Earth Day is TODAY, April 22nd, and if you are like me, you had no idea that it was coming up because, on your never-ending list of responsibilities and activities, this doesn’t make a big enough blip to add itself to your meticulously color-coded agenda.
Let’s face it – Earth Day is not a fun or whimsical holiday. There are no presents to buy or eggs to hunt. There’s no woodland faerie delivering organic mulch in a handmade basket, made from gathered twigs. If anything, it’s a bit of a bummer. It’s a reminder that we are {literally} trashy people carelessly dumping out our detritus all over Mother Earth. It’s enough to make a sea turtle cry, even if he didn’t already have a used drinking straw poking out of his poor little nose. If you didn’t know, the visuals of the straw-injured sea turtles are the contemporary of the turtle with the soda can six-pack plastic wrapped around his shell of yesteryear.
While I, to this day, can’t throw away the soda plastic without cutting it up to prevent a defenseless creature from becoming trapped in it, you’ll have to pry my drinking straws from my cold, greedy hands. Even though I know I’m contributing a small part to a massive environmental crisis, my need for convenience and creature comforts often prevents me from making more eco-friendly choices.
I have friends who live with extreme environmental consciousness. They make their own toothpaste and beauty products. They take glass jars and reusable bags to grocery stores to try to live a zero waste lifestyle. While I admire their devotion, it isn’t the sort of hard-core commitment that I can make at this point in my life. Having said that, this doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing sort of deal. There are small changes we all can make that aren’t necessarily huge inconveniences. Just changing the way we do a few things each day is still a great step towards being more environmentally responsible. I recommend doing a quick Google search when you have a few minutes to spare to find easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
Here’s a very concise list of things you can do (or not do) that have seamlessly fit into my routines.
- Use washcloths/towels to clean vs. disposable sanitizing cloths.
- Turn off lights when you aren’t using them and unplug appliances (like toasters and coffee makers) when they aren’t in use.
- Use reusable containers for food storage.
- Buy in bulk when you can. This usually means less packaging and also means fewer gas-burning trips to the store.
- Consider buying second-hand clothing and other goods instead of always buying new things. This helps eliminate items that are still useful ending up in landfills. It also helps offset the waste and pollution the manufacturing of new items produces.
- Use a travel mug/reusable drink bottles vs. single-serve disposable plastic drink bottles.
- Pay your bills online instead of having papers mailed to you.
- Consider using washable cloth bags for shopping trips to cut down on paper and plastic bag waste. If you do end up with paper or plastic bags, you can use them for trash can liners.
- If possible, refuel your vehicles and use other gas-powered items (like lawn mowers) later in the day or at night time. This helps cut down on air pollution!
As I’ve said, there are many great resources available to help guide you to be less of an Oscar the Grouch and more of a Lorax.
You never know. You might love this new earth-warrior side of you so much that you end up living in a yurt with no electricity or running water in the mountains like my BFF Chelsie. Or maybe not, and that’s okay too. Nature’s cool and all, but I prefer to not share an outhouse with a curious squirrel. I will, however, use my bidet so that I waste less toilet paper.
Somewhere out there, deep in the woods, a tree is smiling. Because of my sacrifice, it lives to see another day. You are welcome, trees. You are welcome.
