Earth Day: 11 Things Every Individual Can Do

More than 150 countries celebrate Earth Day on April 22 every year. This year's day of honor has the motto "climate action", the BMZ speaks of "think globally, act locally". The campaign motivates people to actively participate in environmental projects, to act sustainably and responsibly and to rethink their consumer behavior. This year Earth Day celebrates its 50th anniversary. We would like to show you what we as individuals can do in everyday life to show appreciation for the earth.

1. Make the bees happy

Not all of us have space for an entire bee meadow, but we do the hard-working helpers a good deed when we put plants for them on our balcony or the outer windowsill. For example, bees like lavender or dye chamomile.

2. No food waste through conscious shopping

So that food does not end up in the garbage, we should create a meal plan before we go shopping and build our shopping list on it. If the quantities are often too large for us, then we can simply ask friends or neighbors if they are interested in sharing larger quantities. There are now unpackaged shops in most cities where we can buy our groceries, but also cosmetics, without unnecessary plastic packaging. If you live in the country, then take a look around at the nearest farm shop for fresh, local products. In general, we should pay more attention to buying regionally and locally and thus show our farmers more gratitude and appreciation. ❤️

3. Reusable bottles and tap water

Reusable bottles are of course better than disposable bottles, but they are often still made of plastic. If the tap water in our region is drinkable, which is usually the case everywhere in Germany, we should also use this. Reusable bottles made of glass or stainless steel can be found in abundance these days - and they're usually pretty damn pretty!

4. Green electricity

Some things may not immediately come to mind when we think of sustainability, but that doesn't make them any less relevant. Instead of supporting large energy companies, we should finally deal more with green electricity and switch to it.

5. Fair fashion and second hand

The fashion industry is arguably one of the most corrupt in the world. Working conditions are often inhumane and due to mass production, the fast fashion industry has a disastrous impact on the environment. We don't have to do without everything, but consume more consciously. We should do more with fair fashion, or even better use what already exists by switching to second hand.

6. Do not use the gentle cycle when washing

Gentle cycles use more water, which in turn flushes more fibers from materials. This includes microplastics made from plastic fibers. When washing such fibres, we should use fine-meshed laundry nets that catch the loosened plastic fibres.

7. Fix things

Unfortunately, we live in a throwaway society. If something no longer works or pleases, it is thrown away. We're not all technicians or tailors, and we don't have to be. But who among us has ever visited a cobbler who brings our shoes back into shape? Or maybe teach yourself how to sew so that you can mend loose seams or small holes in clothing yourself. Who knows, maybe there is a real fashion designer in you too. 😉

8. Check ingredients

Many cosmetic products contain ingredients that none of us would want on our skin. Ingredients such as microplastics are not biodegradable or only with difficulty, other ingredients such as chemical surfactants damage our skin more than they help it. But animal ingredients such as collagen and gelatine are also found in more products than we would like.

9. Waste sorting

Garbage can only be recycled if it has been properly separated beforehand. We should therefore pay close attention to what belongs in the yellow sack, paper waste or used glass. With every kilogram of plastic that we properly separate, around 1.26kg of CO ₂ can be saved.

10. No advertising in the mailbox

Most of us throw most of the brochures in the garbage anyway without even looking at them, right? If we now stick a "No Advertising" sign on our mailbox, we can save 33kg of paper waste per household per year. Just imagine if we suddenly had to lug that up the stairs... No thanks.

11. Plastic-free cosmetics

Last but not least, beauty should of course bring us and the environment joy instead of harm. At puremetics you will only find vegan, plastic and palm oil-free cosmetics, which are of course free from animal testing and dangerous ingredients. Puremetics loves you and the environment - Happy Earth Day! 🌍🌿

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