How to Celebrate Earth Day?

This Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a day marked to celebrate and embrace the planet we live on as a living and breathing entity. Here in the United States, the day falls on April 22 each year and has been an important teaching day to talk about the environment sine it was first proposed in 1969.

Even people who are not traditionally known as “Green” tend to do something better for the planet on Earth day but that leads me to the question in my post title…how should we celebrate?

Since I am a proudly self-proclaimed Greenie I already do a whole bunch of the things that are suggested as ways to show some eco love -- work from home most of the time, eat far less meat (almost none in fact!), use CFLs, wash in cold water, reduce/reuse/recycle, buy second hand or from local shops as often as is practical, unplug items not in use, do as much shopping on one day as possible to avoid multiple gas emission days, walk whenever possible, etc -- so what should an eco-attuned gal such as myself do to celebrate this momentous day?

Some of you may be having a similar problem right now considering my readers over here are certainly savvy environmental lovers who don’t just hug trees, they plant them too! But this leaves all of us with the difficult task of trying to determine the best way to do even more in honor of the planet; and it is just 3 days away, yikes!

I am stumped! If anyone has suggestions I am all ears! PLEASE give me some recommendations for ways to celebrate on Thursday and I will be forever grateful!

Zen Habits Always has Something Inspiring to Read

I have been subscribed to the blog Zen Habits for a few months now and enjoy receiving updates in my email every day because there is generally something uplifting, inspiring or just awesome involved in every single post. Today of course was no different.

Here is an excerpt from the blog:

“This is the addition to “Omit needless things” that is necessary: not that you have as little as humanly possible, but that every thing you do have counts… In anything you do, see if you can apply these principles. There’s no need to get obsessive about it, of course, but it’s always useful to examine what we do, how we do it, and whether we really need to do it.”

The post discussed our need to omit superfluous stuff be it physical things in our homes or offices, foods we ingest or even the goals we set out for ourselves. This minimalist lifestyle is one I attempt to live in most areas of life but reading someone else’s take on the subject really got me thinking about what is needless in my life and exactly what I do about it.

I am the worst offender of two things -- committing to way too many plans and allowing food to spoil in the refrigerator.

As you have all been reading I have been quite busy with Green Leaf reviews of late but that is just one area of my business. I am also a painter (as in wall treatments, not on canvas) and a writer. I have been working on all of these things simultaneously in addition to spending time with family and friends and keeping up with everyone and everything (paying bills on time, reading blogs, grocery shopping, etc). After a while the pace takes a toll and it is vital for me to find a way to blow off steam.

Matt and I take a walk almost every night which really helps my mind decompress. True that in essence it is another plan but we spend the time talking about our day and releasing any of the stresses we had allowed to sneak in. In the midst of go-go-go we both really look forward to that twenty minute span of time that is reserved for no one but us.

Not only does this allow us to purge the chaos from our minds by laughing about it but the endorphins from the exercise are a double benefit!

We now plan weekly meals to reduce the over spending on, and needless waste of, extra foods we never eat and go bad in the fridge. I write out a list of meals we will have for dinner and all of the ingredients used to make them. Things we can not make right away are frozen and as I make the meal it is checked off. Meals that leave a lot of leftovers are put in small containers and one or the other of us has it for lunch the following day. I guess one might say we reduce, reuse or recycle our food.

Not only has this cut down greatly on the food that goes bad, it has helped us save a lot of cash and fat by not eating in restaurants for lunch or dinner all the time!

These two things are small steps but steps none the less toward a simpler life.

Other things I do to cut out needlessness:

- Turn off the television (the over stimulation causes brain chaos!)
- Unplug things not currently in use (why drain the planet too?)
- Continuously remain aware of every action I take
- Smile and laugh, a LOT (happiness is lighter than negativity trust me!)
- Sell, donate, trade and / or share

I have a long way to go before my home will look as simple as the photo on the Zen Habits blog post but I am working on it by starting with the two areas where have the greatest issues and it truly feels great!

I hope all of you will read the rest of today’s post over at Zen Habits.

In case this post wasn’t enough to convince everyone how much extra there really is out there I strongly encourage everyone to check out the Story of Stuff again. If you’ve never seen it believe me it is a total eye opener.

How Do You Plan to Celebrate Earth Day?

Wednesday April 22, 2009 is the thirty ninth annual Earth Day -- an effort that began as a grassroots movement started by one concerned man, Senator Gaylord Nelson, when he announced the plan for a “teach-in” demonstration while speaking at a conference in Seattle back in September 1969. On April 22, 1970 approximately 20 million Americans took part in Earth Day celebrations, due to the efforts to spread the word across the country, led by Denis Hayes. As of now this event is held in upwards of 1,000 countries and celebrated by approximately one billion people world wide.

With such an amazing turn out it makes me wonder exactly what people will be doing tomorrow to celebrate, show support or simply commemorate this day dedicated to our planet.

We have nothing specific planned in our home because we attempt to treat each day of the year as if it were Earth Day and approach our lifestyle from a place of conscious thought as to what impact our actions might have on future circumstances. However, with that said, here are some of the things we do consistently that can easily be adopted to begin your own celebration for the planet:

♥ Recycle
♥ Turn off unused lights
♥ Unplug unused appliances
♥ Drive only as necessary
♥ Complete errands on one day as opposed to spreading out driving
♥ Take public transportation
♥ Ride a bike
♥ Eat less meat
♥ Use market bags and forgo plastic
♥ Switch utilities to wind power

This is a small fraction of things that can be done to place annual focus on the planet but if ever there was a great time to start it would be tomorrow on Earth Day! Share what you will be doing tomorrow to commemorate this world wide day of awesomeness!

Its Time to Celebrate Earth Hour Everyone!

Yahoo is reporting that hundreds of cities in time zones ahead of us (beginning with the anchor locations of Australia and New Zealand) have begun making the commitment to lights out at 8:30 PM local time. Buildings in Sydney and Paris, Germany and Dallas, TX have all agreed to turn out and unplug.

I encourage everyone to make the commitment even if you have not yet taken the pledge.

In our house we will be doing the following:

Unplugging
Microwave
Toaster
Living room & bedroom lamps (3)
The laptop
VCR
DVD player
Sewing machine

Shutting Down
The desktop PC
Printer

It is just an hour and such a simple thing to show support for the planet.

What are your plans to turn off for the short sixty minutes?

Cast Your Vote for Earth Hour

Two of my loyal blog readers, Charmaine and Julie, both asked me within the past three weeks to discuss Earth Hour and although the date is still a couple weeks out there is no harm in planting the virtual Green seed now then discussing it again closer to the date and time of the event.

So what is it, when is it and how do we all get involved?

The first Earth Hour was hosted by Australia in 2007 as a way to reduce electricity consumption by requesting that residents of the country simply turn off their lights, unplug their non-use appliances and live as electricity free as possible for one short hour. In 2008, a remarkable 35 countries jumped on board to take part in this phenomenon and significant reduction in electricity was achieved across the globe. Many of you may remember seeing announcements (some featuring Anderson Cooper of CNN) discussing this global call to action on the last Saturday in March. Here is a video from last year’s campaign discussing the issues from Australia’s World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a supporter of the initiative.



This year more than double 2007 numbers, over 80 countries representing over 900 cities worldwide, will take part. Now that is a growing global awareness! Earth Hour hopes to receive 1 billion votes from individuals for this year’s event. So the question is -- what constitutes a vote?

A pledge to turn our lights off and unplug appliances from 8:30 - 9:30 PM on Saturday March 28 is all it takes!

I strongly encourage everyone to get over to the Earth Hour website and sign up to take part in this amazing global initiative. In addition, there is Facebook Group dedicated to Earth Hour with almost 150,000 members and they are also on Twitter, Myspace, YouTube and Flickr so no matter what networking means we are attached to we can find and join them.

Together we can effect real change so let’s spread the word now and get as many people on board this March 28th ride as we can!

Get Back, Jack

We all know about the benefits of sleep, it will recharge our little bodies to produce energy for our go-go lifestyles, but why are we forced to “gain” an hour of it in the fall only to subsequently “lose” an hour in the spring? Ah yes, the ever discussed, sometimes controversial, Daylight Savings Time (DST) clock change. Falling back to the actual standard time occurred last night (although technically this morning at two) but why do we do it? What possible benefit could it have to mess with our body clocks for a few days every six or so months?

Spring forward, fall back. We are probably all aware of the seemingly timeless expression by now. It may surprise people outside of Arizona, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands and Hawaii to learn that there is no federal mandate on states to implement this. Say what? That is right my friends, there is no one forcing us to collectively spring forward but we have been doing it on and off for the past ninety years as a way to ensure electric energy savings as well as a way to standardize the schedules of trains, which began to grow in frequency near the end of the nineteenth century.

To make sure that everyone could get to their train on time the concept of time had to be implemented and in 1883 a bunch of big wigs from the railroad deemed what we now know as time zones. Considering they were the most likely to benefit from standardized time, the oversight of this concept has remained with the Department of Transportation.

Now some may be asking -- OK, so that part about saving electricity, how does that factor in? Great question!

In general our body clock tells us that we should rise when it is light and sleep when it is dark. This is not to say that there are some who buck that trend, such as night shift workers, or vampires, but for the majority of us it rings true. In the fall it gets darker earlier so once the sun does set we are supposed to just go to bed. Consequently, in spring, we gain an hour on the clock (this is the DST by the way, fall is the “actual time”) so we have more natural light when the weather is getting warmer to get outside and enjoy nature instead of trapping ourselves indoors with our little boxes of wattage; gaining an hour of daylight will keep us from turning on those pesky energy sucking devices like computers, televisions and lights for another hour.

In theory it sounds wonderful but as our dependence on technology increases and focuses less on the world around us, it is fair to wonder -- is there still a notable savings in electricity usage? There certainly could be if we allow DST to do what it was designed for. We should all use it to its greatest advantage, ensure that it does create a marked difference, so make use of the extra hour of sunlight and read instead of watching television or take a vigorous evening stroll to see the last of the golden leaves.

So on Tuesday when everyone briskly walks to their local polling station to voice their own personal choice, please be mindful of the time of the setting sun. Be safe and bring a flashlight, lantern, glow stick or other means of attraction such as reflective stickers or flashing lights so passing cars will “hit” the polls, not our nation’s energy savers.

Getting Involved

A few weeks ago, my Mom and Aunt came over for a pasta dinner and we all got to talking about the state of the country. My mom outright asked what our generation is actually doing about it. Her question was focused on the entire governmental process and the state of our planet. It occurred to me that my mom already had her time to literally march on Washington, protest, fight back. Her generation was fighting to put an end to a senseless war. Where the history books are concerned, that defined them.

As I pondered her question it became clear that I first needed to consider what it was that defines our generation. Are we all bound together by one common purpose or desire? My answer was clear, yes! What will historically be the thing that defines our generation is our desire to provide a clean, healthy, sustainable environment for all future generations so they can live to discover their own definition. Now that I had nailed down the one true thing that characterizes our global generation I needed to determine what we were doing about making a difference -- how were we “marching on Washington”, literally or figuratively?

So what are we doing?

Joining. I posted an interview with Melissa two days ago. She shared this link with a friend who was interested to read about it and they started discussing the potential of getting together to share even more ideas of how they can become more environmental. Later, one of Melissa’s neighbors stopped by and they started talking about the same thing. She has now invited me and my Mom and there could be an expansion in this group to hopefully include her whole neighborhood as well. One person will not change the state of the entire planet, true, but she sure can help get a crowd together to discuss ideas, increase the size of that crowd, encourage that crowd to take part in efforts to reduce energy consumption or waste, bring that crowd out of their neighborhood and onto the streets of the state, encourage that crowd to tell ten friends, and so on, and so on. There are endless opportunities for change by simply starting a small neighborhood focus group.

Donating. There are a slew of groups out there already and they are spreading the environmental word but many of them are funded by donations from us and without those contributions they may not be able to continue fighting for the change our planet needs. These groups are widespread and diverse and there is one out there to fit the ideals of everyone interested in learning more.

Blogging. It may sound small but with the literal thousands of blogs circulating through cyberspace it is almost impossible to not come across one that is environmentally conscious. On my other blog I have links to twenty four blogs that I read consistently. Of the twenty four there are two which are strictly environmental. That leaves twenty two blogs and I can not think of a single one who has not mentioned the planet, eco-friendly lifestyle choices, the environment, their involvement in particular organizations, heck even recycling at some point. The people who write these blogs are online shop owners, moms, musicians, interior designers, accountants, chefs, law students, writers, photographers, graphic artists and range in age from early twenties on up. And that is just my personal blog roll. There are so many others who share this common thread and with such a diverse group concerned with our planet, and talking about it frequently, we have opened up an entirely new world of opportunity to share information and suggestions for ways to help.

Taking action into our own hands at home. I can not speak for the actions of the billions of people on this planet but I can be held accountable for the things that I personally do everyday. In addition to the three things above I also:

☼ Turn off the water while I brush my teeth.
☼ Consciously conserve toilet paper with my “three squares” rule.
☼ Recycle paper, plastic, metal in the conventional way (toss it in the bin for pick up).
☼ Upcycle, recycle or repurpose anything I can. For example, when my grandparents passed away they left behind an entire house full of stuff including clothes and bed sheets. I took that fabric, washed it and cut it up to make some adorable bags, giving new life to something old. What I could not use went to the Goodwill to further extend its life cycle.
☼ Limit my driving. As I work from home or complete jobs and errands locally, my gas consumption plummeted since moving this past spring. A tank will now last me upwards of a month.
☼ Turn things off and unplug what I can. Lights, computers, the toaster oven, anything!
☼ Open the curtains. The living room is an east facing window so I take advantage of passive solar to heat my apartment in the morning and afternoon.
☼ Eat less meat. I certainly have not gone completely vegetarian but at least two meals a week have moved in this direction and I plan to continue to increase that number.

The list here is a small example of what we can do individually and collectively to better our world. I strongly encourage everyone reading to locate and join local groups, donate to support the efforts of larger organizations, discuss the environment either through a blog or any other form of communication and finally look into all the ways to personally take action and then do it. Together, we can fight to protect our planet and go down in the history books as a generation committed to the greater good of the entire world.