Happy Earth Day

Hi!

Pacific Coast Highway, somewhere near Jedediah Smith State Park

Like seemingly everyone on the planet, our lives have been turned upside-down by an invisible enemy. Thankfully, myself and my loved ones are all safe, healthy and still employed. But I’d be lying if I said this experience wasn’t throwing us for quite the loop. I hope you all are doing ok during this truly crazy time.

Anyway, Instagram was kind enough to remind me that it’s Earth Day. It’s so fun, this tradition of arbitrarily assigning a day of the year to celebrate something. Kind of a weird tradition, right? I guess as long these random days include ones associated with getting a free donut, I have no complaints.

El Chalten, Argentina 

And to be fair, Earth Day is a pretty important one. Now more than ever, we need to think long and hard about how our daily behaviors impact the planet and other people living on it with us. The impulse buy of a cheaply made blouse that gets tossed or donated a few months later, the food we throw out because we forgot about it in the fridge for too long, or the gas-guzzling SUV you purchased for the great horsepower (is that why people buy these cars? What is a horsepower? Can you tell I know close to nothing about this subject?) – all these things have downstream effects - on the planet, on people more vulnerable than ourselves, and of course on everyone’s future.

Did you know the 20 warmest years on record have all been in the past 22 years?  Or that various species of animals are going extinct at a faster rate now than ever before in modern history? 

Balos, Crete

Grand Canyon National Park

Upstate New York

And if you’re a grinch who doesn’t care about the health of the planet or the animals on it, research has shown climate change has detrimental effects on humans, too. Higher temperatures, worsening air pollution, and more severe weather will all contribute to increased morbidity and mortality globally. 

Plateau Point, Grand Canyon National Park

So if you already cared about the planet (high five!), or you decided you care now that these sobering facts have scared you, read on for some lifestyle modifications anyone can try to reduce their impact on the planet.

Go vegetarian (or vegetarian-ish.) Believe it or not, this is one of the biggest and most important things you can do for the planet. Loss of unfarmed natural lands to farming is one of the leading causes of extinction, and because over 80% of farmland is used to keep livestock, which then produces 60% of agriculturally-generated greenhouse gas, cutting your meat and dairy consumption, even by 1 or 2 times a week, can have a huge positive effect on the planet.

Stop shopping. Or at least, cut back a bit. We have all been trained by media, the internet, and pretty much all the brands we rely on daily, to buy, buy, and then buy some more. Whether it’s upgrading your iPhone every time a new one comes out, switching cars every 1-2 years, or buying that cute new skirt because it keeps popping up on your Facebook feed, companies everywhere encourage us to go for the newest, the latest, the most cutting edge- when really, shopping our own closet or holding on to that smart phone a few more years will work just as well, save us some money and reduce our impact on the planet. Definitely something to think about.  

Support organizations trying to make a difference, if you can. There are many, many good programs out there working hard to protect the remaining wild places on the planet and hopefully slow climate change. This is not an exhaustive list- but a few organizations I like and have donated to in the past include The Rainforest Foundation, which specifically aims to protect the remaining tracts of forests across the globe, nationalparks.org and the official charitable partner of the NPS. Charitynavigator.org is a great place to go if you want to get more info on a specific charity or for top 10 lists for charities in different areas. Lastly, its always nice to support local groups if you can- I grew going to a nature center in our town that helped fuel my lifelong love of animals, is a place I always try to visit when I’m in town and donate to when I can.

Learn Something. Many of us have more free time on our hands than ever before. Instead of watching The Office re-runs (also a stellar choice, don't get me wrong!), tonight consider putting on a nature-focused documentary. Planet Earth has some absolutely stunning cinematography, and Chasing Coral on Netflix will open your eyes to how bad things have gotten for our ocean's reefs. There's so many great films out there that have a great story and can teach you a few things :)

Stay home. This virus has caused so, so much devastation, so I hope it doesn’t sound flippant to bring up the fact that staying home has had a positive impact on gas emissions and the planet. And when it is safe to move more, travel more and get outside, choosing vacations that are closer to home and limiting air travel really is a great way to reduce your impact on the planet.

There you go! Usually when I am making a list like this, I include a lot more on cutting back on single use items. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of the Covid-19 pandemic is that in certain situations, single use items may be safer- we just don’t know yet. As time rolls on, hopefully we can be more careful and selective about what stays single-use and where we can go back to reusable items. But for now, we are just following local guidelines in this area. 

Lastly, this is a really, really weird time right now. If any new changes in your habits or lifestyle sound overwhelming right now, if you don't have the financial means to donate to charities, or if you don't have the brain space to handle worrying about anything else, that is totally ok too. The most important thing right now is keeping ourselves afloat and safe, physically and mentally. 

What do you do to lessen your impact on the planet? Would love to hear more in the comments section :)

Stay safe out there,