Every day should be Earth Day – the planet will thank you!
Here at Custodia, we are grateful to the planet and Mother Nature and committed to eco-friendly practices that nourish both the earth and your wellbeing. By keeping the environment green and clean, we take care of ourselves and earth our home.
Just sitting outside in nature, relaxing in your well-cared-for backyard, can boost moods and happiness, a sanctuary away from stress and worries. The trees, tidy gardens, sunlight and fresh air have been linked to improved focus, lower stress, and improvements in mental and emotional health.
We need a healthy planet to thrive and our planet needs us, so let’s nurture nature on Earth Day, April 22, and beyond. Small everyday acts of green kindness have huge impact when it comes to creating health on earth and a happy, sustainable future.
Health on Earth
This year’s Earth Day theme is Our Power, Our Planet and as homeowners, we have the power to start new earth-friendly habits around our house and yard to show our love for the planet. Custodia can help you be a planet hero with property maintenance services to make your home sweet home more healthy, eco-friendly and energy efficient.
Take action from home with our tips:
- Green up your space. Plant something – trees offer so many benefits like cooling things down, cleaning the air and giving off more oxygen. Add a tree to your yard or plant a pollinator garden or small veggie garden.
- Integrate native or drought-tolerant plants so that you use less water. Along with being water-efficient, they also tend to require less maintenance and they attract butterflies and birds.
- Water your garden during the coolest parts of the day to reduce evaporation. Consider collecting rainwater for outdoor use to reduce water use and bill.
Green Your Home
- Lawn grass helps manage stormwater runoff, reduce urban heat, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while giving back oxygen, reduces erosion, decreases noise pollution and regulates temperatures. Don’t use gas-powered mowers or trimmers – switch to electric lawn equipment. Recycle clippings by mulching and leaving on the lawn to decompose.
- Green your home. Retrofit your home to reduce your environmental impact. Upgrade to energy-efficient appliances; switch to LED lightbulbs; install low-flow shower heads and fix leaky faucets; run dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads; update your insulation and windows to save energy. Use less AC in the summer when no one’s around – a programable thermostat helps with optimal efficiency, and that’s with heating too.
- Green your health. Try growing a few fruits and veggies. It’s not only a fun and rewarding pastime but it reduces your carbon footprint. No transportation or packaging required to get it to your table – and it’s fresh and free from harmful pesticides.
- Go vegetarians a few times a week and switch out meat for more plant-based proteins like lentils, tofu, chickpeas, and chia and hemp seeds.
Buy local
- Buy local. There is so much pollution created to get your food from the farm to the table. Support local and go to farmer’s markets when they open. Support small local businesses to decrease carbon footprints.
- Walk, cycle and use public transit over driving whenever possible. About 24% of Canada’s harmful emissions come from transportation. Trade in your gas guzzler for an EV or hybrid. Less maintenance, and less noise pollution and air pollution too.
- Reduce waste by switching to paperless billing, recycling and using reusable coffee cups and bags, bottles and containers. Phase out plastic and avoid single-use products like paper towels and plastic wrap and straws.
- Choose refillable, eco-friendly cleaning products for your home. Some top cleaning sprays get the job done but their harmful chemicals can negatively impact your health and the environment. Switch to cleaning products made from natural and biodegradable ingredients like vinegar, baking soda and essential oils.