3 Ways to Help the Planet This Earth Day

Each year, Earth Day is an opportunity for us to give thanks for planet Earth and reflect upon ways we can take action to protect the environment. As the number one source of clean energy in the U.S., nuclear energy plays a significant role in reducing carbon emissions and keeping our planet green. We’re proud to be an industry that’s made environmental stewardship a core tenet of our mission.

If you’re looking to lessen your carbon footprint, here are some ways you can make an impact this April 22 and beyond:

1. Reduce your use of single-use plastics.
   
   Once you start paying attention, you realize that single-use plastics are everywhere—from the stirrers and lids you use for your morning coffee, to the bottle of water you buy with your lunch, to the bag the clerk gives you on your quick drugstore run. All these plastics are adding up and quickly polluting our planet. In 2016, the world generated 242 million tons of plastic waste, according to The World Bank. These plastics do not biodegrade over time, but rather break into smaller fragments known as microplastics, which can enter the food chain, pollute our tap water and harm marine life.
   
   Sounds like a big problem, right? The good news is you can easily make a difference by stocking up on reusable items that reduce your need to rely on single-use plastics. Once you’ve made those changes at home, consider what sustainable practices you and your colleagues can implement at your workplace.
   
   Here at NEI, we’ve established a sustainability council to evaluate ways that we as an organization can be more eco-friendly. In just a few weeks, we’ve reduced the number of paper plates, cups and utensils we use and increased the number of ceramic, washable ones and made the switch from plastic to paper straws. Small changes like this can make a big impact over time.
2. Clean up your local park, river or highway.
   
   Americans produce a lot of trash, throwing away theequivalent of their own body weight every month. Much of this trash ends up in public spaces like parks, roads and waterways, posing a threat to wildlife and making our spaces a little less green. Take action by organizing a cleanup day in your community or find volunteer opportunities to spend time outdoors picking up trash, planting trees or recycling.
   
   You can often find volunteer opportunities through your workplace, especially those that have a strong culture of environmental stewardship. If you’re a nuclear plant employee, you’ve likely participated in community service opportunities at work and know firsthand the contributions that nuclear plants make to the surrounding environment.
   
   Nuclear plants like Duke Energy Corp.’s Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina often partner with nearby environmental organizations to host community events or volunteer days, like Oconee’s Earth Day celebration with the Keep Oconee Beautiful Association. Exelon Corp.’s Quad Cities Generating Station in Illinois maintains a privately owned fish hatchery on the site that raises and releases wildlife back into the Mississippi River. And all nuclear plants are designed to operate in harmony with the environment, creating only a small ecological footprint and protecting acres of land as a safe habitat for a diverse species of plants and animals.
3. Take a walk or drive your electric vehicle.
   
   The transportation sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions,accounting for about 28.9 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. More Americans have cars and are driving than ever before; in fact, the number of vehicle miles traveled by passenger cars increased by 45.9 percent from 1990 to 2017.
   
   Electric vehicles aim to reduce the amount of emissions from the transportation sector and are becoming more widely available. Since they are powered by electricity, they do not emit harmful emissions and are largely a more sustainable transportation option.
   
   However, these vehicles are only as “clean” as the energy they use. If the electricity that powers electric vehicles is generated by fossil fuels, that could ultimately mean more carbon emissions. That’s why we need to ensure that electric vehicles are powered by emissions-free energy sources like nuclear. As our largest source of carbon-free energy that is readily available around-the-clock, nuclear is uniquely positioned to provide the large amounts of electricity that will be required to power a growing electric vehicle fleet.

Whether in personal ways—like the ones we’ve listed here—or large-scale ways—like producing carbon-free electricity for a clean energy future—we can all make a difference for the planet this Earth Day. Join the nuclear industry in protecting the climate and environment we hold so dear.