Earth Day thoughts

When the snow melts in spring, I’m a little sad. Not because it’s warmer outside and the snow is gone… but because it reveals all the ugly trash that accumulated over the winter.

Last Friday I did a few rounds of trash pick-up along a local parkway, and I’m reminded that as frustrated as I might be with other peoples’ choices or decisions, I have to keep asking: how am I showing up? How am I choosing to take responsibility and action?

Sometimes we all just need an invitation to change a habit, bring awareness to a particular resource, or learn about local companies fighting bigger battles (and then join forces with them). Here are some challenges I felt were worth sharing with you!

• Use travel coffee mugs. Bonus points for containers that bring you joy (I have a smaller version of this one from Peace Coffee)…
• Buy clothes at secondhand stores (it’s even more fun to go shopping with a friend and find each other new pieces of clothing!). Want to be styled AND still buy secondhand? Check out The Wardrobe Refinery.
• Take old electronics to Tech Dump to recycle them safely and responsibly – or check out Tech Discounts to find refurbished electronics instead of buying a brand-new laptop or phone.
  
• Use cloth napkins. (Find some from my favorite Etsy shop and dear friend WhimsieDots!)
• Purchase a compostable phone case (I bought mine from Pela and I love it). Did you even know such a thing existed?!
• Prevent food waste. Eureka Recycling gives some great tips for how to do that: http://makedirtnotwaste.org/steps-to-prevent-food-waste.
• Convert yard space into a garden. Use rain barrels to water lawns/gardens in the summer, and add nutrients to the soil with products like Nature’s Meadow Soil Amendment.
• Keep mesh produce bags and reusable shopping bags in the car at all times. Or just learn to buy less, or only buy what you can carry. I try to keep that philosophy when I’m at Target. 😉