Earth Day: Sustainable Living Every Day
The whole idea of "Green Living" has somehow become controversial. I'm not here to say how much the ice caps may or may not be melting or whether the poor polar bears are going to float away and drown. I'm not here to say what kind of car you should drive, and I'm certainly not going to take part in a discussion about smokestack scrubbers and air particulates.
All of that aside, I do think it's wise to take care of where we live. I mean, you wouldn't take a poo in your bed and then sleep on it (yeah I went there. ew.), so if you extrapolate that out to the whole world...yeah, we need to take care of it. You know, be good stewards of the Earth and all.
Sustainability can be far-reaching, as this model shows true sustainability affecting all areas of mankind.
BlahBlahBlah don't click away, people. I'm not digging that deeply here.
Let's keep this EASY. We can handle 5 itty bitty things.
1. Pack lunches in reusable containers. That means no ziplocks.
2. Buy $1 crazy straw cups (mine are from Party City) and keep them on hand for play dates. This eliminates juice boxes + straws + straw wrappers. Yes, you must buy larger bottles of juice and hand wash the cups. Come on, it's not THAT hard.
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3. Plant a garden, or a mini garden, or some pots of herbs. Personally, I think this is even easier than keeping indoor plants. Some kind of reminder of other life (besides, you know, your biological offspring) is important. You may not have a giant farm, but you can be a good steward to some plants and a little patch of suburban lawn.
4. Keep a compost bin in a remote corner of your yard and use it, rather than relying so heavily on your sink garbage disposal or even the actual trash can. The next time you put a banana peel or some grass clippings into a plastic bag, think about how silly that is -- to take some of the most organic, easily-broken-down things on the planet and then wrap them in plastic to fester in a landfill. What are we thinking?
5. Shop with reusable bags all the time, even at non-grocery stores. The snooty makeup counter lady at Macy's might look at you like you've got horns growing out of your head, but whatever. Just tell her you're saving the planet from the Evil Emperor Zurg.
Eartheasy.com has lots of other ways to weave sustainability into your life.
What's the best and/or easiest Sustainable action found in your home?
