Earth Day Can Be Any Day; Should Be Every Day

I don’t believe that we need to wait for April 22nd for Earth Day. We don’t need to put all our concentration into only one weekend on cleaning up our areas. What does that prove: to me, nothing; it shows that we care for a day, maybe a weekend. However, I believe to really show care and concern, we, all of us not just Pagans, should be doing our part to keep Mother Earth clean every day.

At a recent meeting focused on Climate Justice we discussed this very idea. Finally someone at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair NJ said what I have been saying. He basically asked why we had to focus all our efforts into one day. Sure, do something special to get people’s interest and spread the word.

We were planning events around recycling, reusing and compost. The ideas we came up with are pretty interesting if you

ask me. As soon as I can, I will discuss these ideas with you all.

We go out with gloves and garbage bags to clean up our parks, sidewalks and schools one day each year. Now I am pretty sure that trash didn’t land there in one day.

This is not the time to preach to the choir. And while we held an event this past September, I want to see more of these happening around town. Not just one day here or there, but constantly hold events every month or weekend. We need to do all we can to get the word out. Although, it seems that we are preaching to the choir we need to make sure we get the word out.

Earth Day every day: Lead by example rather than preach

Make these workshops interesting. Such as name an event something like Birds and Bees.

Teach all that you can, make it a hands-on event. Lectures can be boring, it takes a lot to hold someone’s interest. However, if you make it something for all ages, not only will you hold interest but teach too. Those kids will teach what they have learned and spread the word like butter. Little kids can’t wait to tell grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and of course, teachers.

This will catch on, if you do it correctly. Just keep it as interactive as possible. It’s not just reduce, recycle/compost, it’s also reuse too.

How many times in the last week have you bought something like lunchmeat in a plastic container, then realized that night’s leftovers need to be saved? Sure you could use a Glad ® or Hefty ® container you purchased. That’s two containers you’ve spent money on, both of which will likely end up in landfill somewhere. Why not wash and reuse the original one?

Or better still put leftovers in the empty pickle or spaghetti sauce jar you washed last week. It takes up less shelf space in the fridge or freezer. Jars are easy to reheat right in the microwave or on the stove in a pan of hot water on a low heat to thaw. Another bonus: one less pan to wash. Glass can be used indefinitely and is dishwasher safe, rather than leaching microplastics into your food and the dish water. It doesn’t deform when heated either, saving you from messy clean-ups.

Glass jars can not only store leftovers. Some uses include a place to store brown sugar, bagged or fresh coconut or a batch of pre-prepared pancake batter that just needs liquid. Jars can also be a home for plants, a container for small tools, or pens, crayons, marbles or a dozen other things. For the crafty, painting the lids means you can tell someone “it’s in the jar with the yellow lid.” By the way, you can often pick up glass jars at the local thrift store. You may need to buy new lids, and want to wash with a little bleach, but that’s a much smaller annual investment than plastic containers or bags that get shoved to the back of the fridge and spoil.

Reuse is an often forgotten part of the cycle, but it’s also one you can start instituting. Then next time you have a fairly wide mouthed jar, wash and save it, lid on loosely, then expand as you wish. That small thing becoming a habit is one way to serve Mother Earth any day.