50 Years of Earth Day!
Published - Apr 17, 2020
April 22, 2020 is the 50-year anniversary of Earth Day. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans (about 10% of the U.S. population at the time) took to the streets of hundreds of cities all around the country to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet. Ironically, the theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. Due to the global pandemic happening, the earth’s pollution has decreased significantly and the environment is finally getting a breather from the harm humans have been causing. Social distancing, limiting travel, and staying home is proving to help our planet immensely.
Below are some things you can do to celebrate Earth Day 2020, while staying socially distant:
- You can find a digital Earth Day event here
- You can plant flowers or trees in your own yard, start a garden, begin to grow your own food
- Wash your laundry in cold water to save energy
- Invest in a bidet to save toilet paper ;)
- Use cloth towels instead of a paper towel
- Stop drinking plastic water bottles
- Don’t idle in your car for more than 2 minutes
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator
- Calculate your carbon footprint and REDUCE it
- Invest in reusable straws, plastic baggies, and grocery totes
- Ride your bike to get groceries, leave the car at home
- Unplug at night, your devices are wasting energy even when not turned on
- Add plants into your home to help regulate the temperature through the moisture they release into the air
- Go meatless for the day, the United Nations reports that the meat industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions
- Compost your food waste
- Go for a walk and pick up any trash you see along the way
Here at IRG, we are having some of our employees work from home, and more patients are having Telemedicine appointments every day. Both of these changes are reducing emissions from traveling in cars. At the start of 2020, IRG transitioned to a new paperless software system as well which has been great for reducing our ecological footprint.
If you are interested in scheduling an online Telemedicine appointment with IRG,
Good Housekeeping has provided a comprehensive list of 45 Tiny Lifestyle Changes You Can Make RIght Now to Help Save the Earth. We think you'll enjoy the read, as well as implementing some of these changes to help save our Earth!
Happy Earth Day from all of us at IRG!