Today it’s time to celebrate the wonderful home to us all our planet Earth! What do you plan on doing to honor the day? I woke up to the sun shining in Vancouver, so this morning I spent some time in my edible garden tending to new sprouting plants. I will also be feeding my worm condo some yummy veggie trimmings later to keep them happy. So I thought today I would share with you what Earth Day means to me and how it changed my life and outlook.
I still remember the moment in my young life when I realized how fragile and precious our surroundings truly are, I was a teenager and my school was celebrating Earth Day by cleaning up garbage around the school property. It was the first time I had heard of Earth Day, or maybe it’s more that I paid attention to what it meant – we were hurting our planet, why would we do such a thing?! So slowly, very slowly from that moment on I started to open my eyes to take a look around to see what was going on. It took years of living in my little bubble for it to finally pop and for me to start living a greener lifestyle and when I did step out of it for awhile I felt a lot of hurt and anger towards my elders for letting it get so bad. They were the adults, the ones in charge and making all the big decisions, so how could they make things that hurt us and the place we live?! After the initial anger passed, I grew up in my thinking and realized that the responsibility had shifted onto me – I needed to make some changes to my lifestyle. So where to start it seemed so overwhelming, what could I do I am just one person in a world that has expanded to 6 billion people. At first I tried to convince people to change with me, to show them how easy some things were to do and I was met with a lot of hostility, so I just stopped trying. Forcing other people to change their habits by telling them their ways were wrong, DID NOT WORK. Instead I decided to make myself as informed as I could, then take that knowledge and do my best without being too hard on myself about the things I couldn’t change. And you know what, it felt easier and the pressure went away, and I was left knowing I wasn’t ignoring the reality facing us. I found by just living my greener life that some of my friends and family started to see my little contributions and do them too – which is so great! Because really all we can is the best we can do, and if everyone does the little stuff then maybe we can eventually tackle the bigger stuff together. This is our home, it is beautiful and today is the day to remember to be a little kinder to it.
Brandy’s 10 Little Contributions
- Plant an edible garden – the rewards are AMAZING – Yummy fresh herbs, veggies and fruits
- Start a worm compost or regular compost in your yard – Free soil that your garden loves
- Use old coffee grinds to feed you plants – It gives your soil nitrogen to help your plants grow
- Use biodegradable soaps in your home – There are so many products on the market now some of my favs are Method cleaning products & Live Clean hair products.
- Recycle as much as you can – Including re-use plastic and glass containers from your grocery shops (I save salsa jars to store pantry items and soup stocks in the freezer).
- Have a re-usable bag tucked into your bag for those surprise shops that happen – We also keep some bags in the car just in case.
- Read labels when shopping and try to buy local when you can – I also try to eat seasonally the food tastes so much better when you do and I love waiting for those yummy summer berries!
- Take the bus, walk or jump on your bike instead of driving – I love riding my bike it makes me feel younger!
- Bring plastic containers with you to work and use them were going to buying your lunch to-go – Owners are really receptive and appreciate it too.
- Drink water from the tap using a water filter instead of bottled water and have a re-usable water/coffee container when out and about.
This is great! I really love that you’ve shared your Earth Day story. If we all keep taking gradual steps and providing a good example, we can do so much! Just in the past week or so I have started thinking a lot more carefully about responsible buying. In this consumer-driven culture, I think mindful purchasing is a great way to make a difference. I just ordered up some mesh produce bags, and looked up my local harvest calendar to read about what’s in season. I love your idea of bringing reusable containers for takeout – I’d recommend glass or something like a bamboo bento box if possible, since that can be more earth-friendly than plastic.
Hi Diana – I agree glass containers are so much better! I keep wanting the invest in some, but they are also a bit heavy to transport around with me. I like the idea of bamboo too. I dream of the day when, when we buy items like containers that will be made to biodegrade and it will just be the norm. Someday we will think before we do – I believe in us!