10 ways you can befriend the planet from home

1 Grow microgreens and other veggies

Grow some of your food at home. Learn how to easily and quickly grow microgreens. If you need guidance, the Oregon State University is offering free Master Gardener Program and Vegetable Gardening.

2 Cook your own food

It’s more important than ever to have non-perishables in stock but you can also preserve perishables through pickling. Try fermentation. Get creative with leftover food. Include more vegetarian options in your diet if you eat a lot of meat.

3 Take up sewing

Take a shot at sewing if you haven’t already. Start from something simple such as mending a tear to making reusable bags from old clothes or fabrics. Some grocery stores are currently not allowing them due to COVID-19 but you can use them when this is all over.

4 Research on things you don’t usually have time for

This is a good time to do some research on things that you usually put away such as slow fashion. You can also participate in questionnaires from the comfort of your home to aid more research like this one on vegan shoes or this one on “Right to Clean Environment with special Reference to door to door wastage collection facility in the city of Ahmadabad“. Sanctuary is offering its April, May and June 2020 issues free of charge, online, for all those who register at this link, a good chance to understand what’s going on with our environment. Explore work from home gigs and if you are interested I can share a list of places with you where you can find some.

5 Make your own fertilizer

Make your own fertilizer like zenrainman does. He says, “Chuck banana peels, onion peels, potato whatever vegetable remains into a large glass bottle. Add water, jaggery plus curds – a spoonful. Leave for a week. Strain water, dilute and use for potted plants as fertilizer. Compost the peel remains after 4 refills.”

6 Support local businesses

Support your local businesses by shopping local. Many shops may have shut down temporarily but they might still be delivering their goods albeit rather slowly.

7 Go paperless

If you get your bills in the mail, it is time to switch to online billing and payments. Imagine how much paper we would need if all the population got bills in the mail. There are more than 7 billion of us on this planet.

8 Donate to environmental organizations

If you want to stop the next pandemic, donate to organizations that are keeping the earth healthy. Loss of forests is making the virus’s job easier. Amazon Rainforest Conservancy, Sanctuary Asia Foundation, Bombay Natural History Society to note a few.

9 Explore your neighbourhood

It’s easy to jump on your two or four-wheeler for a quick errand in the neighborhood. It’s evident how lockdowns are clearing the air around us, why not keep it that way? We have satellite photographs as well as photographs from individuals supporting it. Take a walk if not under complete lockdown to explore nearby areas.

10 Browse to plant trees

Ecoasia mobile and desktop browser/search engine just hit 90 million trees. Treeclicks is a browser extension that plants trees on your behalf every time you shop online.