Earth Day is Sunday, and as I sat down to write this, I thought about the fact that Earth Day really should be every day. My son, Michael, started an Eco Club at our school a couple of years ago. In addition to starting a recycling program for our school (because they didn’t have one when we arrived, if you can believe that), the group does weekly segments on the school news to raise awareness, school clean ups, and a variety other things to inform, educate and move our school to act. This week, there has been a different focus every day – from encouraging a Trash Free Lunch to a recycled art contest. As a mom, I couldn’t be more proud. As a fellow human on this precious planet, I thank him for his leadership.
He informed me a couple of weeks ago that humans have consumed more resources over the past 50 years than in all of recorded history combined before that. That fact can’t get out of my head. In a little more than my lifetime, we have consumed, and thrown away, and consumed some more at a rate that is most definitely unsustainable. As much as most of us, especially those of us in a country that consumes a disproportionate share of resources relative to the percentage of the population we represent, are aware of our consumption-focused tendencies, awareness is simply not enough. Each and every one of us has got to be a part of the solution.
Small tweaks – the reusable shopping bag, ditching straws or switching to compostable ones, having a compost bin, forgoing the toys in the happy meals – can all add up. If we all do it together, the collective impact can be huge.
If you are feeling like doing more, we have some great partners offering some options this weekend (see below). EarthDay.org has some good ideas for action too. We encourage you to celebrate Earth Day in a more meaningful way this year. We encourage you to act. Saving our Planet really is the one cause we all must care about.
LA:
Nothin’ But Sand Beach Clean-up
Santa Monica with Heal the Bay (4/21/2018)
Friends of LA River – Great River Clean-up (4/21/2018)
Bay Area:
Heritage Rose Garden Work Day (4/21/2018)
