REGINA — Normally, Earth Day is an occasion that brings plenty of awareness to the environment and events like litter pickups, but under COVID-19, the focus is on good individual habits.
Naomi Hunter, a Regina environmentalist, says she tries to live every day like it's Earth Day.
Although Hunter would like to see larger-scale changes in the future, she's still encouraging others on social media to keep up the little things like picking up trash.
"Just post photos when you're going out for your daily walks with your family," Hunter said. "Just clean up you own neighbourhood and then take a photo of the bag of trash."
Another simple change in habit she recommends is waiting to rake up leaves, which comes with a number of benefits.
Hunter also says looking for products that create less waste can help, products like the ones sold at The Alternative.
Owner Karlee Raiwet opened the Regina store in March after looking to make the change to more sustainable products herself.
"I was always looking for not better, but more natural options and a lot of those things I wasn't able to source locally," Raiwet said.
The shop is currently open for deliveries, and Raiwet says even switching to one option with less waste can make a difference.
“If everyone chose one or two simple things like ‘hey I’m going to start using dryer balls, or I’m going to use beeswax wraps instead of plastic wrap', the world would definitely have an impact from that," Raiwet said.
Hunter hopes people will continue some environmentally friendly habits formed during the pandemic like driving less after restrictions end.
"Now that you've realized that that's possible, let's think of some ways that we can incorporate these changes into our life once the quarantine restrictions lift," Hunter said.
Wednesday marked 50 years since the first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970.
