Earth Day 2021-Celebrate & Make Every Day Earth Day!
We are interconnected with nature, and with each other. What we do to the planet and its living creatures, we do to ourselves.
David Suzuki Foundation.
Happy Earth Day!
The Earth Day movement advocates for a clean planet, and April 22nd, 2021, will mark the 51st year of this annual event. It engages millions worldwide and has blossomed into Earth Month- 30 days to appreciate the planet and campaign for environmentally-friendly practices to preserve it. The Earth Day 2021 theme is “Restore Our Earth” and features five primary programs: The Canopy Project, Food and Environment, Climate Literacy, the Global Earth Challenge, and The Great Global Clean-up. Check out https://www.earthday.org for more details.
The present state of our glorious planet is pretty grim as temperatures rise and global emissions continue to destabilize the climate, as seen by wildfires, floods, extreme storms, and sea levels rising.
It’s terrific to acknowledge this day and participate in community events, as we need reminders that the state of our planet is in a critical situation. Still, our concern for environmental justice is something we should and need to commit to every day.
What motivates me the most is knowing that what I do today will impact future generations and likely harm my daughter and grandchildren’s lives. Global warming is not a natural disaster but a human-made disaster, and don’t underestimate what you as an individual can do to make a difference.
What Can You Do?
Participate in Earth Day. Many communities have organized clean up days-see if any events are happening in your neighbourhood. Do some research and take stock of how your lifestyle and actions impact the environment.
There is no one cause of climate change, and there are numerous social and economic factors that contribute. However, there is so much that you can do to fight climate change on an individual basis: write government officials and vote for individuals that support climate change policies, eat a climate-stable diet, green your travel, access renewable energy, consume less, invest in renewables, and decrease the use of plastic. I’m only going to provide some details about plastic use and agricultural impact and suggest you do some research on how else you can decrease your carbon footprint
Use of Plastic
Plastic is destroying our planet. When discarded, it breaks down into smaller particles that release toxic chemicals and are ingested by land wildlife and marine mammals. Millions of tonnes of plastic enter our oceans each year and kill marine life; 1 million seabirds and more than 100,000 marine mammals are affected each year.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of plastic debris in the North Pacific Ocean. It is estimated that 1.15-2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers.
These are a few items that we use to reduce our plastic use:
Mesh bags- used to bag fruits and vegetable.
Nature Clean Hand Soap-eco-friendly. The same bottle is refilled at a local environmental store.
Silicone bags - food storage bags.
Nature Clean Dish Soap - eco-friendly. The same bottle is refilled at a local environmental store.
Tru Earth Laundry Strip - plastic-free, eco-friendly, zero waste laundry detergent. 700,000,000 plastic laundry jugs are dumped into landfills across North America every year. These zero waste laundry detergent strips are packaged in a plastic-free compostable cardboard sleeve. They do not make water ‘soapy,” but are very effective.
Grocery Bags-available in most grocery stores and easily replace plastic bags.
Bamboo toothbrush-when thrown out, will biodegrade.
Shampoo bar and tin holder-these bars are concentrated pucks of shampoo that can outlast two to three bottles of the liquid stuff: one bar will last up to 80 washes! They also have conditioner bars. Zero waste. We purchase ours at Lush Cosmetics.
Reusable razor - only need to purchase new blades.
Agriculture
Agriculture has an enormous impact on the environment and, in particular, animal agriculture. It takes nearly 2,000 gallons of water just to produce one pound of beef! One-third of our freshwater use goes to animal agriculture, and it takes about 11 more times fossil fuel to produce one calorie of animal protein than it does to produce one calorie of plant protein.
EAT-Lancet Commission was an independent non-profit collaboration of 37 preeminent scientists from 16 countries. They researched the optimal diet for both health and sustainability. They concluded—” Vegan and vegetarian diets were associated with the most significant reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions and land use, and vegetarian diets with the most substantial reductions in water use.”
Even the least sustainable plant food is still significantly more sustainable than the best environmentally performing animal food. The U.N. says that raising animals for food is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.”
Increase the number of plant-based meals you eat and decrease your reliance on animal protein for your health and the planet.
Ignoring, watching, waiting and hoping someone else will take care of the problem will guarantee catastrophic results. Educate yourself and get involved.
Peace and blessings.
Anita
