~Guest Post~ Five Ways You Can Help Save Our Planet

For my second Earth to Kate post I have chosen to feature my first ever Guest Post by Sophia Evans. 

Sophia is a stay at home mom, living in Upstate New York and blogs about Eco-friendly lifestyle tips at My "Soph" Called Life. She finds that it's easy to transition into a green lifestyle by making the small changes and is always staying up to date with the latest news and trends in the green community. She also enjoys blogging about healthy lifestyle tips, and all things beauty. She enjoys the outdoors, spending time with her family, and staying fit and healthy by running and biking. 

I hope you enjoy Sophia's tips on ways to save our planet!

Thank you for contributing to Mine and Earth to Kate! 

                                                                                                                             

 

Five Ways You Can Help Save Our Planet 

I have been participating in my community’s recycling program for years, but recently I began wondering about new ways I might be able help preserve our environment. I’ve discovered a number of things we can all do, both inside and outside our homes, to become more eco-friendly.

Most of us know that the large grocery and retail stores accept plastic grocery/shopping bags for recycling. But I recently learned that they also accept items like bread bags, newspaper bags and dry cleaning bags. Recycle those plastic wrappers used to package products like cotton balls, diapers and toilet paper. They can be used to manufacture new bags, outdoor furniture or even your new deck!

Who doesn’t like feeling comfortable and chic while working out?  Not only can you feel comfortable and chic in your workout gear, but also feel even better knowing that your gear is eco friendly!  Under Armour is taking a new take on performance- by incorporating green technology in their performance products.  Under Amour’s green products are made from recycled plastic bottles.  Products made from recycled materials reduce waste to landfills and reduce the need for raw materials derived from fossil fuels. 

More and more companies are working hard to produce products that support environmental sustainability. Brilliant Earth, for example, uses recycled metals to create beautiful, engagement rings and other unique jewelry. Recycled gold, silver and platinum are re-refined back into pure elements and used to make every piece of jewelry they sell eco-friendly. Because precious metals can be recycled over and over again without a change in quality, Brilliant Earth is able to offer a naturally renewable product.  They help to decrease the harmful effects on our planet and society caused by dirty gold and metal mining.

 

Many of us struggle with what to do with old bicycles that our children have outgrown or that that we just simply want replaced. Bikes for the World can help! This organization knows that 15 million bicycles end up in American landfills each year, and is working to change that. Bikes for the World will take your unwanted bicycles and give them to people in Third World countries who need them for basic transportation. By recycling your old bicycle you can make a huge difference in someone’s life.

Recycling paper was the initial step into a more eco-friendly lifestyle for many of us. Today, newsprint and cardboard boxes account for over 70 percent of all paper recycling. But at 20 percent, telephone directories have one of the lowest paper recycling rates. We can all do our part to redirect the 700,000 tons of telephone directories that normally end up in landfills to our community recycling centers.

Our personal efforts can help all types of businesses reuse old products and materials to create new ones. By supporting eco-conscious businesses and recycling items like those mentioned in this article, we can help manufacturers create products we need while saving our planet for future generations. 

For more eco-friendly tips check out My "Soph" Called Life.