Did you know that fifty years ago, on April 22, 1970, people around the world marked the first Earth Day? Thousands gathered to raise awareness about the importance of protecting our beautiful planet for future generations.

On this Earth Day, as we physically separate ourselves by necessity, we can still collectively appreciate the wondrous beauty of our planet and the extraordinary science that helps us understand how it all works – and we can do it from our homes. We can celebrate this Earth Day with collaboration and collective action.

This year Saathi collaborated with a few climate action influencers to bring you some of the best hacks for living a sustainable life.

Nivrity Das: “Something towards a sustainable future from my end would definitely be switching off lights before leaving homes and all-electric devices when not in use! Also removing the charger when the phone is charged is something I like to do!”

Diksha: “I stopped using manufactured face washes. I only use stuff I can find in my kitchen or powders made from natural ingredients as my face wash!”

Vishakha Sodha: “I have been doing every bit I can on a personal level to go green. There are a few things I have been following, but to name a few, on the top of my head, is to set up my homework desk near the window to use natural light and save electricity. The laundry also happens only when the laundry basket is completely full and not when we have very few garments. I have also bought a bunch of steel straws, reusable takeaway coffee mug etc. to avoid wastage. For shopping, we carry our own cloth bags instead of buying new plastic ones which are going to end up in the garbage can.”

Ridhima Pandey: “This year on 22 April we are going to celebrate our 50th Earth Day. For me, it's like we are paying our thanks to Mother  Earth to give us everything without any discrimination among anyone, like as our mother never discriminates among all its children. But is it worth to do things for her only one day and the rest 364 days what we do is, we destroy and exploit our environment. All the polluters and policymakers say that they are doing everything possible to conserve the environment but after all their efforts, activities and projects nobody was able to see any positive change but now during the lockdown due to COVID - 19 clearly showed that the human greedy activities are responsible for the destruction of our Earth. Nowadays we are able to see drastic changes like low pollution level, clean water and healthy environment and all of these positive results we get without spending a single penny because human activities are stopped and we are caged to our own home according to me it's a lesson to all the polluters that mother Earth is giving you the last chance to "think before act." Because when nature took its course nobody can spare and do anything like this pandemic So I request everyone to pledge on this Earth Day that we are doing everything at our level to make our environment cleaner and greener so that both mother Earth and humans can breathe freely. This is the only gift which we give to our mother Earth.”

5 Sustainability Tips from Saathi:

Replace your refrigerator bottle with a Matka: During our childhood, our nani and dadi used earthen pots to keep the water cool. The earthen pots have extremely small pores in its walls. Some of the water continuously keeps seeping through these pores, this water evaporates, helping the remaining water to lose heat and stay cooled.

Use trash to save cash: Take your organic-based kitchen waste to a composting facility or better yet create your own compost bin either in your house or together with others in your society.

Learn To Recycle: This would be a great time to set up some sort of recycling system in your home or apartment that can be easy for everyone else to understand.

Here are some simple tips to recycle more effectively at home:

1. Flatten cardboard boxes so that you can fit more recyclables into your bin.
2. All plastic bottles can be recycled, from water bottles to salad dressing, so put all of them in your recycling container.
3. It is not just newspapers that you can recycle at home. Also, recycle wrapping paper, envelopes, birthday cards and phone books. All sorts of cardboard can be recycled, too, even toilet and paper towel tubes.
4. Most metallic items in the home can be recycled, such as empty spray cans and tin foil, and of course, all empty soda, fruit, vegetable and other food cans.
5. Keep a space in your cupboard so that you can recycle as you are cooking or cleaning. It will make it easier for you to put the recyclables in their proper place.
6. When going out, stop at your local recycling centre and drop off anything that was not picked up by your curbside service. This lets you fit your recycling into your life, and will also teach your children about the importance of recycling.
7. If you are ever unsure about what you can recycle, check with your refuse provider website. There should be comprehensive information about what is or is not suitable for your recycling container or containers. Most refuse providers also have apps for your smartphone where you can check what to and what not to recycle.
8. Glass can be recycled endlessly; it does not wear out after several recycling, so be sure to always recycle your glass bottles and containers.
9. To help your recycling centre and to keep down foul odours, make sure you wash food waste off of any plastic or glass food containers before putting them in the recycle bin.

Put your green thumb to use: It doesn’t get any more local than growing your own food at home. And the best part: You don’t need a huge yard to get started. Even in a tiny space, you can create a window herb garden or grow a vegetable or two.

The easiest way to start is to replant the baby plants you get from your neighborhood nursery.  

Another simple way is to use the roots of the vegetables you buy at the grocery store or vegetable vendor. With the roots you typically can put them in a small container with water and the roots will grow. Once they are a few inches long you can re-pot them in soil. Sprouting potatoes, green onions, and garlic are good starters.

A third way is to plant herb seeds. Basil, green onions, and cilantro are good starters.

Note: Choose plants that are compatible with your local climate. You can buy soil/potting mix from the nursery because that has more nutrients and aeration for baby plants. 

Do you have more such sustainable lifestyle tips? Share with us in the comment section below.