Go Green This Earth Day

Friday marks the international celebration of Earth Day, a holiday that brings awareness to environmental problems and celebrates the planet. To commemorate Earth Day, it’s common to look for ways to aid the environment in everyday life. The Environmental Club, for example, already has a special Earth Day event planned.
“This Thursday we’re doing a seed bomb project,” said junior Hien Pham, secretary of the club. “So we’re going to be packing seeds into dirt and putting them into little baggies to give to teachers around the school, as well as allowing students to make their own. They can take the seed bomb and plant it, then it grows pretty flowers.”
The Environmental Club also has a cleanup planned for next week, as well as events throughout the year. Unfortunately, helping the environment isn’t always as easy as it might seem. Companies that claim to be environmentally responsible are also some of the biggest contributors to pollution, and practices like recycling can get quite complicated on a global scale.
“Corporations are the biggest contributor to what’s happening on our planet right now,” said Pham. “They do a lot of excessive manufacturing that uses up our resources, and they use harmful practices.”
While this may sound bleak, there are still ways to aid the environment. To celebrate Earth Day, we’ve collected some of the best things an individual can do to help aid the environment, as well as resources for learning more about these practices, foundations and businesses to support.

Recycling

Despite its popularity as a solution, recycling can have harmful effects if not done properly. Before 2018, the majority of the recycling in the U.S. — over 16 million tons — was sent to processing plants in China. However, an estimated 30% of this waste was contaminated by non-recyclable material, and between 1.3 and 1.5 million tons ended up in the ocean off China’s coast. Stricter recycling policies were passed as a result, meaning the U.S. had to divert its recycling to Southeast Asian and African countries with less-restrictive environmental laws, where attempts to process plastics and recycling continues to have harmful effects on the local environment.
However, this doesn’t mean to give up on recycling entirely — by making sure that everything recycled can be processed, the average American can help decrease the amount of contaminated recycling and reduce the strain on recycling processors. Here’s a guide to what is actually recyclable (and it’s not all plastics!).

Supporting Environmentally-Friendly Businesses

Many businesses claim to be attempting to help the environment, but few of them are actually making the changes and progress required (read here for more information about common companies that are bad for the environment). According to the website Grow Ensemble, “One of the easiest ways to tell if a company is truly eco-friendly and concerned about their environmental impact is by looking at their website. If environmental efforts are at the core of a company’s existence, you can expect they will have information about their environmental impact and mission readily available. Another way to find a truly environmentally-friendly business is through their certifications.”
Some of 2021’s most sustainable companies include Patagonia, an outdoor clothing company; Seventh Generation, which makes home and cleaning products; A Good Company, a sort of ethical alternative to Amazon; and many more.
If spending money isn’t an option, there are also businesses that are free to use and still benefit the earth. Ecosia is a free search engine that donates all of its ad revenue toward planting trees and supporting small farmers to help sustainability. It also provides information for its users about environmental practices around the world and how to be more sustainable on a personal level.

Thrifting

One of the more popular options in the past few years, thrifting clothing truly does make a difference. The majority of the fashion industry practices what is called “fast fashion”, or the business practice of getting fashionable and cheaply made clothing into retailers as quickly as possible with little thought to quality. This creates an abundance of overpriced items that only last for a few uses before wearing down or becoming unfashionable.
However, by donating old items and buying clothes secondhand, consumers have the ability to reduce the amount of clothing that ends up going to waste. Local thrift stores in Boerne include Faith and Funky Junk, a nonprofit secondhand shop that sells everything from clothing to antiques, and Fabulous Finds, a thrift store that benefits the women’s shelter.

Working For Change

Lastly, the biggest thing that an individual can do to help the earth is working for change. Talk to local businesses or officials about their environmental practices (here’s how to get in touch with Boerne’s Chamber of Commerce and City Council). Start programs or initiatives in the community, or convince friends and family to work toward being more environmentally conscious. It may not seem like an individual is able to do much, but it’s surprising the amount of influence a person can have — here’s some ways to get started.

Want more information? Here’s some sources!

Recycling in the US Is Broken. How Do We Fix It?
Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America’s dirty secret
What Is Recycling & What to Recycle | Waste Management
Greenpeace reveals the top 5 ‘worst polluting companies’ • Recycling International
Patagonia Outdoor Clothing & Gear
Seventh Generation Home
A Good Company: From Mindless Consumption Into Conscious Decisions
The 10 Most Environmentally Friendly & Sustainable Companies (2021)
Ecosia – the search engine that plants trees
Contact | The Greater Boerne Chamber of Commerce
City Council | Boerne, TX – Official Website
You asked: What can I do as a teenager to stop climate change?