We all want to support wildlife conservation. Seeing animals come off the endangered species list is probably one of the best feelings that you can have. However, not all of us can work in conservation sanctuaries, helping restore animals’ habitats. There are some things that you can do in your everyday life that can help you support wildlife conservation.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
You may be a big proponent of recycling in your everyday life, for whatever reason. However, those first two ‘R’s are just as important as recycling itself. Cutting down on your consumption of resources that you come into contact with is incredibly important. Instead of using plastic water bottles or plastic straws, use metal straws and a reusable water bottle. That way, in conjunction with recycling the plastics that you do inevitably end up using, it helps ensure that the oceans can stay cleaner.
Try to Eat Sustainable Seafood
If you love to eat fish, you don’t have to stop just because you want to support wildlife conservation. However, you have to keep in mind that there can be over-fishing and seafood farming when it comes to the specific type of seafood you buy. This can lead to the overall depletion of our ocean’s resources. Do your research when it comes to what will be on your plate, just so that you can find out the right choice to pick at the fish counter.
Garden, If You Can
We all know that bumblebees are currently on the endangered species list. Specifically, the rust-colored bumblebee has declined almost 0% over the past two decades. Pollinators like the bumblebees are becoming more of a risk of becoming extinct because of the overuse of pesticides and herbicides. To help your local bumblebees, you can include bee-friendly plants in your gardens like salvia, beebalm, and borage.
Avoid animal products
We know not to buy things like ivory and fur when we travel, but not knowing what’s in the souvenirs we take home can be just as dangerous. The illegal wildlife market still provides animal products when we travel abroad. Coral and tortoise-shell products harm the ecosystem and support the illegal market system. If you’re not much of a traveler, consider not using cosmetic products or clothing made from or tested on animals.
We all want to help out our local ecosystem, but singlehandedly taking on an entire project to save an endangered species can be almost impossible to accomplish. Doing our part every day can help immensely.
