Gaia
In Greek mythology she was the Earth Goddess, our modern day Mother Nature.
I grew up enjoying all this natural world has to offer.
My parents were always taking our family to the Colorado River, to the lakes in California and Utah and Arizona, to National Parks like Zion and Yosemite.
Living in Scotland my friends and I spent every rainy day taking the trains where ever it would lead through the rolling green hills and Loches.
In Laguna, we all lived at the beach and under the warm sun with salt in our hair and coconut suncreen in our eye.
Now in Portland I am spending all my free time jumping from river bank to forests, amazed by all that nature has to offer up here.
What are your fondest memories of our Natural World?
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Let other people know how damn important nature is.
When I first started writing this post, I was in a rush.
I breathing in the the soot from the fires that surround Portland.
For two weeks we were house bound. Even the air inside our house was poisonous. We had to go to Home Depot and buy the big air filters and tape them to our fans, just to filter out the ash that was already circulating in our home. Those filters need to be changes every six months. We had to change ours every two days.
With the AQI passing through the 400s, it was a very sad few weeks.
My overall feeling?
We are not doing enough for our planet.
Climate Change is linked to the increase of fires in the West, lack of rain, more days over 90 degree weather, more draughts, destruction of habitats, negative impact on agriculture, and mass dying of animals.
(Ok we got the huge bummer out of the way, stick with me)
Do you love the outdoors?
What your favorite landscape?
Do you care about animals?
How about beauty?
Or clean air?
Are you ready to make some changes?
Together.
Let's make this simple and doable.
Let's make this fun and habitual.
Here are some top tips to show you care, today.
Stop using one-time plastic baggies. have reusable bags stored in your car trunk, or re-use the current plastic baggies you have by rinsing them out. Invest in reusable bags because 14 billion lbs of trash end up in the ocean, a year.
Uncap bottles before recycling. 22 million gallons of water are trapped in plastic bottles at landfills, EACH YEAR. That water can't evaporate and be upcycled back to rain; so uncap your bottles.
Shop sustainable Brands. If you love to buy new clothes, use the powerful tool of money, to demonstrate you care about sustainability.
Give plants for presents. People love plants, they're beautiful; they boost your mood and clean the air around them
Go meatless two or more days of the week. One veggie burger has 15 times less carbon footprint of a burger. Saves water, reduces green house gases, improves health. Shoot for two days a week, nothing crazy!
Turn off the lights. When you leave a room, turn them off, reduce green house gases and save yourself money
Make a planter box. If you're like most of America right now, you're at home. Maybe start a project and create a Planter Box, plant flowers, or tomatoes, or zucchini or herbs
Plant a fruit tree. Grow your own fruit! It's organic, seasonal, and saves you money. Then use it as a kindness to share with neighbors.
Shop seasonal. When you eat fruits and veg that are in season and local, you save money and the fuel emissions it takes to ship these products from far away.
Purchased recycled paper products. Maybe you don't want to buy recycled toilet paper, but if you have to use paper products, try to get already recycled stuff.
Buy electric for you next car. If you have the ability, consider it! Electric cars provide 17-30% less carbon emissions.
Carpool everywhere. Having lived in Orange County, I would almost never venture into LA without a carpool buddy. I needed to be in the fast lane to avoid as much traffic as possible! It's also more fun to have someone in the car; good for going fast, company, and saving on fuel.
Ride your bike. It's great exercise, you don't have to worry about parking, and
use reusable baggies, or biodegradable ones
Purchasing from Amazon? Chose the option to have the items shipped on Fridays, that way if you order something before everything is shipped on Friday, it reduces the amount of packaging and carbon emissions for delivery.
Buy clothes second hand. Check out ThreadUp. The carbon footprint of the Fashion Industry is painful to look at. In the UK, the amount of clothes purchased in one year is the equivalent of flying a plane around the world like 360 times.
Have garage sales. Go to estate and garage sales in your local area, or have them yourself.
Join collective communities to make your next purchase, like Offer Up or the Buy Nothing Project.
If you're buying, buy quality, something that will last you the years, and reduce waste.
Tell your billing companies you want to go paperless.
Unplug or turn off electronics when not using them
Support local and National Parks. Want to vacation? Use your money and your time to support our natural wonders.
What's you latest purchase addiction? Make it yourself. I love komucha, so these past few months I have been learning to make it myself, using glass jars from past drinks I have bought, and limiting my carbon foot print. not to mention sharing it with others, I feel like a Earth-Goddess Bad-Ass.
Recycle. When you recycle, make sure you rinse out containers, like plastic salad dressing bottles, or a can of beans. Empty it, clean it, dry it. "If everyone in America recycled just one plastic bottle, those materials could make more than 54 million T-shirts or about 6.5 million fleece jackets, according to Repreve data. If everyone recycled one aluminum can, 295 million new aluminum cans could be made, according to Aluminum Association data. Also, everyone recycling just one can would reduce green house gas emissions equivalent to taking 6,750 passenger cars off the road and save energy equivalent to 80 thousand barrels of oil" -USA today
Switch to stainless steel or glass items. We all have plastic water bottles or something plastic in our household. If it's reusable plastic, good on ya. When you're in the market for a new water-bottle or Tupperware, go glass.
Join a library. Love paperback books, but trying to be more sustainable, join your local library. Or do you like to markup your books? Look for or start your own Mailbox Library
Make friends with your neighbors. Communal living is good for the planet in immeasurable ways. Knowing your community is good for mental and emotional support as well as exchanging and trading goods/things. My neighbors make us jam, and we make them Komucha.
Use coconut oil instead of man made oils. Coconuts are the magical product I use for almost everything, even lotion and makeup remover. And then you can save the jar it came it and repurpose it as whatever
Check for "sustainably sourced" or "eco friendly" products. Even Sephora is catching on and created it own "clean at Sephora" where you can buy products free of chemicals. Other products to buy sustainably: Coffee, Coconut Oil, anything not grown near you.
Shop at Farmers Markets. Support local and small businesses, as well as locally grown. It puts money back in your community, supports small businesses, and saves on waste and carbon footprints
Use your dishwasher instead of hand-washing. It saves water.
Bored at home? Start composting, become an expert. You'll be the coolest kid in my book.
Use homemade or essential oil cleaners. I ran out of my All Purpose kitchen cleaner the other day, so I started using Purify Essential Oil Spray. You can make your own too. Some vinegar, some lemon oil, water, whatever! Get creative.
Limit use of products with chemicals. From washing dishes, to car washes, to washing your face, the chemicals go down the drain and wind up in the oceans, with living animals; so yeah. Also man-made chemicals my be strong, but natural chemicals are assimilated more easily into our bodies. Anything natural will be used and easily flushed out of your body after it has used it. Man Made chemicals that we eat, put on our skin, or use in the house experience a more difficult time in our body, which doesn't often know what to do with these foreign chemicals, so they are often stored in our bodies, causing internal drama. Try this all natural Facial Serum made with Rose, Argan, and Frankincense oils.
Let your money do the talking. Bad news, you're being 24/7 stalked by your electronics. Good News, you can let your shopping habits show our economy that you care about words like: sustainable, eco-friendly, clean ingredients, recycled. Believe me, they will change what they make, to support what you buy.
Stop gift wrapping things, or save gift bags for multiple uses.
Gift people experiences or sustainable items. Is Christmas starting to feel like a stressful gift-driven holiday? Nows the time to talk to your loved ones: go on a family or friend trip instead of buying presents that no one will use; or make everyone a present instead. Use your money with the people you love to experience something rather than gifting.
Donate things you need to get rid of. Goodwill, garage sales, recovery homes, homeless shelters, humane societies, boys and girls clubs. Just think about all the people in the world, buying stuff constantly, and tossing things in the trash. Where does all of it go? Make sure you know at least some of the things you don't need can and will be used in some other way, by some other person.
Say no to disposable utensils when ordering out. Be very conscious when using disposable products, don't take more than you need. If you have extra, save it and use it for another time instead of just tossing it.
Do things with and for the Earth, with and for each other. Plant a garden with family or kids, start a craft of homemade lotions with friends, start a facebook garage sale, go for a hike, pick up trash, make pumpkin bread at home and share some with your neighbors, make a bird feeder for your tree, offer to do yard work for an elderly neighbor, make your own booch, think before you trash something, give things away rather than tossing them.
Find something you love to do that benefits the Earth, maybe chose one or two things from this list, and find enjoyment and pride of your new found skill or hobby.
In order to make lasting changes, go easy on yourself and others. True and LastingChange can only come from inspiration, not by force or shame.
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Sending Love,
MaryLisa
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