{"id":131867,"date":"2021-04-21T12:31:44","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T18:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=131867"},"modified":"2021-04-22T11:47:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T17:47:58","slug":"11-easy-ways-to-celebrate-earth-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=131867","title":{"rendered":"11 easy ways to celebrate Earth Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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El Pomar Plaza and Pikes Peak during summer. Photo credit: Savannah Waggoner<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Since 1970, UCCS has celebrated Earth Day with calls to weave sustainability into everyday life. In celebration of Earth Day’s 51st anniversary on April 22, see simple ways to honor the Earth \u2013 and even change your lifestyle for the better \u2013 below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel green today. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Instead of driving, try another way of getting around town \u2013 from biking, walking, roller skating, scootering and more. Want to take green travel a step further? Find alternatives to commuting<\/a> to the UCCS by car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eat plant-based. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Go easy on the environment by eating foods that don\u2019t contain dairy, meat, seafood or eggs this Earth Day. Don\u2019t know where to start? See plant-based snack recipes<\/a> from the Gallogly Recreation and Wellness Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Take a class. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Become a UCCS sustainability champion by taking Skillsoft\u2019s 30-minute Sustainability course<\/a>, which emphasizes sustainability\u2019s importance and its effects on our wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn new ways to make your home more sustainable. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You could try tinting your windows to reduce your thermal intake or getting an energy audit of your home. Want inspiration? Take a virtual tour<\/a> of the UCCS Sustainability Demonstration House, which uses all these methods and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Support local pollinators. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are 946 native bee species in Colorado, and they\u2019re much more attracted to native plants than ornamentals. Enter your zip code into the Pollinator Partnership database<\/a> to learn how to make a pollinator-friendly habitat in your garden or yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Go for a litter walk. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bring a pair of gloves on your favorite hike, river walk or circuit around your neighborhood and pick up the trash you see. (You can get bonus points by bagging and disposing of pet waste, too!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Swap disposable products for reusables. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re at the store buying plastic straws, aluminum foil, dryer sheets, k-cups or other single-use products, consider spending a little more for the reusable versions. Here\u2019s a whole list of zero-waste swaps<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Switch to paperless billing. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t already, consider this a sign to switch to paperless communications from your bank, utility company, medical providers and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Calculate your carbon footprint. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Use a calculator<\/a> from the Environmental Protection Agency to see opportunities to reduce your carbon footprint in three areas: home energy, transportation and waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tap into local initiatives. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The city of Colorado Springs offers sustainability resources<\/a> that you can engage with, including a recycling directory, free mulch, a vehicle donation program and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spread the word. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Text your family, friends and loved ones about opportunities to go a little easier on the planet today. Best of all, you might even find activities that you want to start together \u2013 whether it\u2019s composting, joining a community garden or reading an Earth Day-themed book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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See even more opportunities to celebrate Earth Day on the Office of Sustainability website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Visit the Office of Sustainability website<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In celebration of Earth Day’s 51st anniversary on April 22, see simple ways to honor the Earth \u2013 and even change your lifestyle for the better. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":131870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,49,50],"tags":[51,89],"class_list":["post-131867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-campus-announcements","category-health-and-wellness","tag-featured","tag-office-of-sustainability"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1608-1-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-yiT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131867"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131878,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131867\/revisions\/131878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/131870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}