bottle instead of buying plastic ones and throwing them away after one use.

Plastic makes up 79 percent of the waste in our landfills, and sadly 91 percent of plastic that ends up being thrown away is never recycled, according to National Geographic.

Help reduce the amount of plastic making its way into our oceans by ditching plastic water bottles for good and opting for a sustainable bottle you can wash and reuse.

Speaking of plastic, another item that wreaks havoc on the sea life in the ocean are plastic straws. Along with plastic bottles, caps, and cups, straws are the most common item found littering the oceans, beaches, and marine life’s stomaches.

By saying to no to straws we help reduce the amount that ends up in the landfills with the rest of the plastic waste. In fact, a new initiative to ban straws for good has taken over with many restaurants saying they plan to participate. 

Since we are on a roll about plastic items, did you know California charges consumers for plastic bags when they are checking out at the grocery store?

Yes, the 10 cent bag fee legislation was passed in an effort to help combat and reduce plastic waste. The legislation hopes to entice people to start using reusable bags when they do their shopping.

But more states than just California need to participate in order for a drastic impact to take place. If your state doesn’t have a bag fee consider bringing the initiative to your representative.

It’s one way we can all help combat and reduce waste while being sustainable and keeping the Earth a cleaner place.

But perhaps the best thing you can do is to be aware and actively help by going to your local volunteer center and offering your time to help clean up trash.

Speaking of trash, make sure to always recycle! Not sure what can be recycled? Check out the list here.

Changing your light bulbs to energy efficient ones helps reduce energy usage, as does replacing old appliances like refrigerators, which use the most energy.

Try carpooling whenever you can, or be less wasteful of the amount of food you throw out a week. On average the US wastes 60 million tons of food a year.

This is the only home we have, and it’s up to all of us to keep it healthy and clean for generations to come.