Don't Be Trashy

With Earth Day fast approaching you might be wondering what you can do to reduce your impact on the environment or what special project you can join to be a friend to the Earth! Below are some ideas to make the Earth a better place!

Trash Tag Challenge
By now we have all seen different “social media challenges” from icy buckets of water to photo challenges. But is there a way to have an impact on both social media and the environment? Make way for the Trash Tag Challenge! People all over the world have been taking before and after pictures of habitats or just the on side of the road. The after pictures are what really make an impact because it shows the many bags of trash the challenger has collected. This is such an easy challenge that can be done just about anywhere!

---

Its the Last Straw
Straws are something that we might take for granted on a daily basis but have a much larger impact that we might think. Each day the world uses 500,000,000 straws and most of those will end up in the ocean causing harm to sea birds, sea turtles, and whales (just to name a few). It's as easy as saying “no” to help reduce the impact of plastic straws in our oceans. Next time you are at a restaurant ask “no straw please” or buy a reusable straw to use as an alternative. To find more information visit One Last Straw and The Last Plastic Straw.

Not-So-Trashy Apps
Litterati is an app that tracks litter through geotags and brand names to help reduce trash impact while also raising accountability for that litter.
iRecycle and Recycle Nation are search engines made for recycling. Use it to find where to recycle certain items in your area. They also provide informative articles on all things recycling.
PaperKarma helps reduce unwanted paper mail that you just end up recycling anyways. 

---

There are also other easy ways to reduce your impact that can be easily integrated into your everyday life:

• Use reusable containers
  • Shopping Bags
  • Produce Bags
  • Straws
  • Water Bottles
• Use cloth instead of paper
• Shop with recyclability in mind
• Compost kitchen scraps

Celebrate Earth Day this by by joining NRT naturalists for our next Family Science Outing April 18 from 5:30-7:00! Keep Sheep Pasture Clean Family Science Outing! Learn about the dangers of environmental trash before departing on a property-wide search of litter!

---