Earth

Foreword

Many things around me have inspired me to add this to my blog. I love our Earth. I knew how to spell environment before I turned five. I wanted to be Mati from Captain Planet. My art as an adolescent was always earth related – planets with bandages across them, crowded freeways that looked like broken peace signs. 

For years I hated that I couldn’t drive and now I don’t care, I see it as a blessing. Cars, as well as being bad for the environment, are ridiculously expensive and high maintenance. I still find tram rides romantic. I enjoy taking the train and I’m saving for a bicycle. My first bicycle since I was twelve. I’m so excited, bikes are dreamy!

Here are a few things you can incorporate into your life to show you care for the environment. You don’t have to change everything about you. There’s nothing worse than a smelly, preachy green extremist. Make changes where your lifestyle allows. Every little thing counts.

• Buy in season produce. In season produce is abundant, hasn’t travelled hundreds of resource wasting food miles, tastes much better and costs less. 
• Grow your veggies. Free and organic! I’m starting a small veggie/herb garden in my balcony. 
• Eat less meat.
• You are what you eat. If you put chemicals inside you, it will show on the outside.
• Buy organic where you can. I can’t afford organic all the time, but I always buy organic tea and unbleached teabags.
• Stop smoking. Toxins that are bad for the atmosphere and you. And you do your part banish gross butts that ruin the landscape and contaminate water sources.
• Give back the extras. If you’re ordering takeaway, and they shove a bunch of cutlery, napkins and condiments you don’t need in the paper bag, return it and reduce waste.
• Avoid prepackaged meals. As well as being full of nasties, have layers and layers of packaging. Buy and eat fresh. 
• Say no to packaging. Avoid plastic containers and disposable cutlery where possible. There are entire surviving cultures that make do without.
• Ask your local takeaway if they’ll fill your own container. They don’t say no.
• Tuck a muslin shopping bag into your handbag so you never have to use plastic bags when making unexpected grocery purchases.
• Reuse items like envelopes, folders, files, paper clips
• Turn your wine corks into a corkboard and start an inspiration board.
• Buy earth friendly household products
• Go paperless where you can. Back up your files on an external hard drive and don’t print them out. Get your statements online. If you must print, do so on recycled and unbleached paper and use both sides.
• Dispose of electronics properly. They can be very harmful to the environment if they end up in landfill so google your nearest recycling centre.
• I hate even typing this but turn off lights, appliances and taps that aren’t in use. Make sure you use eco bulbs and have your showerhead fitted with a water saving low flow device.
• Sun and air dry your laundry. If you must use your dryer, make sure the lint filter is clean.

• Get a bicycle. There must be 84703 good things about cycling. No you don’t have to wear lycra shorts.
• Use public transport. Sometimes it smells, sometimes there are junkies on it. But sometimes there are some other earth lovin’ sexies on it. And you don’t have to look or pay for parking. Also, the more users, the most likely they are to keep improving it.
• NO bottled water. Lucky enough to live in countries where tap water is purer than a unicorn’s heart and we’re still water buying cultures. It can take anything from seven to thirty litres of water to make a single 1l bottle of water. Plus fuel to ship and countless other resources. No thanks.
• Make art from the plastic around you.
• Buy a durable water bottle and refill, refill, refill.  
• Buy less. Invest in quality versus quantity. A Prada in the hand is worth more than fifteen hotglued pvc bags. Shop vintage.
• Give earth friendly presents. Cook your friends a meal or take them out to a show. Make your own greeting cards and wrapping paper. Magazine and print ads, movie posters, postcards, wrappers, cartons, old cards and maps can all be recycled into thoughtful cards and packaging. Or wrap gifts in reusable cloth and paper bags. Save up ribbon and accessories from previous packaging. It’s not cheap, its savvy.
• Reuse. Reduce. Recycle.
• Recycling is sexy. I swear my heart skips a beat when I see boys separate their recycling. Recycling is easy as pie and saves trees from being cut down, plastic from ending up in landfill (In Australia, you can recycling all types of plastic and tetra pak) and saves precious mineral resources.
• If like me you’re fortunate enough to live in a city where pretty blue recycling bins sit beside garbage bins, make use of them. Food courts now even have bins for food matter and compost. Gleeeeeeeee!
• If you have your own garden, start a little compost heap with all your biodegradable food matter. It’ll work magic on the rest of your garden.
• Start an eco-conversation. Spark a discussion and debate about the environment, about recycling and reducing waste, you never know who will listen and make a difference. Raise consciousness about these issues, it’s unfortunate and unbelievable how many people are so ignorant to them.
• Remember than most of the time being eco friendly saves you money. Didn’t someone say something about a recession? (I didn’t want to go there.)

• And lastly, don’t forget to participate in Earth Hour. 

You can add your tidbits too.