On every April 22nd, Americans have the opportunity to celebrate the Earth! Earth day 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of this wonderful holiday and proves that we continue to make progress towards preserving the planet we call home. Each Earth Day we are reminded to recycle, become more energy efficient, enjoy the beautiful outdoors, reduce waste, and be more mindful about the environment.

The holiday always gives society hope and brings local communities together to provide service and become better educated on how we can help the globe flourish. Unfortunately, many Americans quickly lose these great habits and fall back into their old energy inefficient ways.  At Blue Raven Solar, we love Earth Day because it reminds us of our commitment to help our customers and Americans protect this beautiful world and invest in clean energy.

In fact, we are lucky enough to celebrate both Earth Day and the anniversary of the founding of our company just 4 days apart! In celebration of our 6-year anniversary as a company and the 50th Earth Day, we’d like to share 6 ways that we can give back to the planet year-round!

1. Drive Less, Carpool More!

As many Americans have been forced to stay and work from the last month, we have seen unbelievable effects on the environment. With a huge decrease in the number of daily drivers across the nation, carbon dioxide emissions have greatly decreased. In just a little more than a month, smog in cities has disappeared and many Americans can see stars from their homes for the very first time!

With that being said, we will not be stuck in our homes forever. When the time comes to return to our normal daily routines, it would be fantastic to continue to reduce CO2 emissions by carpooling and using public transportation. Many Americans have co-workers who have similar driving routes and could easily carpool several times a week. There are also rideshare apps and Waze that have made finding a carpool companion easy! We can also choose to drive less and be more strategic about going to the store, visiting friends, and traveling. All in all, driving less helps the environment and puts a little extra money in your pocket!

2. Always Recycle

We all know what recycling is and how it helps the planet, but do we know how to recycle plastic and paper goods? Because recycling is becoming more common across our nation, it is important that we understand what can be recycled and how it should be recycled. Recycle Across America, a Non-Profit Organization, has great resources that cover best practices for recycling in the United States.

Their “Tips to Recycle Right” explains how to reduce waste and also teaches the reader how a dirty pizza box cannot be recycled and that you should put the plastic cap on a bottle before you throw it in the bin. All in all, plastic and paper that is recycled improperly just becomes traditional trash. Do your community and the environment a favor and read up on best practices on the Recycle Across America Website.

3. Start Composting

If you want to take reducing your waste one step further than recycling, you can start composting foods and certain materials. Composting is great because rather than sending your decomposable waste in a garbage bag to sit in a landfill for hundreds of years, you can place this waste in a bin and transform it into nutrient rich soil that you can actually use!

Composting promotes gardening, which will in turn allow you to create the food that you eat. Another great part about composting is that it is super easy to get started and it will continue to decompose for years as long as you maintain it. You don’t have to invest in an expensive piece of technology. All you need is a box, some soil, and your weekly waste.

If you are interested in how to get started in composting at your home, this video is a great starting point:

4. Turn Down the Heat

Depending on where you live, it can get really hot or really cold, or both. Most of us are accustomed to turning the heat a couple degrees up or turning the A/C a couple degrees down on a daily basis. One simple way to cut back on energy usage is to resist the urge to make those small changes to heat and A/C.

For every degree that you turn your heat down over the course of a month you can reduce your monthly energy usage by 3%. This also means that each degree you take your heat down can save you an extra 3% on your electricity bill. The same rule applies to turning up your A/C. The colder you leave your house, the more energy that will be consumed and the more money you will pay.

All in all, this simple solution paired with not running the heat or air conditioning while you’re not at home can make a huge impact on energy consumption in an individual house, a community, a city, and a nation. Plus, in today’s day and age, technology helps us consumers be more energy efficient.

5. Buy New Clean Energy Technology

At Blue Raven Solar, we encourage our customers to look for simple ways to make their homes more energy efficient. One of the simplest ways to get started is by making sure that you use LED light bulbs. By switching from old incandescent bulbs to LED, homeowners can reduce their energy usage significantly and decrease waste as LED bulbs last much longer.

Another simple switch is purchasing a smart thermostat that allows you to control the temperature of your home from any mobile device (Every Blue Raven customer receives both a smart thermostat and LED lightbulbs). Many new homes are installing double pane windows and smart window blinds, which allow homeowners to better control the temperature of their homes without having to adjust their thermostat constantly. Homeowners can also look to replace less efficient and old appliances like refrigerators, TVs, blenders, and ovens with new ones.

6. Invest in Solar! 

One of the best ways to give back to the planet is by investing in a solar system for your home. In its lifetime, the average residential solar system will offset the energy produced by burning over 80 tons of coal or 175 tons of carbon dioxide.

That’s like:

Solar panels can make a massive impact in helping preserve our planet, and every solar owner can feel good knowing that they are making a difference.

Over the last 6 years at Blue Raven Solar, we have installed enough solar systems to offset 1,805,052 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equivalent to removing 389,970 cars from roads for a year!

Along with helping our customers impact the environment, Blue Raven has developed a partnership with GivePower. The Givepower GivePartner Foundation builds solar-powered desalination water farms that produce up to 70,000 liters per day of clean water for communities in areas that do not have access to clean water. With every Blue Raven installation, we give $20 to GivePartner, and that $20 donation provides one person with access to clean drinking water for at least 20 years.

All in all, Blue Raven celebrates Earth Day with pride and hopes to continue to help Americans make the switch to solar.

Blue Raven Earth Day Promotion

If you don’t have solar installed on your home, there is no better time to invest in your own solar system. Blue Raven Solar customers get their first 18 months free. This allows customers to start saving from the get-go and throughout their solar journey.

So, don’t wait to make an impact on the planet and get a free solar consultation today!

Just click on the link below and enter your information and one of our solar specialists will reach out to you that same day!

If you already have solar and have seen its various benefits in your own life, we are now offering $250 for every referral that chooses to go solar with Blue Raven. The referral process is extremely simple!

All you have to do is click on the link below and fill out some basic information. We will then contact your friend and give them a free solar consultation. If they choose to go solar with Blue Raven, we will notify you. There are no limits as to how many referrals can be submitted, so start helping your friends and neighbors save!