Earth Month gives us a great opportunity to pause and consider some of the little things we can do daily to continue to move toward a healthy future and planet. 

Here are six tips you can start using today from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). 

1. Reduce your carbon footprint and save money - try line drying

When it comes to earth-friendly solutions, SEAS Professor Shelie Miller says,  “We tend to focus on technological improvements, but a lot of the time, behavioral changes can have larger impacts.”

Take drying your clothes, for example. Each year, dryers collectively cost more than $7 billion to power in the U.S. and generate energy that emits the equivalent of more than 27 million tons of carbon dioxide. 

A recent study led by Zhu Zhu (MS '24), who performed the work as a SEAS master's student under the guidance of Miller, finds that line drying, which has zero lifetime greenhouse gas emissions, could save around $2,000 over the lifetime of a dryer. That would also cut back CO2 emissions by more than three tons per household over the same time.

TIP: Find yourself a drying rack, and try line drying!

2. Mend, don't end your clothes

A study by Hannah Fetner (MS '21) and Miller shows that one effective way that people can reduce the environmental impact of the products they consume is by extending the life of the products through repair or mending. Considering that the fashion industry is responsible for between 4% and 8.6% of global carbon emissions, according to a study by the NRDC, it’s probably worth a patch or stitch to give your clothes more life. SEAS students are doing just that by hosting mending events to address fashion waste. 

TIP: Instead of tossing away your old clothes, mend them! 

3. Consume less, focus on reducing and reusing

The biggest problem with reusable items? We have too many of them. A study by the Dutch Environmental Protection Agency found that you’d need to reuse your cotton tote bag over 7,000 times to make it a more sustainable alternative than plastic bags. And your stainless steel water bottle? Miller is quoted here saying, “It depends on the water bottle, it depends on the actual material, but you probably have to reuse that bottle around 50 to 100 times to have an actual environmental benefit over using single-use bottles.” For more about the needed reuse rates of other household items, such as coffee cups, cutlery, straws and beeswax wraps, check this study by Fetner (MS '21) and Miller.

Miller, who also conducted a study about misperceptions surrounding the environmental impacts of single-use plastics, adds, “We often think, if something’s reusable, it has to be better for the environment, and that is true, as long as we actually reuse it a large number of times.”

The takeaway? Try consuming more mindfully by reusing what you already have, and avoid buying new things you don't need.

TIP: Use what you already have as many times as possible!

4. Buy nothing, build community

The More Life, Less Stuff campaign, a partnership between the City of Ann Arbor and the Ecology Center, launched in 2024 to encourage residents to engage in waste reduction activities. 

They suggest, for example, that instead of putting items in a landfill, join your local Buy Nothing group and challenge yourself to a Buy Nothing year. Ann Arbor has its own Buy No Things Facebook group, moderated by Daniel Grenzicki. In this article, he discusses how the group is about more than just exchanging stuff. 

“Essentially, it's just a community of people, that, share items. It is a way to kind of connect people with each other through stuff. It's really easy to just not know your neighbors at all and live here forever. This group gives you another to way get out in your community and connect with people who live near you,” says Grenzicki. 

TIP: Join a Buy Nothing group to trade and repurpose stuff AND build community!

5. AI for the environment - the good, the bad and the ugly

The good: AI can predict patterns that can provide invaluable environmental monitoring, speed up data analysis and much more, like SEAS researchers using it to accelerate wildlife conservation efforts.

The bad: According to one estimate, AI produces mass amounts of e-waste and consumes nearly six times more water than the country of Denmark..

The ugly: AI relies on unsustainably sourced critical minerals, and one analysis found it consumes 10 times the electricity of a Google Search for a single ChatGPT request. 

TIP: Try skipping AI for help writing a simple email, and leave AI usage for the good stuff!

6. Eat consciously and reduce food waste

Did you know that meat, while high in protein and vitamins, is not so great for the environment? 

• One serving of beef has more associated greenhouse gas emissions than 20 servings of vegetables.
• Meat production has significant impacts on land use, water use and water pollution.
• Meat-based diets use twice as much energy to produce than vegetarian diets. 

Other proteins, such as chicken and legumes, are less carbon-intensive, as are veggies. 

Also, work to reduce food waste (and save money!) by buying only what you need. More food waste reaches landfills than any other material. Consider donating anything you don't consume, and be sure to compost all food scraps! The City of Ann Arbor provides weekly compost pick up (monthly in the winter). 

For these facts and more, check out the SEAS Center for Sustainable Systems Factsheets. 

TIP: Eat your veggies, reduce food waste and compost the rest!