Earth Day Means BYOB

By Amy Porter

How are you personally celebrating Earth Day? This year it is a week long event beginning April 19 – 26, since the actual Earth Day falls in between. Did you forget it’s coming up? Or, are you thinking about planting a tree or going for a bike ride?

Here are easy to do, practical ideas that you can incorporate into next week.

BYOB – This now means Bring Your Own Bag. This week put your extra bags in your car, purse or backpack. That way when someone asks you if you’ve brought your own, you can proudly them out.
“I’ve Got This One” Coffees – Instead of using the paper products of your local coffee roaster, bring your own traveling mug. That way there is one less cup in the landfill.
For Those Little Spills – Cloth napkins are more durable than paper. Bar towel absorb more than paper towels. Switch the paper products in your kitchen for reusable clothe and then find out which is the quicker, picker upper – clothe napkins, bar towels or named brand towel paper.
Park N Walk – What would happen if you parked your car 1 day a week? It may not make up for the rise in gas prices AND it would decrease gas usage. While you are at it, you may want to check your tire pressure, change the oil and get a tune –up if you haven’t in a while.
Maximize Your Food Intake – The talk right now is to eat locally, eat in season. The stats on eating locally are pretty convincing. The amount of fuel needed to bring in food is staggering. As to eating in season, some of the new studies talk about how our body cycles coincide with harvesting cycle for fruits and veggies. Here are some harvest schedules:

Citrus in the winter months

Berries (fruits of the vine) in the spring

Peaches & plums (fruits of the tree) in July & August

Melons (fruits of the ground) July thru early September

Apples (fruits of the tree) fall months

Walking Your Neighborhood – It seems ironic that you have to drive to the fitness center so that you can get your workout. What would happen if one day a week, you walk a mile in your neighborhood? Meet your neighbors. Find out what’s going on. You could even bring a garbage bag and pick up trash along the way. Then you would be setting a good example as well as getting a work out.

Home Cooking – Do you know the energy costs in producing a home cooked meal starting with raw fruits, vegetables and meat? It uses lot fewer BTUs than buying pre-processed, “just-heat and serve” food as well as more nutritional. Besides sitting down with family reconnects you to them.

Letting Go of Clutter – Clutter is those boxes in your attic or basement that have moved with you every time, unopened, unloved. It’s the clothes you never wear. It’s anything that takes up space, and gives nothing back. It can also be anything you dislike, and guilt makes you hold on to it. If you recycle it, someone else will find it and love it.

First Contact – How many emails have you sent today? Text messages? What would happen if you made human contact with these same people? We have become a very impersonal society. Change that. Pick up the phone! Pick up a pen! Personal contact makes a difference.

Pay It Forward Program – When you give of yourself, expecting nothing in return, your gift empowers the person receiving your attention. Instead of having that person “pay you back” ask them to “Pay it forward!” That way we will continue to energize and support people. The ultimate recycling program!

So you aren’t planning to celebrate Earth Day by cleaning a stream or park. That’s okay! These 10 ideas are easy to do, easy to sustain. And remember, Earth Day is more than a day or a week. Earth Day is every day!

Be Sociable, Share!