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Politics and Activism

5 Easy, Meaningful Ways You Can Help Save The World

These hacks will take 5 minutes, and can save the world for 500 years to come.

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5 Easy, Meaningful Ways You Can Help Save The World
Serena Bernal

In This Article:

My greatest pet peeve is when people use Earth Day as an excuse to just post photos of a vacation they went on years ago. Sure, it's great that you went to Spain that one time three years ago and finally have an excuse to post that VSCO photo of your trip, but don't pretend like you are sharing that photo because you actually care about Earth Day. It is really easy to become a passive consumer of Earth Day, but it is equally as easy to be an active participant in making a change for OUR Earth. So, here are 10 ways you can actually save the earth on Earth Day, and every day.

Don't use plastic bags

We all know how dangerous plastic bags are for our environment. Plastic takes 1,000 (Yes, you heard me: ONE. THOUSAND.) years to decompose, and ultimately just sits in and builds up landfills across the world. Think about that. You use a plastic bag for the convenience of 30 minutes, but that same plastic bag will end up dirtying our planet and hurting animals for 525,600,000 minutes. This doesn't have to be the case, because reusable bags are super convenient and cost-efficient as well. I have found some super cute ones on Amazon, at Whole Foods, and even at Home Goods. All you have to do is keep one or two reusable bags in your car, or maybe one in your backpack to help make an impact in saving the planet.

Turn off your electronics when you leave the room

Think about all the different electronics you have plugged into your outlets at home right now. In my room, I probably have my fan on, my lamp plugged in, and my phone charger stuck in the wall. This, keep in mind, is all while I'm not even in the room. Leaving our electronics plugged in or our lights on while we're not in the room is a ridiculous waste of resources, especially nonrenewable resources that could be better used for other, more beneficial, output. If this isn't reason enough, remember that it is estimated that the electronics you leave on in your room could cost you an additional $230 a year. That's at least 57 coffees that you can't buy because you just left your appliances plugged in for no reason. Think about that!

Turn off your water when you brush your teeth

We've all had the age-old debate regarding whether you should wet your toothbrush before or after you put on toothpaste, but one part that is undebatable is that our faucet should be turned off when we are brushing our teeth. Doing so during your two-minute teeth brushing period can save up to 5 gallons a day, which is such a simple and easy fix.

Be a vegetarian for a day

I'm not going to attempt to coerce you into feeling bad for eating animals, because I by no means am a vegetarian. However, it is an absolute fact that producing a single pound of meat takes 2,500 gallons of water. Considering how quickly the average American consumes hamburgers or chicken, this is a crazy amount of water to waste every single day. Substituting your chicken tenders for lunch for a salad and some rice just once a week could be just as filling for your stomach and much less harmful to our environment. (And in my opinion, the fries and milkshakes at McDonald's are much better than the Big Macs!)

Don't grab a napkin unless you need it

I've watched people do it before, when preparing for a meal you grab three or four napkins, and you end up using one at most. Those extra and unused napkins just get tossed into the garbage and end up manifesting in a landfill that will never efficiently decompose. If we all just used one less napkin a day, we could save a billion pounds of space in landfills and could save our planet. So be smart about what you consume, and be realistic with how much you take.

Being eco-friendly takes little to no effort, and only requires simple fixes in your everyday life. But, every single person needs to partake in these changes, because everyone's part in this process matters. If we continue to just watch the world wither away and hope that someone else will take action, the world will never get better. Each and every person, me and you included, needs to take steps to care for and fix the mess we have made. So if you are going to post on Instagram about your love of the environment, promote how we can change the environment. Use your platform for education and entertainment, because every person matters and every action helps.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Adulting

6 Unrealistic Expectations Society Has For Young Adults

Don't let the thesaurus-inspired vocabularies in our résumés fool you. We're actually just big kids.

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boy in adult clothes

Well over four feet tall and 100 pounds in weight, many of us "young adults" of the world still consider ourselves children. Big, working, college-attending, beer-drinking children. We may live on our own, know how to cook noodles, and occasionally use a planner, but don't be fooled; the youthful tendencies that reside within us still make their way into our daily lives. From choosing to stay up until 3:00 a.m. playing video games on a school night to going out in 30 degree weather without a coat, we still make decisions that our parents and grandparents would shake their heads at in disappointment. So why are we expected to know exactly how to be a wise, professional, sensible adult? It's not that we're irresponsible (for the most part, anyway). It's that we are young, inexperienced, and still have the sought-after, enthusiastic mentality that we can do and be whatever we want, which has not yet been tarnished by the reality of the world. These are just a few of the unrealistic expectations that society has for young adults.

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There are a lot of foods in this world, but there is only one dish that stands above the rest: Pizza. If you're close to me or at least know who I am, then you know that I'm totally obsessed with pizza. It's one of my favorite things to eat and I will NEVER turn down a slice, even if it doesn't have my favorite toppings. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not thinking about pizza. I even sleep with a pizza pillow every night! There are many reasons why pizza stands above all other foods, and here are just a couple reasons why.

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1. You don't have to feel guilty about flirting with customers for tips (or just for shits and giggles).

2. You can be obnoxiously flirtatious with anyone you want. You are free to be that girl that flirts with everybody and makes 'em all smile (it's especially fun when the guy is as cute as Collin Jost). No shame.

3. Making random men nervous with your superior beauty and intense eye contact just for the hell of it is really amusing and empowering.

4. No one gives two poops if ya legs are hairy (your man shouldn't either but *Kermit the Frog meme* That's none of my business)

5. The toilet seat will remain down.

6. There's more money to spend on yourself.

7. There's always this secret butterfly in your tummy that marvels at the possibility that when you go out this weekend you're gonna meet someone super handsome/wonderful/prince-like and have this moment of dazzling dalliance.

8. Nothing is that serious...you can take it all with a grain of salt...you don't owe anybody anything.

9. You can dance with anyone and everyone...or no one (Hello frat boi w/ glasses, I see you).

10. You don't have to fluff anyone's ego but your own.

11. Free drinks and dinners from single guys (It's not taking advantage if they're offering; a girl's gotta eat).

12. You have more time to learn how to love and improve yourself rather than constantly pouring your energy into another person.

13. You don't have to sacrifice your cheesy Jen Aniston rom-coms and Gilmore Girls for his Fast and Furious/other dumb action movie featuring blonde that is only in the movie to supply a relationship to the male lead and to make him look more masculine/empowered in juxtaposition (In other words, you don't have to deal with a guy being a crabby Patty while you watch your cute movies).

14. You can daydream about what your future husband may be doing right now (and not get stressed/guilty out because you're not picturing your current boyfriend that's crazy about you as your future husband).

15. There is more time to be spent with your girlfriends.

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We've all been there - you've been saying since Tuesday after French that this weekend is the weekend. You're finally going to break out those new heels and actually put on eyeliner on and make this Friday night be one for the memory books! That is, of course, until Girls Night Out turned into...Girls Night In.

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Entertainment

What Is Your Zodiac GIF?

Characteristics of the astrological signs, explained through GIFS.

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zodiac
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Whether you believe astrology is a legitimate "science" or not, we have all found ourselves looking at our horoscopes from time to time. The 12 astrological signs all fall under one of four elements: air, water, earth, or fire. Air signs are rational, social, and love to communicate with others. Water signs are are emotional, intuitive, and mysterious. Fire signs tend to be passionate, creative, and adventurous. Earth signs are conservative, realistic, and loyal.

Each sign is determined by the relative positions of celestial bodies to ourselves at our moment of birth, which is said to influence our personalities. Find your zodiac GIF below, based on the traits and characteristics provided by each sign.

***Disclaimer: GIFS are meant to be lighthearted and are based on descriptions of signs from http://www.astrology-zodiac-signs.com/.

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