Spring is here! And it brings the celebration of Earth Day on April 22. Earth Day reminds everyone to give back to the planet we call home. But we
shouldn’t be thinking about the Earth on just one specific day. There are many things that we can all do to help the Earth and the ecosystem. Taking
a few minutes out of your day to help the environment will have a greater impact than you might know. The 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle – are excellent ways to help Mother Earth.

Often, Reducing can be easily overlooked but it is an easy thing to do. For example, a great way to start reducing is through limiting water usage in your home.

You can do this by making sure to turn off the water when you are brushing your
teeth and turning it on when you need it, showering efficiently, and starting your
dishwasher with a full load. Cutting back on water is a simple way to save energy.
Lots of energy is used to heat pump and filter water, so by conserving your water
usage you are reducing your carbon footprint. Other ways to reduce it can look
like canceling unwanted and unused magazine subscriptions or reducing the
amount of leftover food and waste you have in your household.

Reusing is a simple thing you can do everyday to live a greener and eco friendly
life. To live the reusing lifestyle, take old clothes, cloth items, bags and upcycling
them, give them a new purpose. You can create things such as bags for grocery
shopping, table clothes, blankets, and even make new clothes out of old items.
Reusing can also look like giving away old clothes as hand-me-downs, borrowing
from friends when you need specific things instead of buying things, and even
Reusing different containers instead of throwing them away.

Recycling is an easy way to help out the environment. Making sure to correctly recycle plastic, glass, cardboard, metal, foil, and tin among other things is a great way
to reduce the amount of trash that finds its way into landfills. This can include buying a recycling bin or returning bottles and cans to a local grocery store. Another
thing you can do to recycle items is to repurpose items or give them to family or friends (a great way to reuse). A way to do this can be through hosting a garage sale or
donating things you don’t use instead of throwing it away. Even buying from garage sales or thrift stores is a great way to save things from going to waste. As they say,
one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Donation is a way to keep many great items in rotations. Garage sales are an excellent way to help recycle unwanted items,
such as clothes, books, dishes, furniture, and many more. Instead of throwing away these items where they end up in overfilled landfills, they can be repurposed and
find a new home. Specifically in Grand Ledge we have a business called Ken Clark’s Coat Closet. Ken Clark’s Coat Closet is located at 501 S. Clinton St Grand Ledge, MI
and open Monday – Thursday from 10:30am – 2:30pm . This organization is a free clothing bank that gives back to the Grand Ledge community. Instead of throwing
away your old clothes and accessories, stop at room 207 in Grand Ledge High School where Sarah Milder, a Ken Clark’s Coat Closet worker will be happy to take your

donations!

Ultimately we are all living in this world so why not all make it a better place? If we all did at least one of the examples from above it would create a significant impact.
Considering all of this, take time out of your day and give back to Earth. When you open your mind to creativity you can think of how many different and easy ways

there are to make an impact. So start now!