I’ve always been kind of a geek for planet Earth. I blame
the little trailer trips and hikes we took throughout my childhood, and all the
veggies my mom made me eat. Okay, and I blame the mountains, the feeling of sunshine
on my back, and all the flowers everywhere all the time.
Anyway, I do love my planet, and was even the little kid in
middle school who bought WWF t-shirts and begged her parents to build her a
compost pile. (TBH, I would not have taken care of it, so no hard feelings.)
And recently, in a semester-long environmental health class, some of that love
was reawakened, and I even joined an organization that has a literal farm right
on my college campus. So as I embrace my tree-hugger nature once again, (no pun
intended) I wanted to write a little about some of the things I learned from
that class and that organization, and some of the ways I’ve been thinking about
changing things up to help this floating green and blue orb I am living on!
1) Environmental health is a reciprocating interaction
If I had to pick a single big idea from my environmental
health class, it would be that caring for the environment is not a one-way
street. I honestly expected 4 months of lessons on reducing, reusing, and
recycling, but environmental health is a lot more than that because our
environment affects our health too. I suppose that I always saw helping that
planet as just not littering or polluting because it preserves biodiversity. But
living cleaner, greener lives is good for our individual health as well. By
reducing resource consumption, waste, and pollution, we also work at reducing
risks of respiratory and heart problems, as well as cancer. By preserving our
forests we leave a slice of serenity in our lives. And actions such as greener
transportation and vegetarianism can even increase our fitness and overall
well-being. When you think about it, living green is better for us, and the lazy way we treat our earth backfires on
more than just endangered animals.
2) Loving your planet is good for your psyche
In one of the most interesting topics we covered last
semester was environmental psychology, which basically explains the great
effects the natural environment has on your mental and therefore physical health.
For example, natural light increases productivity, and having greenery in or
viewed from a hospital room shows a decrease in the recovery time of patients.
I may be a geek here, but I just think that is the coolest thing.
Personally, I can also speak to the stress reducing effects
of working in and walking through nature, especially though my brief experience
with Howdy Farm (that “literal farm on campus” organization). Whether it was taking
some extra time to meander to my car after class, or weeding, or harvesting, I
always walked away from an outdoor session feeling just plain better. I seem to
remember that from my childhood too, that some of my brightest, happiest
memories involved being out in nature, and I can’t think of a single time I
went hiking or biking without smiling at the end of it all, even if I was dead
tired.
3) Locally grown food is actually really awesome
In addition to chilling out and gardening, being a part of
Howdy Farm was a super cool way to learn about (and eat a lot of) local food! A
lot of the time, local food is grown more sustainably and not necessarily for
the organic mark-up you would find in the grocery store. Although pesticides
are extremely targeted, do a lot of good, and have an ever-decreasing
environmental impact, at a location like Howdy Farm we used no pesticides
whatsoever.
Pesticides and organic products aside though, the simple
truth is that local, fresh food actually tastes pretty freaking amazing. You
can debate all you want about nutritional benefit of GMO’s and pesticides and
so on, but at the end of the day, if you are paying the same amount for food
that tastes better, AND you are contributing to decreased fuel costs, AND you
are learning to make a schedule like a “grown-up”, (ya know, to go buy the
food) then you are kind of winning with farmer’s markets.
3) I make a TON of unnecessary purchases and trash
Although I learned about a lot more than the 3 R’s last
semester, they definitely did come up in both my EH class and on Howdy Farm.
And when it comes to reducing my purchases and wastes, I am not doing the
environment any favors! I have recycled habitually for years, but the driving
mechanisms of the reduce-reuse-recycle cycle are buying less overall, and
buying sustainable or recycled products where possible. It’s great to throw
things in the recycling bin, but if no one’s buying recycled products they will
end up going into landfills anyway. By the same token, the more stuff you buy,
the more waste you make, and the more natural resources you use.
Personally, I’ve always used paper plates and bowls for my
meals as a means of convenience, and I realized just how wasteful it was as
soon as I opened my eyes to living more sustainably! The same goes for paper
towels in that they aren’t always necessary to clean up little messes. I also
use plastic water bottles far too often (even if I do recycle), buy new clothes
when I really don’t need them, and, regrettably, make a ton of trash with
crafting! And so…
4) My crafting habits aren’t exactly sustainable
This was huge for me, and I think it’s part of what offset
my DIY blogging for a little while, but I buy so many craft supplies that just
sit waiting to be used—how awful for my beautiful earth and my cluttered headspace!
Now, although in many cases home-made or restyled projects can use less
materials than new purchases, crafting is still an area in my life that creates
a ton of clutter and ends with a lot of unneeded leftovers. I really want to
work on actually using those supplies that I already have, and reducing
purchases AND wastes.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that crafting is evil
and it going to kill me. I just think that in the future it is worth taking
into consideration if there are ways I could reuse materials for a project, or
if I have the financial resources to invest in more sustainable craft supplies
with less packaging. Furthermore, when it comes to never-used party piñatas or
yet another cute clutch, I need to keep in mind whether or not I will really be
using the things I love to make.
5) It’s the little things.
This point is probably the most paramount one of the post,
especially if you are reading this and panicking—when it comes to the
environment, just do what you can.
Yes, strive to buy less, recycle more, reduce your waste, and celebrate the
earth, but at the end of the day you don’t have to do any more than what is within
your financial and physical means. If you don’t have a farmers market, can’t
afford the greener products, or just don’t have the time to wash dishes then
that is completely and totally a-okay. It really is the small things that make
a big difference, and half the time just considering the environment when you are
going through daily life is helpful to reducing your carbon footprint.
Furthermore, while being aware of your purchases is a very good thing,
panicking over whether or not it is consciously responsible to buy that top you
just love may not be helping anything.
There are people that devote their lives to making no trash,
to creating new energy-saving inventions, and to saving the planet all on their
own, but that by no means has to be all of us! Honestly, if everyone actually
did what they could, the environmental health issues would be significantly
lessened. The bottom line to all this is that as I continue to live my life and
take part in making more of my own decisions, I want to consider the little
blue planet in more of those choices. Not every food has to be organic, not
every office supply has to be recycled, and not every thought has to be green. The
idea is just to think about it and do a little, do your research and then do a
little more where you can! And then go hiking or walking outdoors all the time
because nature is just plain gorgeous and you need some time to breathe, my
friend.
Do you commit to any “green” habits?
Stay lovely,
PS: I'm testing out some new visual branding and potentially some redesign for my blog (yes, again). My site might be a little bit of a mess during the transition, but I hope we will all love it at the end!
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