Every day is Earth Day, isn't it?

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?