Earth Day is once again upon us. This is a fantastic opportunity to look at our lives and pick a few things we can do to take better care of our planet. The biggest problem I see with this is that people tend to let their perfectionist attitudes get in the way of success. Look - it is a big planet - with a lot of problems. We can not fix everything - we can't do everything perfectly every time, but that doesn't mean we are off the hook. We need to try. Start small.
This story makes this point rather well:
One morning a man was walking down a beach that was covered in dying starfish. The tide the night before had been especially strong and thousands of starfish had been washed up on shore, too far up for them to make it back into the water by themselves. The man shook his head as he trudged along thinking what a shame it was that all of those starfish would die on the beach.
He came upon a boy who was throwing starfish back into the ocean as fast as he could. He was out of breath and it was obvious that he had been at this task for a while. "Son," the man said, "you might as well quit. There are thousands of them. They are washed up all over the beach as far as you can see. There is no way you can make any sort of a difference." The boy did not even pause in what he was doing. He kept bending and throwing but as he did, he spoke to the man, "I can make a difference to this one, and this one, and this one." And the man thought, and he knew the boy was right. He began to help return the animals to their home, smiling at how life's biggest lessons sometimes came from the smallest people."
Every little bit counts. Maybe you can switch to reusable bags when you shop. Maybe you can be more conscious of packaging and buy more products that are NOT packaged individually (pssst - it is cheaper too!) Maybe you can pack your lunch each day to reduce waste - Laptop Lunches are a great way to do this! It is healthier and you will save money too!
Share what baby steps you and your family can take to help our planet - don't overwhelm yourself. Pick one or two things to work on this year - make them your habit (remember - it takes 21 times/days to make a habit!!! Be patient with yourself, you won't get it right 100% of the time right away!) In a year you will be greener - you will be doing your part...
For my part this coming year I plant to work on reducing waste by making more things from scratch and packing lunches for my son and me. What about you? What will you work on??
4 comments:
I loved the starfish story...what a great point the little boy had.
I plan on taking shorter showers and learning some gardening methods from my mother for a future garden in my home one day, and finding ways of reusing "trash". Good luck with those lunches:)
-lucie
I'm not sure how you found me, but I appreciate the link to my blog and the comments! :)
I just bought my reusable grocery bags last night... the store had run out for a few weeks (I consider that a good thing.)
I have bought from Melaleuca for almost 14 years now... great products and environmentally friendly too.
We recycle, and have for years... we don't even have garbage pickup, because what little trash we have my husband just takes to work on their trash pickup day since their dumpster is never full anyway.
I plan to buy a new bicycle within the next month so I can begin to ride bike to work on any day that I can. I used to ride even in blizzards in college, and now that the kids are older, I can begin to ride more again.
I shop at resale shops for clothes for both the kids and myself first... saves money AND provides a market for reused items. Well, except for shoes and underwear - I do have SOME standards. hehe
Lucie - sounds like a plan!
Lara - I found you through Mindi/The Queen Mum I believe... You are way ahead of the curve here - good for you! I have to look into these products you are so positive about!
i concure, great story. I've already stepped up my efforts, as I bought a whole foods bag to shop with, and I haven't used heat/ac for over a week now. that should save on energy and reduce co2. like you said, a little can go far (we just all need to pitch in and try). when i get a house of my own... i will do much better: solar paneling, flow restricters and the whole kit-n-kabootle!
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