In recent months we’ve all been at home more often. Whether you’re working from home or just spending more evening and weekends in, here are 5 simple steps you can take to be more environmentally conscious.

1. Turn it off!

Lights, TVs, gaming consoles, it doesn’t matter. Leaving it on when you’re not actively using it needlessly wastes electricity. If you don’t need it, turn it off!

2. ​Recycle more and try composting!

Recycle and composting both help reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. Make sure you read up on the recycling guidelines for your area so you know what you can and can’t throw in the blue bin. If your community doesn’t have a compost program, you can purchase your own backyard composter or see if any of your neighbours have one you can add to!

3. Support local!

By purchasing local fruits, vegetables and other food, you’re supporting local businesses and cutting down on the number of kilometres your food needs to travel to get to you. This means less travel, less pollution, and fewer emissions. Depending on where you purchase your local food, you may also be able to limit plastic packaging.

4. Try paper-free!

Instead of sending dozens of rolls of paper towel to the landfill, make your own cleaning rags! You can repurpose old t-shirts and easily use them to mop up spills and clean surfaces. Not only are you limiting your paper products you’re also extending the life of your textiles. 

5. Use a water bottle!

Using a re-usable water bottle eliminates the unnecessary plastic waste from bottled water. It also helps cut down on emissions for the same reason as eating local, you don’t have to ship every bottle of water you drink to your city because you have your own! Even if you don’t use bottled water, a dedicated water bottle will encourage you to stay hydrated and cut down on the amount of water you’ll need to use when doing dishes.