Celebrated on April 22nd, Earth Day offers an opportunity to do more for the environment and our communities. However, many Earth Day activities revolve around a few hours of service—picking up litter or planting a tree—or engaging in dedicated events that require a significant amount of time and maybe even some PTO days. That said, there are affordable and fast ways to make an impact that you can continue after Earth Day.
In this article, we’ll cover some simple steps you can take this year to jumpstart your sustainability practices and make a positive change in your community.
1. Review Your Carbon Footprint
The fastest way to start making an impact is to begin tracking your carbon footprint. Once you have hard numbers to measure your progress, it’s much easier to determine how to offset your footprint. There are many options available for discovering your current footprint, with one of the most popular being the Carbon Calculator from UK-based consultancy Carbon Footprint, Ltd. or the Carbon Footprint Calculator from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
2. Become Energy-Efficient
There are several ways to reduce your energy usage, depending on your budget and timeline. For example, you can upgrade your lightbulbs, invest in alternative energy sources, update energy-heavy appliances, or trade-in your petrol vehicle for an electric car. Even basic maintenance—such as cleaning your air conditioning unit or sealing ductwork—will reduce energy waste.
3. Join Long-term Volunteer Opportunities
Protecting the planet is about more than composting and offsetting carbon. Building strong, local communities that prioritize education and well-being makes a significant difference. You can identify potential volunteering opportunities to nurture your community through tutoring, litter pickup, soup kitchens, and other initiatives, through your place of worship or local volunteering matching organizations. For example, Volunteer Memphis connects residents of Memphis, Tennessee, with volunteer opportunities across the city.
4. Support Entrepreneurs in Emerging Countries
Initiatives to improve the livelihood of those in emerging countries also contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without breaking the bank. For a small investment, it’s often possible to assist entrepreneurs on the other side of the world in starting or growing their businesses. You could support women- or minority-owned businesses or those that target education, food scarcity, and other sustainability-related challenges. All while improving the local economy.
5. Shop at Local Businesses
One of the biggest ways to reduce your carbon footprint and make a positive impact is to support local businesses. Shopping with small and local businesses, whether that’s buying produce from the farmer’s market or purchasing refurbished furniture, shortens the supply chain and strengthens the local economy. This approach, if held consistently, can significantly reduce carbon and waste since local initiatives require less petrol, packaging, and overproduction.
6. Plan Eco-Friendly Trips
Planning a sustainable summer vacation is another great and fun way to support the environment during Earth Day. This, however, often requires more than buying carbon offsets from an airline. You can make your trips more sustainable:
Using sustainable transport at your destination, such as bikes, e-bikes, or public transport
Visit destinations during their off-season to avoid over-tourism
Stay at eco-friendly or family-run accommodations
Plan a staycation
Buy from local vendors and artisans
Limit air travel when possible
7. Fund Green Investments
It can take just a few minutes to invest in green and sustainable assets. This method both supports upcoming green businesses and potentially improves your personal portfolio value. As regulations push businesses to disclose their sustainability progress and better define their methodology, it will become easier and easier to identify sustainable investment opportunities.
Support Your Favorite Sustainable Businesses on Earth Day
Another way to celebrate Earth Day while supporting your favorite local business or startup is to nominate them for Wallet Max’s Bold World Awards. This Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) award program recognizes three organizations combating climate action, food insecurity, and decent work.
Winners tap into monetary and non-monetary benefits, such as dedicated financial analyst support, discounts on key tech stack software, and more.
Support your favorite sustainable initiative today and nominate them for this year’s Bold World Awards.