As spring approaches, what better time to reconnect with our planet than to observe March 26’s Earth Hour and April 22’s Earth Day? I sashayed over to http://www.earthday.org/take-action/ to glean some cool Earth Day ideas, and what greeted me?
Billion Acts of Green
Together we’ve reached 2,023,369,464 Acts of Green. Help us reach 3 billion!
Have I not been telling you Small Acts Make for Big Impacts since forever? (That actually was the header on my Environmental Science website back when I taught in Hartford, CT. I set it up so my students could access assignments, and it’s been sitting there ever since.)
It was such an affirmation of my philosophy, now I’m inspired to resurrect Personal-Impact.org this year so I can supply you with ways to connect with our planet (I’ll keep you posted).
But right now, let’s check out what you can do for the planet.
The trick is to start small and work your way up. Make changes that are easy fixes for your lifestyle. It takes 60+ days to make a new habit, so anything you start now won’t be automatic until May. That means if you can hang in there, in May, your change will feel like a normal part of your routine, and not an inconvenience. You’ll do it seamlessly.
EarthDay.org makes time-intensive suggestions:
- Join the March For Science
- Start Composting
- Reduce Your Ecological Footprint.
But they also make some easy-to-begin suggestions:
- Trade Re-usable bags for Disposable Plastic or Disposable Paper
- Eat Less Meat- Enjoy Meatless Mondays
- Be A Citizen Signer- add your name to a petition
The First 10 in a Billion Acts of Green
Would you like to create a small action that will add up to a large impact? Here are my 10 Start-Up suggestions you can use for your first steps:
- Pass this link on to your schools. It provides a toolkit to help educators incorporate Earth Day activities in their lessons. http://www.earthday.org/campaigns/education/climate-education-week/
- Send this link http://www.earthday.org/campaigns/campaign-for-communities/global-day-conversation/ to your local government. There is contact information there for setting up a community event. Then attend the event with your family.
- Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.
- Put a small plastic bottle in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of clean water wasted through flushing.
- Decrease the pressure of your shower, and cut your shower by 1 minute (you’d be surprised how much water is saved over the year.
- Take 20 minutes to watch The Story of Stuff with your family, then have a discussion after.
- Add another trashcan in bedrooms and bathrooms. One can be used for recyclables, and the other for trash. If you make it easy to separate recyclables, they will.
- Turn your refrigerator down a little bit. It will use less electricity.
- Don’t wash your clothes on the hot temperature. Use warm instead. It saves energy.
- Lower your thermostat when you go out. No sense in heating or cooling an empty house.
You Can Do It!
Each one of these ten suggestions requires very little effort and time. But each one is its own Act of Green, contributing to the goal of 3,000,000,000 Acts of Green. You can go to EarthDay.org and register your action, and be officially counted in their three billion acts. Plus, it’s an Act of Green for each member of your family who decides to step up. And if you get your best friend to participate, that doubles your impact. You could become quite the influencer!
Take me, for instance. Every year I change something in my lifestyle to better align myself with the good of our planet. And every chance I get, I try to encourage people to make their own changes, whether I do it in the classroom, or through my writing.
Small Acts Make for Big Impacts.
What’s your next Act of Green going to be? You might give someone else a good idea (That’s The Ripple Effect at its best!)
About the Author
Are you overwhelmed or frustrated with your role as a parent? Deborah Ann Davis (B.S. in Science Education, M.Ed. in Supervision, and W.I.T.S Personal Trainer Certified) is a parenting coach and strategist who works with individuals and organizations. An animated speaker, Deborah inspires, enlightens, and energizes her audiences with actionable strategies which can be implemented immediately.
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