Happy Earth Day! If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that the earth is fragile and we should be as aware as possible of our own carbon footprints. To celebrate, we’ve made a quick list of 20 practices you can put in place to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle today and every day. Mother Nature will thank you! 

20 Meaningful Ways to be Eco-Friendly in Quarantine (& beyond)

  1. Use a programmable thermostat
  2. Adopt "meatless Mondays"
  3. Shorten your showers
  4. Go on a hike. The City of Issaquah posted these maps & resources from the Issaquah Alps Trails Club.
  5. Line-dry your laundry
  6. Recycle your paper and cardboard
  7. Don't pre-rinse your dishes
  8. Buy Green Power from Puget Sound Energy.
  9. Repair your leaky faucet
  10.  Start keeping your calendar digitally. 
  11.  Support organizations dedicated to sustainability
  12.  Plant a tree or buy a tree certificate (such as through Friends of Trees or a living tribute)
  13.  Make your own cleaning supplies. Check out this link for how-tos.
  14.  Switch to paperless bills and invoices
  15.  Compost (check out this great article from eartheasy for how to do so)
  16.  Start a bee farm 
  17.  Plant a garden
  18.  “Adopt” an animal at a wildlife preserve (such as through the World Wildlife Fund)
  19.  Re-use dryer sheets
  20.  Use your laptop instead of a desktop while at home

Sign up for one (or all) of Issaquah’s upcoming Earth Month webinars below:

Webinars

Managing Wildfire Risk in Your Western Washington Community

  • May 1, 1 - 2 p.m.
  • KCD Wildfire and Forest Resiliency Program Coordinator Matt Axe will be sharing information on how you can prepare your property, and your community, to be more wildfire resilient.

People for Climate Action: Cities Climate Action Webinar on Buildings

  • May 2, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
  • Buildings have a big impact on climate, and cities can shrink that impact. Find out how at this event!
  • Join Vincent Martinez and Erin McDade, national leaders in this field, who describe the work that their organization, Architecture 2030, has done with a few U.S. cities to address the buildings emissions challenge through public policies.

Calculate Your Ecological Footprint

Check out just how sustainable you really are by visiting footprintcalculator.org.

This free ecological footprint calculator will tell you how many Earths it would take to sustain life if everyone lived like you — and your result is likely to surprise you. If it does, don’t worry: The calculator gives suggestions on easy ways you can decrease your ecological footprint, so you can take immediate action to become more sustainable.

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