You can postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics, cancel concerts, and close down some businesses, but you can’t cancel Earth Day, especially not on the 50^th anniversary. Even in the midst of a pandemic, it is impossible to silence the importance of climate change and the steps we as the human race can take today for a healthier tomorrow.

Earth Day occurs annually on April 22^nd and the theme of the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day is: climate action. It is a pressing topic because climate change is one of the biggest threats to the future of humanity. It makes sense, then, that we should do all we can now to make the world a habitable, sustainable place for future generations.

A Brief History Of Earth Day

The first Earth Day took place on April 22^nd, 1970. Earth Day was a unified response to oil spills, smog, and polluted rivers around the world. 20 million Americans, which was 10% of the population at the time, took to the streets, college campuses, and more to protest environmental ignorance and demand new strategies to protect the planet moving forward. These mass demonstrations worked because that initial Earth Day helped launch the modern environmental movement. As a result, the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts were established, in addition to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Earth Day 2020

Well, as a result of COVID-19, Earth Day events, festivities, and large gatherings cannot take place. That doesn’t mean that celebrating the planet and educating people about the importance of environmentalism has to cease! We can still engage in activities while practicing social distancing. How do you do that? We have some tips below:

Pick Up Trash

If you’ve visited a grocery store lately, you probably noticed that the parking lot was littered with disposable gloves and face masks. Some lots even look like the aftermath of a zombie raid on a large group of surgeons! If you head out to grocery store, take it upon yourself to walk around the parking lot and pick up all the gloves, masks, and other trash that was wrongfully tossed into the world. Obviously, use gloves to handle the trash and wash your hands when finished.

Start A Vegetable Or Herb Garden

Since most people are spending the majority of their time at home, there’s no better time than the present to start a vegetable or herb garden. There are beginner gardening guides to follow and you don’t need a lot of space either! You can set up a small planter in your windowsill, or get a raised garden bed for your backyard. The possibilities are endless! Make sure to do some research about the best crops to plant during this time for optimal yields.

Plant Flowers

Don’t you want to look outside one day and see that your flowers have bloomed? There’s really no better feeling than seeing all your hard gardening work come to fruition. The flowers will beautify your outdoor space and put a smile on your face.

Bring Your Love Of The Planet Into Your Home

Open the blinds and windows to allow natural light and fresh air into your home. Not only does this brighten your home (meaning you save on electricity by not turning on your lights), but it also gets rid of the stagnant air in the house.

Only Run Full Loads

Whether you are using the washer or dishwasher, you shouldn’t run small loads. When you run full loads, you help conserve water, which is a precious resource on this planet.

If you find another way to celebrate Earth Day this year, please let us know in the comments below.

SHARE:

The post How To Celebrate Earth Day While Social Distancing appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

The owners of Dherbs Inc. have had the plans to put up a moss wall in the office building over the past several months. What better day to celebrate its installation of the new moss wall than Earth Day, right? The inside of our office just became a stunning sight, one that invites cutting edge design and technology with incredible, proven health benefits.

After the initial “wow moment” of seeing our moss wall idea come to fruition, we were able to calm down and get back to work. We didn’t just put in a moss wall to fit in with the cool kids; rather, there are numerous benefits to installing moss walls in the workplace.

Improved Productivity

A recent study actually confirmed that people, who worked in an office with plants or plant walls, demonstrated more innovative thinking, better problem solving, and increased productivity.

Reduced Airborne Dust

People are constantly exposed to and frequently inhale airborne dust, but seldom do they realize the damaging effects it has on the body. Airborne dust can contain contaminants like smoke particles, chemical dust, molds, fumes, or aerosols from cleaning products. Putting moss into a room works to control the amount of airborne dust. The moss is comprised of bacteria that absorb and metabolize the particles to create a cleaner air.

Improved Air Quality

To expound upon the aforementioned point, pollutants in the air cling to moss’ surface and are converted into the plant’s biomass after absorption. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that four million deaths in 2012 were attributed to air pollution, we are taking small steps to benefit our lungs.

Less Stress

A study that was conducted at Washington State University monitored stress levels in employees at different workstations. The findings indicated that employees, who worked near plants, were 12% less stressed than those who worked without any plants in sight. Additionally, being out in nature has been proven to reduce cortisol levels, so we brought nature inside with the moss wall!

If you ever pick up products from our Los Angeles office, don’t hesitate to take a picture with our moss wall. Tag us on social media, too!

SHARE:

The post Dherbs Isn’t Mossing Around For Earth Day appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

The Dherbs social media team attended the Earth Day event at Grand Park in Los Angeles, CA this past Thursday, April 11^th, 2019. Upon arriving at the event, we noticed a yoga class happening in the center of the park and children running amok playing tag. Crowds of schoolchildren, who ambled from booth to booth, held note pads and pencils to jot down notes about the informational speakers. We must admit that we also went from booth to booth with notepads of our own.

While we appreciate those who volunteered their efforts for the event, we must be honest and say that the event had a lack of informational, when compared to the multitude of interactive and educational activities at last year’s event. There were, however, new booths this year that informed us about recycling old materials and how much water is actually used to make the things we purchase.

You Can Recycle Old Paint

For most homeowners or renters, the garage is a place to store items that rarely get used. Some things are even forgotten about until the day you move out! Rather than leaving old paint behind for the new renters or buyers to deal with, recycle the paint by contacting PaintCare, a California-based company. Whether you’ve had paint, stain, or varnish for 20 days or 20 years, you can recycle all of it at one of the many PaintCare sites in California. PaintCare is a nonprofit that works with paint companies to make it easier to recycle paint in states with pain stewardship laws.

Buy A Bracelet, Help The Rainforest

If you could buy stylish jewelry that helps support the preservation of the rainforests of the world, would you? Rainforests provide over 20% of the world’s oxygen and fresh water, contain over half of the known plant and animal species, are home to millions of indigenous people, and provide many natural remedies to modern day ailments. One Million Acres (OMA) sells jewelry and other accessories, and they have a Buy One Save An Acre program. For every item sold, OMA donates enough to protect one acre of the rainforest through Rainforest Trust, an organization dedicated to protecting tropical ecosystems around the world.

Recycle Old Mattresses

If you can’t sell your old mattress at a garage sale or on the Internet, the go-to move is to just dump it on the street for trash pickup. If you live in the Greater Los Angeles area, there are sites where you can recycle old mattresses. Bye Bye Mattress is a program that works to recycle each part of the mattress, including the foam, steel, fiber, and wood.

We enjoyed learning about these businesses because they help to make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place.

SHARE:

The post Dherbs Attended Grand Park’s Earth Day Event 2019 appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

The Dherbs social media team attended an Earth Day event in Los Angeles this past Thursday, April 19^th, 2018. Grand Park was replete with children on school field trips and the booths were never empty. Adults and children alike came to learn how we impact the environment and what sustainable steps we can take to be more eco-friendly.

People around the world could be more conscious about their impact on the environment. These Earth Day events help to shine a light on how careless people are, when it comes to giving back to a planet that has given us so much life. We thoroughly enjoyed the plethora of booths, but a couple ideas stood out to us, which we have detailed below.

Vermiculture

If you are familiar with the idea of composting, you will probably recognize this word. Vermiculture is the practice of using worms to decompose organic food waste, thereby turning it into nutrient-rich material that benefits the growth of plants. Think of vermiculture as nature’s way of recycling. Instead of sending food scraps down the garbage disposal, where it will end up in a landfill, bury them in the earth to create healthier soil structure.

To start off, get an airtight container to store your kitchen scraps. If you are burying these in the ground, you can add apple cores, banana peels, broccoli stems, wilted leaves, carrot tops, crushed eggshells, citrus peels, melon rinds, or celery butts, among many other fruit/vegetables scraps. Once your container fills up, dig a little hole in the dirt and bury the scraps. Make sure you cover the scraps with dirt and pack it down. Worms will come and work their magic! 

WARNING: Do not compost meat, dairy products, or processed foods.

If you don’t have a yard or an area where you can compost your scraps, you can make a very simple worm farm, which you can keep in your house or apartment. You should get red worms and try to avoid adding citrus peels to the containers; otherwise you will attract fruit flies. You’ll collect liquid in the bottom and it is probably the most beneficial liquid, with which you can nurture your plants. See the video below to learn how to make your own worm farm.

Harvesting Rainwater

We don’t know about people in other states, but California needs all the water it can get. We came across a rainwater-harvesting booth, which we absolutely fell in love with. Rain is not only free, but it also a salt-free water source containing beneficial microorganisms for plants.

Harvesting rainwater can be done easily. Rather than letting the water run from your gutter into the street, you can funnel the gutter into a large bucket for collection. You can water your plants at will with this water. If you don’t want to do this option, you can create a channel system that leads to your plants or yard. When you do this, it helps to replenish ground water. Remember that gravity is your friend when you are creating this channel system.

When rain falls it seeps underground to become ground water, whereby it feeds rivers or lakes. The construction of cities has stopped this natural cycle, meaning the ground can no longer store water as it should. The groundwater works to improve the earth, so there’s no reason not to harvest rainwater!

We hope that you take some steps to be more eco-friendly or employ one of these simple ideas in your daily lives. If these seem too drastic or out of reach, try carrying a reusable straw with you at all times and abstain from using plastic straws. You can also stop buying plastic water bottles and start using a Berkey filter, which is a great product to naturally filter out heavy metals and other toxins from tap water. Happy Earth Day! Let’s treat the planet like we want it to be around for a while!

SHARE:

The post How Dherbs Learned To Be More Eco-Friendly For Earth Day appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.

For the past 47 years, Earth Day has been a global movement to educate the masses about environmental change. Education is progress, and that is what this year’s theme is focused on. Environmental and climate literacy helps create a healthier earth for future generations. If we educate the masses about how we as people are harming the planet, perhaps there will be a unified effort to environmentally protect it.

A Brief Earth Day History

20 million Americans helped launch the first Earth Day, which took place on April 22^nd, 1970. This got the ball rolling on environmental bills that later came to be approved. These include the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act, among many others.

Over the past 52 years, the Earth Day Network has grown astronomically. There are over 50,00 partners in almost 200 countries, and about one billion people participate in Earth Day activities, fundraisers, or campaigns every year. We only hope those numbers continue to grow, spreading awareness and making more environmental changes.

There isn’t one specific way to celebrate Earth Day. Take a look at what events are happening in your community; it might surprise you. To make a long-lasting change for the betterment of the planet, perhaps you can incorporate some of the following into your daily life.

Reusable Water Bottle

There is too much plastic that ends up in the ocean or in nature. Make a pledge to stop using plastic water bottles and start using a reusable, stainless steel canteen. There are so many great reusable water bottles now! Buy a Berkey filter system for your water at home, or get a filter for your faucet. It’s healthier for you and the environment; and you don’t have to buy water bottles!

Eat Less Meat

The meat industry accounts for one-fifth of man-made greenhouse gas emissions around the world. Try to limit you meat consumption and focus on buying fresh, locally grown produce. The more plant-based foods you eat, the healthier you’ll be; and your ecological footprint will decrease too!

Plant A Tree

Planting a tree is a fun activity for you and your kids, if you have them. Deforestation accounts for about 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which ultimately contribute to climate change. Additionally, deforestation can cause species extinction and poverty.

Make Your Own Green Act

Blaze your own trail towards a greener planet by doing environmentally friendly things here and there. Installing solar panels can help reduce your eco footprint, and you can also get a personal wind turbine to generate electricity; they are pretty inexpensive! Maybe you can ride your bike on the weekend instead of driving your car. Plant a garden or volunteer to pick up trash. If we all do little things to help the planet, we can enjoy what it has to offer for generations to come.

SHARE:

The post Let’s Celebrate Earth Day appeared first on Dherbs - The Best All Natural Herbal Remedies & Products.