Earth Day 2018, What Can You Do?

Earth Day originated out of a growing global ecological awareness back on April 22,1970. Now more than 1 billion people in 192 countries take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world.

It is a day of planting trees, or cleaning up neighbourhoods, or nature walks.

It’s a reminder that everyday is earth day.

This year the Earth Day Network announced that Earth Day 2018 will focus on mobilizing the world to End Plastic Pollution. The exponential growth of plastics is threatening our planet’s survival. The goals include ending single-use plastics, promoting alternatives to fossil fuel-based materials, promoting 100 percent recycling of plastics, corporate and government accountability and changing human behavior concerning plastics. EDN will educate millions of people about the health and other risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics. This includes the pollution of our oceans, water, and wildlife.

Everything is interconnected. So, our environment is really an extension of us. What we do to the planet, we do to ourselves.

As the Native Americans say, “We have not inherited the earth from our fathers. We are BORROWING it from our children.”

What you can do:

• Don’t buy individually wrapped items.
• Choose to reject, reduce, reuse and recycle plastics.
• Buy products with less packaging.
• Use your own reusable bags for every shopping trip.
• Eat less animal products.
• Eat more raw food items like salads.
• Do not waste water.
• Invest in a home water filter instead of buying and drinking bottled water.
• Recycle.
• Replace lights with energy-efficient bulbs.
• Turn off lights when you’re not in the room.
• Buy recycled paper.
• Walk or ride your bike to work, school and anywhere you can.
• Compost.
• Boycott the use of pesticides on your property.
• Start a small backyard vegetable garden.
• Buy earth friendly cleaning products.

There are many things that we can do as we can make change when we vote with our pocketbook.

Please check out my other blogs on the environment. Helping the Lakes, What we can do in a Crisis, The Environment and our Mind, The Environment – Borrowing it From Our Children, The Benefits of Raw Food on the Environment and Awakening the Dreamer.

In honor of Earth Day, I will give out free samples of the earth friendly cleaning product to anyone who contacts me in April.

To your good health!

Charlene