Earth Month is upon us, and to celebrate, we’ve put together 8 easy ways you can be a sustainability superhero all year long.
1. Recycle
Thankfully, recycling is now just a part of daily life here in Canada, and we here at London Drugs are happy to help you divert some of your unwanted items away from the landfill. Curbside recycling programs are of course the most convenient, but we accept some items that your local program might not. You can find a full list here of items that can be brought into London Drugs for recycling.
Packaging is a big part of landfill waste, so as part of our commitment to reduce waste, our Take Back the Pack program will accept packaging from any product we sell in our stores–whether it’s a tube of sunscreen, or a flat-screen TV. From plastic packs to cardboard, plastic wrap, and even Styrofoam, just bring the packaging to Customer Service and we’ll collect it and send it to local facilities for responsible processing. It’s easier on landfills, convenient for our customers and better for the environment.
2. Delete the Disposables
Photo from Jeff Werner on Flickr
Disposable cups and food packaging are one of the biggest environmental problems we have at the moment. Here are some facts:
- More than 1.6 billion paper and polystyrene cups are thrown out by Canadians each year
- 2.5 million cups per day are thrown out in Vancouver alone
- 114.5 million kilograms of paper cup waste—the equivalent of 22,900 elephants—is dumped into the landfills each year.
- 10 kg of cups are saved from entering the landfill each year when a 1-cup-a-day coffee drinker uses a reusable mug instead of a disposable cup.
London Drugs carries a wide range of re-useable mugs and water bottles that will fit your lifestyle. Tossing one in your bag or backpack before leaving for work or school could save loads of landfill garbage each year. You can even get a custom photo carafe from our PhotoLab to keep your caffeine and your memories close!
4. Save Water
Canadians are already doing what they can to save our precious water. We turn off the taps while brushing our teeth, we take shorter showers, we don’t water our lawns on restricted watering days. But there is even more we can do to cut down on our water consumption. Did you know that a family of three can save up to 11,000 litres of water or more a year just by installing a high-efficiency showerhead? The Waterpik EcoFlow 3 Mode Handheld Shower Head can not only save thousands of litres of waste water, it can also save you money on your water and energy bills.
5. Reduce Household Energy Use
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
There are many small ways you can reduce the energy you use in your home that really add up. Here are just a few:
Turn off appliances and lights that you’re not using, or put appliances on an on/off timer.
Install energy-efficient appliances. You can learn more about efficient appliances at Natural Resources Canada.
Use a programmable thermostat that lowers or raises the temperature when you’re not home.
Put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat.
- Insulate doors and windows to reduce drafts.
Open windows or turn on a fan for a breeze instead of turning on the air conditioning.
Hang clothes to dry instead of using the dryer.
Use an electric teakettle instead of a stovetop kettle to boil water.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs).
6. Shop Locally
Shopping locally is a great way to keep things green. Buying goods produced close to home saves the fossil fuel and emissions from things shipped from far-off countries, and bonus do-goodery – it helps the local economy! London Drugs supports local entrepreneurs and companies by carrying many products manufactured in Western Canada. Check out our Green Deals blog to see a full list of quality Canadian products that we sell.
7. Purchase Fair-Trade Products
If you can’t find what you need from a local company, the next best thing is shop for products labeled as Fair Trade. This designation tells you that these items were produced using sustainable methods and that local people are receiving fair prices for the goods they produce. Many of the coffee brands London Drugs sells carry the Fair Trade designation, including Earth, Ethical Bean, Kicking Horse and Salt Spring.
8. Use Eco-Friendly Products
You can make a difference to the environment easily just by choosing gentler, greener products. Well, how do you know when a product is ‘green’ exactly? It can mean things like it has third-party sustainability certification, reduced or recyclable packaging, reduced synthetic chemicals/toxins, and many other factors. London Drugs is proud to carry hundreds of green products. There is no such thing as a ‘zero-footprint’ product, but we’ve got a full list of all of the eco-friendly products we carry on our GreenDeal.ca website, along with other tips on recycling and sustainability education.
