The first Earth Day was 53 years ago in 1970 and was focused mainly on pollution. The focus now is climate change and water.

So our friends at Before It’s Too Late have created The Earth Week Challenge. Each day of Earth Week is a different challenge. Each challenge highlights small changes we can make in our daily lives that can help make the world greener and more sustainable for generations to come.

Meatless Monday is about going vegan or plant-based and eliminating animal products, mainly beef and dairy from your diet once a week. It is one of the most powerful tools we have in the fight against climate change and world hunger along with water conservation, plus, studies show you will live longer with fewer health concerns.

The world consumes 60 million land animals that create 15% of the world’s greenhouse gases and uses 80% of the world’s agricultural land. Beef requires 10 times more water and creates 13 times more greenhouse gases than plant-based protein. And ready for this? If the entire world went vegan, we’d have enough food to feed every single human being.

Transportation Tuesday reminds us that even though we live in a part of the world that requires lots of driving, something we should not feel badly about, we can still make choices that help.

Forty-nine percent of Miami-Dade’s carbon footprint comes from driving. But maybe in the morning carpooling to work or taking the train from Fort Lauderdale to Miami on the weekend instead of driving. Just ideas to think about that can actually make a real difference if enough people take part!