World clean-up day is celebrated every year on 19th of September to draw attention towards the social responsibility of the people to clean up the environment they live in. A world bank report projected that about 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste is generated globally per year. Most of which is not managed properly. About 79% of the waste that humans generate gets accumulated in landfills annually, most of which eventually end up in the oceans. 

Each year large-scale cleanups are organized to rid the natural world of the pollution that has been accumulated. People gather and celebrate the planet by cleaning up the litter. But even if do take part in the celebration we need to consider how we can make a big impact on our own to significantly make the planet cleaner and greener. Lets discuss some of the ways we can clean our planet not just once a year but all year round.

1) Sort the household trash

First and foremost, sorting of the trash can be resourceful in a way that will help determine what can be recycled, reused or just thrown out as a garbage. More than 80% of the items used in our households are reusable/recyclable materials (such as cans/ jars, bottles, paper, bags , etc.) .

“Anything and everything we buy in our daily lives can be used as a raw material for something else “

2) Start Composting

Composting is the easiest way to recycle the kitchen waste and reuse it in the garden. This process not only make the soil richer but is also a very sustainable solution for purposely getting rid of everyday kitchen waste.

3) Growing house plants

This may seem like an obvious thing but growing a houseplant not only reduces the atmospheric carbon dioxide , reduce level of pollutants but also reduces the atmospheric heat. So plant some seeds and invest in the wellbeing of your own and the planet.

4) Unplug

Best way to reduce your carbon footprint all year round is to unplug your electronics right after their use. This saves up so much energy which will in turn reduce the energy pollution (since energy is generated through burning of natural gas and oil).

5) Inbox Clean-up

Deleting the spam/ junk emails & unsubscribing to the newsletter is the easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint. This digital cleanup is essential for reducing large amounts of CO2 and in helping clean the planet.

Even though efforts are being made to clean up the environment long since the realisation of environmental pollution , still attempts need to be made to not only to clean up the waste but to control its production at the source point. With each passing moment, we get exposed to variety of forms of pollutants that though pose us threat are also the product of our own invention. What we can do as inhabitants of the planet earth is reduce  our impact as much as we can because just doing something bit by bit, we can overcome many environmental challenges.

About the Author: Ifrah N.M. is a climate enthusiast. Currently getting her masters in marine science in Karachi. Her interest includes taking photos of beaches, trees, and everything of nature. She loves to write poetry and blogs as a hobby to highlight the environmental problems faced by humanity today.