SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Thursday is Earth Day and some might feel overwhelmed with the thought of, “What can I really do to make the earth better, cleaner, a place I want my kids and grandkids to inherit?”

Do the things we do really make a difference? Well, let’s start small.

Spring cleaning is a way to take some reasonable steps.

2020 was a particularly dirty year — environmental nonprofit the Ocean Conservancy said there was three times as much “personal hygiene” trash last year than the previous three-year period, and that’s thanks to all the masks and gloves getting tossed all over the place.

So you can start by just picking up after yourself.

This is what can happen when Utahns are careless or just deliberately trash their surroundings — the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources shared these photos after an Ogden-area campground was closed due to debris — so remember — pack it in, pack it out.

Part Of Middle Fork WMA Closed To Overnight Camping Due To Trash, Vandalism

Do it for our beautiful state of Utah, the wildlife and the waterways. And how about your personal surroundings in and around your home? Spring cleaning can take on the form of using natural cleaning products.

You can compost the leaves that build up around your home and before you throw things away, think about donating them so they can be recycled and reused and don’t just end up rotting in a landfill.

I know it’s not just our yard, guys, but the neighborhood and the park – KSL’s Dan Spindle has been spotted on a walk or a jog carrying beer cans, plastic bags — junk he found along the way and throws away.

So there are a lot of ways to observe Earth Day in your own little sphere of influence.