Reduce Your Environmental Footprint

What You Can Do

Our planet’s natural environment is under unprecedented stress.

We need systemic change to address the most pressing environmental issues we face today, like climate change and biodiversity loss. Companies and governments of all levels have a critical role to play and must step up, but there are still many ways that we as individuals can contribute to restoring a healthy planet by reducing our environmental footprint.

These are some suggestions to get you started.

Floating litter © Duncan Rawlinson

Protect Wild Species

Help turtles cross the road
Help injured wildlife
Stay on the trails and pick up litter when exploring one of our nature reserves
Keep your cat indoors
Join a local nature group
Support conservation work by donating to Ontario Nature
Make your house bird friendly by bird-proofing your windows
Plant a tree

Nesting snapping turtle © Julia Riley

Be a Responsible Consumer

Buy FSC products to support responsibly sourced forest items
Avoid single use plastics
Use your own shopping bags
Avoid buying disposable items – remember, there is no good type of disposable waste
Buy locally grown food
Purchase energy efficient appliances
Eat more plant-based meals and fewer foods that harm the environment (e.g., certain farmed salmon, palm oil, beef)
Buy organic food
Drink bird friendly coffee to support migratory birds

Reduce Your Footprint at Home

Use green search engines when browsing the internet
Make your garden or backyard pollinator friendly. Here’s a guide to get you started.
Recycle what you can’t reuse and compost organic waste
Avoid food waste, which is an important source of greenhouse gas emissions
Create a green roof to provide habitat for native species
Power your home with green energy
Use cold water for washing and rinsing your laundry
Donate used items in good condition and buy second-hand clothing when you can
Go paperless with bills, newsletters, magazines

Ruby-throated hummingbird, cardinal flower © Steven Severinghaus CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Advocate for Nature

Vote for candidates, parties and/or representatives with the most environmentally friendly platforms and voting records
Speak up for nature by signing petitions that make a difference, like our Action Alerts
Contact your local councilor/MPP/MP to let them know you support a specific environmentally progressive measure
Encourage the young people in your life to write letters to decision-makers
Spread the message to your family and friends by sharing the resources we list below
Join Ontario Nature

A member signing the Protected Places Declaration © Noah Cole