Our earth has been more than generous by offering up its resources for us to be able to thrive and grow. The things we have created and accomplished are truly amazing; but we all need to be a bit more conscientious of our planet’s health. We cannot continue to take, take, and take without giving anything back. We should all work towards giving back to our earth a little bit each day. This doesn’t mean you need to make a drastic change in your life. In fact there are simple things you do that will make a huge impact and you still get to go about your normal day.

So, here are just a few simple ways you can help give back to the earth:

1. Learn to love leftovers

The food portions at restaurants (especially here in America) can be extremely daunting. It seems every time you go out to eat the portions seem to almost double in size. Food waste is a problem that keeps on growing; every day restaurants are throwing away tons of perfectly good food. Therefore, ALWAYS say yes to bringing home left overs. You can help change this in a simple way. Plus, why not bring it home you paid for the meal and you’d be losing money if you don’t eat it.

2. Take care of your errands all at once

Try to plan out where you are going and what you need to get done before you leave your house. It is better to go out once and get everything you need done, than going out multiple times. This helps save gas; thus, lowers the amount of pollution the car would let out into the world. Plus, you save yourself some time and money. So it’s a win, win.

3. Turn the water off when you are not using it

You probably are thinking “well of course I never leave the water running when I’m not using it” but chances are you are wrong. For example, if you leave the water running while you are brushing your teeth you are using up unnecessary water. And ladies, (I can be guilty of this too) we really don’t need to have our shower running while shaving our legs. Turning the faucet off at simple moments like these could truly help reduce the unnecessary use of water.

4. Always turn off your lights when you leave

There is no need to leave lights on in a room when no one will be there so why not turn it off? A lot of times I find myself not really into the TV but it is still on. Let’s work on turning off electronics when not in use. Go outside and enjoy all that Mother Nature has to offer!

5. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!

Recycling is extremely easy and important. My roommate and I have two bins in our room, one for recyclables and the other for regular trash. I found that our recycle bin tends to fill up much faster than our other bin. Imagine how much could be recycled if everyone made it their priority!

As we celebrate Earth Day this year let’s really take time to give back to the earth. But, caring for our earth doesn't stop once Earth Day is over; we need to treat every day like it is Earth Day!