How to make sustainability part of your everyday life
7 SUSTAINABLE WAYS TO MAKE EVERY DAY EARTH DAY
How to make sustainability part of your everyday life
Earth Day comes around once a year, but protecting the environment should not be limited to just one day – that kind of defeats the purpose of sustainability.
While major cleanup events and tree-planting efforts are often scheduled around Earth Day, sustainable practices and a pro-planet mindset should be something that’s incorporated every day.
We’ve got seven sustainable ways you can make every day Earth Day.
1. Double down on concentrated cleaning products
Concentrated formulas reduce water use during manufacturing and the smaller packages cut down on carbon emissions during shipping.
Amway offers several concentrated cleaning products. In fact, when the company launched in 1959, its first product was a biodegradable concentrated cleaning solution—decades before concentrated formulas were fashionable.
The formula for the product, now called Amway Home™ L.O.C.™ Multi-Purpose Cleaner, has been tweaked over the company’s 60-year history, but it’s still biodegradable and concentrated.
Mixing the cleaner with water at the recommended ratio, the 1-liter bottle will refill a 500-milliliter spray bottle 20 times.
[RELATED: How to make cleaning fun for kids]
2. Consider buying organic products
Organic farms are considered to be better for the environment than conventional farms. They tend to grow a wider variety of plants, use natural composting, rotate crops regularly and take measures to prevent topsoil erosion.
These measures work to improve the soil quality, fertility and biodiversity, all while typically using less energy than most conventional farms. And because they don’t use conventional synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, less of those substances end up in the soil and groundwater.
[RELATED: 6 Benefits of choosing organic food]
3. Say ‘No thank you’ to a bag
You know those plastic bags at your grocery store or neighborhood market? Trillions of them are used across the world and studies show less than one percent are recycled.
Many are washed out to the oceans, where they will remain for centuries, putting marine life and water quality at risk.
Instead of using plastic bags, bring your own eco-friendly reusable tote bag. It’ll last you for years and will help keep single-use plastic out of our waste stream. If you forget your reusable bags or your store is not allowing them for safety reasons, ask for paper bags. Those are more likely to be reused or recycled.
Better yet, if you drove to the store, decline the bag and load your items back into your cart. You can unload them directly into your vehicle and use boxes, bags or totes to bring them in when you get home.
4. Choose biodegradable, phosphate-free laundry detergents
Phosphates are often used in detergents to help soften hard water and keep the dirt in the wash water and off whatever you’re cleaning.
However, they also are natural fertilizers. When they enter the water system, they can promote excessive plant growth and decay, which causes water quality to deteriorate and suffocates aquatic life.
That’s why it’s important to seek out phosphate-free detergents. Amway has been selling phosphate-free detergent since the 1970s and continues to do so with its Amway Home™ SA8™ detergent line.
The company uses a phosphate alternative that is different from other detergent makers: citrates and sodium carbonate. Citrates are a natural fermentation product from grain, and sodium carbonate is refined from a mineral.
Both are fully soluble, so they won’t leave an irritating residue on fabrics, and they offer a lower environmental impact than traditional cleaning chemicals.
5. Look for the EPA’s Safer Choice seal
When choosing cleaning solutions, try to avoid ones that use harsh cleaning agents. Instead, opt for products that feature the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice label. The Safer Choice program helps consumers identify products with safer chemical ingredients that don’t sacrifice quality or performance.
To qualify, manufacturers must design their products using the EPA’s Safer Chemical Ingredients List to help find safer chemical alternatives for their product formulas. The formulas are then reviewed by a third-party and the EPA to determine whether the product meets the Safer Choice Standard.
Globally, more than 40 of Amway’s laundry, surface cleaning and dish care products qualified for the Safer Choice label. The company was also named Partner of the Year in 2017 for dedication to formulating and manufacturing products with ingredients that are safer for families, workplaces, communities and the environment.
6. Plan your own cleanup
With a little research, you’re likely to find that beach, park or river cleanups happen all year in your community. Check out the websites of your local environmental organizations to see what they have planned.
If you can’t find one that works for your schedule, create your own. Put the word out to your friends and family to meet at a park, beach, river or wherever you see a need and get to work.
It can be a fun, meaningful way to give back to Mother Nature while keeping your community clean.
7. Gosh darn it, recycle!
Recycling seems like such a simple concept, yet National Geographic reports that 91 percent of all the plastic ever made (that’s about 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic) is not recycled.
And when it’s not recycled, it typically ends up in a landfill where it will take more than 400 years to degrade. Plastic produced today will outlast generations to come.
Paper comprises more than 25% of municipal trash generated each year, according to the EPA, more than any other material.
If you don’t know where to start with recycling, the EPA has information on its website for paper, plastics, batteries, glass, oil, hazardous waste and tires. Also check with your local municipality for recycling options in your community—private or public.
Every little bit helps
It’s not just the big initiatives that make a difference. Incorporating these changes into your everyday life will add up over time.
From sorting out recycling to cleaning up beaches to making more environmentally friendly choices in the products you use, it’s all an effort to help conserve natural resources and preserve
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I have been an amway user since 1975 always bought a 55 pound box. Now i can only get 6.6 lbs. what happen to the 7 pound boxes. I am in need of SA8 would like the large 55 lbs box. I live on an fixed income so however it is let me know. Also special deals you might have on SA8.
Hi Georganna, Thanks so much for your loyalty! The best way to get your question answered is to contact Amway Customer Service. They can let you know what sizes are available and why some may or may not be available. You can email them at customer.service@amway.com or call 1-800-253-6500. Thank you!
Thanks these tips will help to promote these wonderful products.