Earth Day: 19-Year-Old Environmental Advocate Shares 5 Tips to Help Reduce Carbon Footprint

Climate change is a real problem, which is why several people have been working hard to stabilize the climate and secure a healthy future for our generation and the ones to come.

19-year-old environmental advocate and content creator Henry Ferland is one of them. As an upstate New York resident, he goes out every day on trash runs and shares clips about it on social media.

It all started about a year and a half ago when Ferland used to run down his road to stay in shape. While doing so, he’d see trash on the side of the road, and it would stay there forever unless someone picked it up.

After a while, he started taking a backpack with him and put as many pieces of trash in it as possible. Now, his goal is picking up 50,000 pieces of junk, but he’s mainly focused on spreading awareness about plastic pollution and its effects on the environment.

Ferland also shared with us some simple but valuable things that we all can do to help reduce plastic pollution, including getting a reusable water bottle as over 1 million plastic water bottles are sold worldwide every minute.

Starting a compost pile is quite useful, too, as it can significantly reduce your food waste by using it for gardening. Ferland said that “up to 40% of all food in the States gets thrown away.”

For those willing to significantly reduce their carbon footprint in the world, going vegetarian, vegan, or simply eating less meat will have a great impact.

Conserving energy has been a big part of the conversation for years now. Doing things as easy as switching to LED light bulbs, taking shorter showers, and unplugging what you’re not using are effective ways of reducing energy waste.

Finally, Ferland said that organizing or getting involved in your community’s trash and litter cleanups, planting trees, and raising awareness about these issues are just as helpful.

It is important to point out that several organizations have arranged Earth Day events worldwide. If you’re interested, you can visit the Earth Day website and check their map for the ones closest to you.