Earth Day — One Thing to Do (…or Three)

 

Here comes another Earth Day. Of course, for folks in my business who spend every day thinking that it’s Earth Day, this annual holiday is a bit odd/surreal. Aside from the completely ungreen pitches I get at this time of year, which either make me want to pull my hair out or laugh, it’s just weird to think about what this day is for most of the population, and what is useful to write about at this time (compared to what I write about every day).

In previous years, I have focused on the theme of making Earth Day a sort of green New Year’s Day. In other words, taking it as an opportunity to make a fundamental change in your daily habits or purchasing decisions. I stand by that as being the most useful way to use this opportunity.

I can imagine many people going to Earth Day events around the U.S., learning about numerous environmental issues and solutions, and probably mostly about products. (And, unfortunately, I can picture a lot of those people going there by car.) The bottom line is, though, while I think education is important (it’s largely what I’m in the business of), it’s pretty darn well known what’s causing our environmental crises (and yes, we have numerous crises, as we are now crossing several of our “9 planetary boundaries“). The main three contributors are our:

  • food
  • transportation
  • electricity

So, my “one thing to do” is to choose one of those items to significantly green (eat vegetarian or vegan; eat organic; eat local; bicycle for transportation; buy an EV; buy a scooter; go solar) and just make the decision to do it.

Of course, if you want to be totally gung-ho about it, you can try greening all three! But perhaps better to start with one.

Yes, keep educating yourself, and check out my other two top 5 ingredients for a green life, but first and foremost, commit to making one big green change in your life this Earth Day!

For more info on these topics, you can also check out my 2011 Earth Day post.

Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

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