In April 2020, do you remember seeing any of the images circulating in the news about the environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic? As mentioned in an article published in Future Planet on the BBC, some of the more popular ones included “clear water in the Venice canals, blue skies over Delhi and wild animals … roaming boldly in locked-down cities.”1 For a time, the pandemic helped the environment get a break from pollution.
While these changes have not necessarily lasted, they served as a great reminder about the importance of protecting our planet. With this in mind, the LEO Team has compiled a list of 6 easy ways to help the environment. Now that spring has arrived, there’s no better time to make some positive changes!
If you are not a LEO member yet, before you read this article, don’t forget to click here to sign up!
On LEO, you can answer a variety of interesting surveys, some of which are about topics related to the environment. In this article, we’ve included a few suggestions about how you can use the LEO points you earn to help the environment. 🌳😉
1. Redeem Your LEO Points for a One Tree Planted Donation
One Tree Planted is a non-profit organization focused on reforestation. This LEO reward, introduced in April 2020, enables you to redeem 18,000 LEO points to plant 10 trees in a reforestation project in Canada.
2. Enter LEO’s April Contest: You Could Win a $1,000 MEC Gift Card
If you want to help the environment, shopping may not be the first thing on your mind. However, if you win this contest, you could use the gift card to reduce your environmental impact, for example, by buying a new bicycle to use instead of your car (or by buying sustainable gear for your outdoor pursuits that lasts for years, instead of fast fashion). Click here to see the contest rules.
3. Add a Meatless Monday to Your Meal Plan
Did you know that in 2019, a report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change “describe[d] plant-based diets as a major opportunity for mitigating and adapting to climate change?”1 If it’s safe for you to do so, adding vegetarian and vegan meals to your meal plan, or going plant-based altogether, is a great way to help the environment. Check out our blog, 7 Pandemic-Friendly Recipes to Enjoy at Home, there are a couple of vegan/vegetarian options!
4. Prepare to Get Your Garden Started
Another great way to help the environment is to grow your own food with a small vegetable garden if you have space! When you have a garden, your food doesn’t need to travel potentially tens of thousands of kilometres to get to your table. Don’t have a green thumb? Check out our list of 5 Low-Maintenance Indoor House Plants to add to your home.
5. Redeem Your LEO Points for an Amazon.ca Gift Card* (or prepaid Visa or PayPal transfer) to Purchase Composting Supplies
We can all remember that time when we purchased fresh greens at the grocery store, only to let them go to waste in the back of our fridge, eventually ending up in the garbage. Composting is an excellent way to reduce food waste, and you can use compost in your garden too! Why not redeem your LEO points for an Amazon.ca Gift Card*, prepaid Visa, or PayPal transfer to purchase composting supplies? There are many options available!
6. Replace Your Disposable Items with Reusable Alternatives
One of the best ways to help the environment is to avoid purchasing disposable products that eventually make their way to landfills. You could replace your plastic snack bags with reusable ones, dryer sheets with wool dryer balls, or even replace your paper coffee filters with a metal filter basket or use a French press instead. What other creative ideas can you think of?
WHAT DO YOU DO TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT? TELL US IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
*Restrictions apply, see amazon.ca/gc-legal
Sources
1 BBC Future – Has coronavirus helped the environment?
2 Nature – Eat less meat: UN climate-change report calls for change to human diet
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