June 5 is the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Environment Day. World Environment Day is an annual event aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated day of environmental impact across the world. The United Nations mission is to empower individuals to become global agents of change for environmental issues through global action.

Since 1972, World Environment Day has been celebrated on or around June 5.

The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is “Green Economy, does it include you?”

The United Nations would love for all communities to get involved in their environment initiative. How can your community become active today? Check out our 30 ideas below to help make your community a more green economy!

1. Change your light bulbs. If every household changed one bulb to a compact fluorescent bulb, it would be equivalent to removing 1 million cars from the environment.
2. Turn off your computer. By turning your computer off, instead of leaving it in sleep mode, you can save up to 40 watts of electricity per day.
3. Recycle glass. By recycling your glassware, you reduce air pollution by 20 percent and water pollution by 50 percent.
4. Hang dry those clothes. Get a clothesline to hang your wet clothes. Not only will you save energy, your clothes will last longer!
5. Wash in cold or warm cycle. If every household in the United States switched to the warm-cold or cold-cold washing cycle, we could save enough energy comparable to 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
6. Recycle newspaper. Recycling just the Sunday paper could save up to half a million trees annually.
7. Get rid of your bottled water. Nearly 90% of bottled water is not recycled, bottle take thousands of years to decompose. Reduce, reuse, and recycle!
8. Brush your teeth without running water. You will conserve up to 5 gallons per day, if you do not run water while brushing your teeth.
9. Plant a tree. Get your neighbors together and plant a tree in the community. It will not only provide shade and a fun bonding experience, but will also improve your community’s air quality.
10. Use cruise control. By using cruise control, you can save up to 15% in gas mileage. Judging by today’s gas prices, this is a win-win situation!
11.  Buy local. Greenhouse gas pollution is created when food is flown from the farm to your table. You will not only help your community’s economy, but also cut pollution when you choose to buy local!
12. Adjust your thermostat. One degree warmer in the summer or one degree cooler in the winter will save your 10% in energy.
13. Turn off the lights. Always turn off the lights when you leave a room!
14. Get green with your lawn care. Choose natural ways for lawn upkeep instead of using pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
15. Recycle your old cell phone. Trying to keep up with cell phone trends? Make sure your recycle your old one to reduce landfill waste.
16. Donate. Before you just throw your unwanted items away, decide if someone else could benefit from your things.
17. Get rid of plastic bags. Plastic bags take hundreds of years to decompose and they pollute our oceans. Make the decision to switch to durable, reusable bags.
18. Pay your bills online. If every American household paid their bills online, we would save 18.5 million trees, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste.
19.  Go veggie once a week. Not only will you be saving the animals, but you will save water and destroy less land.
20. Choose a better diaper. Whether you choose cloth or a more environmentally friendly disposable diaper, you will help save 3.5 million tons of waste in landfills.

 

Whether you decide to do a small or big act today, choosing a greener lifestyle will not only benefit your community, but also your wallet. Choose today to be the first day of the rest of your green life.

Are you making the choice to be part of the green economy? Share your story with the United Nations Environment Programme!

How are you volunteering to be greener in your community? We would love for you to share in the comments section below!