Happy EARTH DAY! ReDuce, ReUse, ReCycle
Travelling across the US of A for the past 5 months has certainly had its challenges in the recycling department, especially when compared to the structured and effective salvaging system we were used to when living in Canada. It seemed that as soon as we crossed the border in to Michigan, the concept of recycling seemed as foreign as we are, being from North of the border: strange, interesting, but not always welcome. Unwilling to bear witness to and become part of that mentality / inaction, I / we made it a point to store all our recyclables, tucked away in a box for that opportune time to deploy our excess consumables to the recycling godS. On top of recycling, I was fretting over our inability to find community gardens for the veggie and fruit cuttings. We had been lusciously spoiled in Calgary with our weekly composting treks, and I was uncertain as to how we could maintain the cycle of returning our organic matter back to Mother Earth. With the encouragement of a socially responsible Yogini, we’ve been digging holes across America, fertilizing the ground with our plant offerings. So in our own small way, every day is Earth Day in our travels and life, where we celebrate the wonders and beauty of nature’s beauty around us, treasuring our natural resources and trying to do our part in minimizing our ecological footprint.
How about you? Did you take an active part in the proceedings? How can you / your community strive each and every day to celebrate our Mother Earth and our biodiversity, by being the change in creating a new vision, a new way and therefore a new planet? Yes, we can save the planet, one step and action at a time.
Here are just a few ideas of ways to give back:
- Support the David Suzuki Foundation
- Swap books for Earth Week
- Buy certified organic products
- Counter your freight and travel footprint with green power (i.e. travel sustainably; support alternative green transport methods — bicycle, carpool, telecommute, walk, etc)
- Buy green packaging (hint: even packaging pellets are made from vegetables starches which can be thrown into a composter!)
- Eat for a healthy planet (i.e. compost; eat sustainable food sources — organic, local; avoid red-listed seafoods)
ReDuce, ReUse and ReCycle
The History of Earth Day
“. . . on April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held, one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy . . . ”
~ American Heritage Magazine, October 1993
Happy 40th Birthday!
