We should all care about climate change and damage we are doing to our environment. If not for yourself, but because of our children. This WILL impact my generations, and even more so my children. I could go on a soap box about this, but I will digress and instead share some simple tips that you can do around the house to help save the planet. Here are a few of those tips and tricks, and the items I love that fit the bill.

1. Cook with a pressure cooker. This can reduce the time it takes to cook by nearly 70% which means less gas, electricity, and water are being used during your cooking process.
2. Place LED lights around your home. They even make dimmable LED lights nowadays.These types of bulbs use about 75% less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent lights.
3. Compost your scraps. Here is my favorite counter top composter. Food waste in landfills is one of the leading causes of methane. So instead, sprinkle those coffee grounds on your soil for a great and better than cow poop smelling fertilizer!
4. Ditch the plastic bottles and bags. I live by my yeti and use it daily for water intake. We also couldn’t live without our Stasher bags these days. They are great for lunches, and storing food in the refrigerator and keep for fresh much longer!
5. Adopt Meatless Mondays. Eating one day less of meat for one year has the same impact as taking your car off the road for 320 miles. If you really wanted to commit to the cause and become a full time vegetarian you could potentially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 63%.
6. Don’t Pre-Rinse Your Dishes. Doing so is a waste of both water and time. Skip the extra step and pop your dishes straight into the machine. The machines today are built to combat the dirt on your dishes without the step of pre-rinsing despite how we were all raised.
7. Wash your clothing in cold water. Almost 90% of the energy a washing machine uses goes towards water heating. You can eliminate 1,600 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year by only washing your clothing on cold.
8. Decorate with House Plants. soil in potted plants can clean indoor air toxic substances.
9. Reuse Shopping Bags. Most retailers in Georgia give a discount of at least 5 cents per bag saved if you bring your own bags. Kroger, Sprouts, and Whole Foods for sure participate in this program. You do have to ask sometimes.
10. Use a programmable thermostat. This will effectively monitor your heating and cooling systems by up to 15% a year. I love the Ecobee 4 because it has a individual room gage that allows you to place a small monitor in a room separate from the main thermostat to give more accurate readings of the temperature around the house.

These are just a few of many things we can all do to help reduce our impact on a daily basis. I hope that you find some encouragement from this post not only on Earth Day, but everyday!