How did you spend Earth Day? Did you decide to do something a little different in honour of our precious earth? Maybe you bought a reusable coffee travel mug, didn’t print as many things at work, took public transit instead of driving – every little bit counts.
I like the Green movement. It makes sense to care. I really became conscious when I had my son. Seeing the world through his eyes enticed me to treat this world I brought him into a little better. I want the earth to be around for future generations – I want the air to be breathable, and green play areas for kids. I try to educate myself on green products, non-toxic alternatives and reducing electricity use. However, true confession ahead – despite all my good intentions, I truly find being green a challenge at times, overwhelming and unmanageable even.
Despite my best intentions, I never seem to be as green as I would like. I still buy coffee in the non-recyclable paper cups at Tim Horton’s (as my brother pointed out – how non-environmentally friendly is Roll up the Rim??), I still throw things out that I find out can be recycled (certain types of plastics CAN be recycled, it just takes some work to figure out which ones), I often forget my usable bags when I go grocery shopping – all in all, it’s far from perfect. My shade of green is not as bright as I would like it to be.
But, what I’ve come to realize, and what reading all the Twitter posts and watching the news specials today has reminded me – every little bit counts. We have changed all of our lights in the house to the energy efficient ones. The kids use stainless steel drink cups, as do we for water instead of buying water bottles, I don’t leave the water running while brushing my teeth. All these little things add up and I know it’s a start.
So this Earth Day, when someone asks “what did you do to change the Earth?”, don’t panic if it wasn’t monumental in the world of Green, but think about how a single change you did may really make a difference. Then tomorrow, make another small change. And the next day, and the next…
Looking for small but meaningful inspiration? Thank you to my Twitter Peeps for these great tips:
CdnLawyerista: say no to printing receipts from bank machine, put a tag line on email reminding people not to print email
ShaiStar:take the bus, use cloth bags, don’t heat the rooms I don’t use, bring silverware to work to avoid using plastic..
che11eness:use less light when less is needed. wear a sweater indoors and lower the thermostat. unplug appliances when not in use.
Happy Earth Day! For some really great reads, Check out Canadian Lawyerista’s posts from this week.
