Earth Day 2012

So it's Earth Day again.  Today is a day when it's probably a good idea to reflect on the fact that we only have one earth (unless this is true) and no place to go if we mess up the place. I hate to admit it, but my ethusiasm for encouraging people to change their ways has died down a bit in recent years.  It's been difficult to get into good habits when you're constantly moving around.  Many times I've had to sacrifice good choices with cheaper and easier ones.  However, maybe today is a good day to get back on track.

Way back (5 years ago, I think) I did do a post about Earth Day.  I'm not going to link to it because there wasn't much.  However, I did find another post I made describing 50 things you could do (I probably lifted that from somewhere) and there were some comments adding to it.  I thought I'd go through and describe which ones I've done in the past few years (and which ones I could have done but failed - i.e. the ones I should be focusing on).

A small caveat before I begin: I read the book No Impact Man a while back and, while it was encouraging to see what changes could be made, it was no way a realistic way of living in today's society.  The author, Colin Beavan, did some incredible things, but made it clear that the way our society is set up makes it impossible to actually have no impact.  So I guess the biggest thing you could do is vote for people who will put us in the right direction (good job Canada, on giving Steve-o that majority... note: that was sarcasm) so that it is possible for more people to make better choices.

Another caveat: I really don't like it when people (usually children) say "We need to save the environment."  Huh? That just shows that the person doesn't quite understand the issue. If you said: "we need to preserve the environment" you'd be a bit closer, but still off.  We are part of the environment and that environment is changing all the time.  The problem is that we are causing massive amounts of change to a very complex system.  Every small change affects the whole and if we make too many changes, our ability to survive in our surroundings will suffer greatly.  Anyway.... I digress.

Things I've done in recent months (from my previous list and comments):

1. Compost Food Scraps (Though sadly, not in NZ, all in the UK, Canada and Korea.  I was most saddened in Tanzania where they burned them instead).
2. Turning off lights when I'm not using them (they're off now).
3. Taking the bus, walking and running (every day).
4. Turning off the tap when I brush my teeth (this one should be automatic for most people).
5.  Don't have a shower unless you need to (yeah, might be gross, but some days I don't need one).
6. Use biodegradable soaps, especially laundry soap (this one is much easier these days, most stores sell them, and they're not too expensive).
7. Recycle (another one that should be automatic by now, though it isn't always).
8. Unplug appliances when not in use (this is a big one and most people waste a lot of electricity by keeping tvs plugged in).
9. Put on warm clothes instead of using the heat (um... in England they don't really use the heat that much, so I guess this counts).
10. Open the window instead of using A/C (no A/C in England, haven't seen it here yet).
11. Grow your own food (I ate fejoas off of a tree the other day, does that count? The house I lived in in the UK did grow some food, but I was never there in the summer to eat it).
12. Don't drink bottled water (who does this anymore? You should be shaken until some sense comes into you - unless of course you live in Seoul or Africa, but then you should buy bigger and refillable containers of water, which are cheaper anyway.  And, when I was in Tanzania, the family I was staying with reused the big bottles I had afterwards so they weren't a complete waste).
13.  Don't use paper unless you need to (my grocery lists are on the back of old reciepts, and other similar things).
14. Reuse plastic containers instead of buying new ones (in England I had so many old yogurt and hummous containers full of seeds and nuts and other things).
15. Don't put fruit/veggies into plastic bags.
16. Use cloth bags when grocery shopping (failing marks for both the UK and NZ on this.  Plastic bags galore with no incentive to not use them.  I can understand the UK, but a bit shocked here).
17. Use energy efficient light bulbs (I haven't bought many recently, but when I do, I buy those... can you buy others these days?)
18. Submit assignments (job applications) electronically (yes, but some schools are demanding paper copies only, and I suspect the ones I send in electronically get printed out anyway).
19. Use the library (when living in Seoul this was difficult, though I did buy a lot of second hand books, but in the UK and NZ a library card was one of the first things I got).
20. Wash clothes with cold water (and it's probably better for the colours anyway).
21. Air dry clothes instead of using a dryer (haven't had a dryer in a while so that hasn't been a problem, though with the humidity here, it may become necessary).
22. Use cloth napkins instead of paper (and I save the extra one sthey give me from restaurants).
23. Read newspapers online (cheaper too!).
24. Buy local produce and from local shops/farmers markets (getting into that here, and it is cheaper).
25. Donate old clothing instead of throwing it out (when I left the UK I dropped off a lot of stuff in a Traid bin, after a very well timed school assembly in my final weeks in London).

Wow, I'm actually impressed I can list all of those things.  I guess they've all just become second nature to me by now.  But instead of me boasting about what I have been doing, perhaps I should focus more on what else I could be doing.  So here is a (shorter) list of what I'm going to work on:

1. Find a way to compost food.  The last few cities I've lived in have all had food waste collection. I guess it's not a priority here, but maybe I can find a way to do something.
2. Have shorter showers.  I think the lack of heating in England made it hard in the winter time when I was cold (also, less hot showers).  I should revert back to the bucket showers I had in Tanzania.  Very little water use and you could even heat it up.  We'll see though.
3. Plant a tree.  Hmmm.  Sounds like a good idea.  I'll have to look into it though.
4.  Fly less.  Ok, going from London to Auckland isn't exactly the best way to not add CO2 to the atmosphere.  To be fair, when I travelled around Europe, I took the train (fun times) instead of flying to Brussels, Prague and Copenhagen.  In fact, I really love the train.  But still, my miles in the air have probably been astronomical since my post 5 years ago.
5. Vote for Leaders who will do something.  Now here I have to hang my head in shame.  During the last election (Canadian) I registered to vote from overseas and got my voting card in the mail.  Even though I filled it out immediately and when to the post office as soon as I could (I just missed the closing time one day and had to go back the next) I was told that for a large sum of money (it was over 50 pounds) I could send it and it MIGHT get there the day after the election.  My vote was for the Green Party member in my riding.  So I bet you think it wouldn't have made a difference without that vote.  Well, it didn't.  She still won.  Sad that I couldn't be a part of history, but I won't let that happen next time. Sigh.

I could add a few more but I'll leave it at that.  What will you do for Earth Day?  I guess this will show who actually reads my blog and who actually read to the end of this post!  Haha!  Please tell me one thing (or more if you'd like) that you're going to try to change today.  Something small (or big, but it doesn't have to be).  Every little action (or inaction, I guess) helps.

I look forward to seing what you say.