With Earth Day falling the day after Easter this year, as well as on our school spring break, I noticed many friends were either still busy on vacation or visiting family, or cleaning up from a family Holiday.

So with that in mind, we can make the rest of April “Earth month”, then really, if you think about it, earth year, and we can make earth day EVER DAY!

When we go through our days , often in a rush, we tend to not fully see or appreciate enough, the very planet that we call home.

Pulling up at the train station the other day, I did notice the earth.

Sadly.

I noticed it was strewn with litter, all along the fence for a long way.  LOTS OF IT.  It made me discouraged and annoyed that people throw their litter on the ground. Of course, the train station offering some more garbage cans along the path might help but that’s a whole other thing.

I think the key is sometimes we actually do have to remind ourselves to take better care of the earth. It’s everything we do, say, see, hear and feel -from the emissions on cars to using environmentally friendly cleaning products to picking up trash to planting a garden. And hundreds more.

While you know many of these things, how many do you actually do? And how many do you set an example for your children by doing alongside them?

Go on a Nature Walk with the family

At the local state park or beach, environmental center or  somewhere local, look at everything with a renewed curiosity.  Are there things you’ve missed? What kinds of flowers are in the fields? What types of trees are nearby? Are there critter families watching you from the tall grass? What birds are flying near?

Encourage your children to observe and examine the things they encounter along the way (taking precautions to avoid poison ivy and ticks, of course). Engage in a conversation about nature and discuss the ways in which it can be protected.  When we connect with nature, we want to do all we can to keep it beautiful and thriving.

 

Clean Up Litter

Consider rolling up your sleeves (and putting on some gloves) to tackle the litter in your area. Or on that nature walk.  If we all do our part, we’ll make a huge difference.

Of course, you’ll have to throw some things in the garbage but recycle whatever you can. You’ll be amazed by how many plastic products you’ll find cluttering up our parks, paths, and parking lots. Properly disposing of these items keeps our world cleaner and protects wildlife from ingesting it.

 

Go Paperless

We go to the mailbox and come back with too many pieces of mail that eventually become part of a ridiculous pile of unopened envelopes and unnecessary junk. While you can’t get rid of everything, there are some ways in which you can reduce the clutter and save on how much paper we’re using.

Many companies provide the option to go paperless. You can receive bills, bank statements, and more as email, thereby reducing your carbon footprint and making it easier to keep track of everything. I thought most people did this, but recently spoke to some who don’t. You can also unsubscribe from magazines and papers you don’t need by calling them or heading to their website.

My company NYR Organic makes their catalog in a digital version and I actually have more people ask for it than the hard copy. ( the hard copy is made on recycled paper of course) Come check it out here 

 

Ban the Beads

Did you know many facial scrubs are made with micro beads? I learned this a few years back as NYR Organic was campaigning to ban the beads ( they never used them in their skincare). I was surprised to learn that these tiny little plastic beads in body scrubs and polishes end up in the sea and thus, in our food chain! How about some microbeads in your fish dinner? EW. They are cheap fillers and they are not biodegradable.

Fortunately Europe DID ban the bead, but other places have not yet. This is why it’s important to support companies doing the right thing for the environment! Like NYR. You can learn more at beatthemicrobead.org

Speaking of NYR Organic, you probably know I have been a supporter of the company and missions, user of the wonderful line and consultant for many years now.

To sum it up simply, peek here to see all that NYR does to support this earth- from people to animals, to not using toxic or GMO ingredients, to being carbon neutral  to saving the BEEs with their Bee Lovely campaign. This is a fabulous informative 2 minute video  !

THIS is the kind of company you can feel great about supporting! Each time you use your products, you have done a tiny part in helping because the companies you choose to support are the direction the future is heading toward.

 

 

Read that again: the companies you choose to support are the direction the future is heading.

NYR also supports the BEES. Without bees, quite a lot of our food chain would be gone. Just gone. Imagine? No honey, No lemons. No apples. No bananas. And tons others.

Why are the bees dying at alarming rates? Scientists say global warming, habitat loss, parasites and a class of bee-killing insecticides known as neonicotinoids (or neonics).

Learn more about NYR Organic’s Bee campaign here and when you shop Bee Lovely, 3% goes toward saving the bees as you’ll see. It’s an incredible line that will make your skin soft and smooth too!

Recycle Reuse Reduce 

I don’t need to tell you to recycle and reuse and reduce waste. We all know it and with a little more effort, we can make more of an impact. This site RECYCLEBANK is my go to and I encourage you to bookmark it and read around. Your kids might learn a lot too.

Trying to live like Earth Day is every day shouldn’t be hard. We can all do our part, little by little.

I think the key is to look around, really look, eyes open at the beauty of this planet and think about our grandchildren and how we want the earth for them. And in picturing these babies coming into the world, imagine how you want it to be for them.

Then choose to pick up the litter, plant the flowers that attract bees, make sure all your purchases are from companies that support the environment!

Support your local farmers, volunteer to help organizations that are doing good for the earth. Choose your car, your home products and everything you buy without first thinking of looks or price, but rather, has this or will this product do harm? Or will it do good?

By the way, this amazing building/area I just visited over the weekend ( pictured below), in New York City , features some environmentally friendly tidbits about it on their site. Such as” Rainfall at Hudson Yards is collected in a 60,000-gallon tank and used for irrigating our plants and trees. The environmental benefits include easing the pressure on the city’s sewer system as well as limiting water usage and the energy (approximately 6.5 megawatt hours) it takes to pump it. The greenhouse gas mitigation is equivalent to the carbon output of four acres of forest”. Isn’t that great?

Have you thought about collection YOUR rainfall in buckets to water indoor plants or reuse on dry days for outdoor plants? Good simple idea right?