On the 39th anniversary of the first Earth Day, I wonder if I'm really doing enough.
Do others feel the same way? Do you wonder what more you could possibly do?
Earth Day is intended to be a time to reflect upon the health of our planet and the bearing our actions have on it. Maybe April 22 can be an opportunity to make an "Earth Day resolution", whereby we commit to making one behaviour change that promotes environmental sustainability.
Having made an effort to reduce my environmental footprint over the last few years, I feel like every day is Earth Day. I walk, cycle, and take transit most places I go (I don't own a car, but rent on weekends for trips to the mountains); I support environmental causes financially; I live in a small apartment; I rarely use major appliances (I never use the oven or the dryer); I buy local organic food if possible; I set up (and use) an illegitimate composter in the back alley and I encourage others to reduce their footprint. Oh, and I work for a sustainable energy think tank. Sometimes I feel like I do enough.
Last week I was reading about a woman in Toronto who has unplugged her fridge. She got to the point where she struggled to find ways to reduce her environmental footprint. So now her fridge consumes no electricity and serves as a fancy pantry. Reading that article, I realized that it's as soon as I think I'm doing enough that the real harm begins.
Attitudes like, "my actions don't make a difference" or "I'm only one person - look at what's happening in the oil sands!" or "I do enough already" are the very attitudes that got us to the brink of ecological trouble in the first place.
So today I remind myself that while every day may feel like Earth Day, I could be doing more to get us to the healthy planet we need to sustain us to the 7th generation and beyond.
Do you feel like you do enough already? What more could you do for our planet and for its inhabitants? Do you have any Earth Day resolutions?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Every day is Earth Day, isn't it?
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2 comments:
It's kind of like celebrating an anniversary isn't it? Every day should be a day to remember why we love and care for our partner.
The process of reducing our impact on (and eventually regenerating) the Earth is a never-ending process. Wherever we are, we should push ourselves to do better.
We can also act at a variety of levels. We can be tactical and look at how we buy groceries or products, or we can be strategic developing new systems of production.
Greg, it's great that you're operating on multiple levels! I have to say I've managed to reduce my impact only in a few areas... housing choice, transportation choice, volunteer work. There's more that can be done (as is always the case).
I think Earth Day should also be about more than just the environment. We also need more people thinking about social injustice, terrorism, better education, and so forth. Of course they're all connected... and that's the trick isn't it? But luckily there's a lot of us and the more that we can get thinking about the Earth and our role in it, the better!
Yes, if Earth Day is a reminder for us, rather than a substitute for considering our footprint during the rest of the year, it will serve a useful purpose. Ideally, it's like all the other cycles we travel throughout our days and our lives. For some of us, it can be compared with our preference for going to church regularly rather than just once a year. Perhaps we can get back to a practice of Sabbath, where for one day a week, we attempt to just accept and love what we are given rather than transforming it for our use.
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