Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! It’s truly an important day to celebrate.
Do you know Earth Day is celebrated in 192 countries around the world?
I know many of you, like me, look for ways we can really honor the Earth. We want to contribute in some way to maintaining its beauty and life-sustaining gifts to us all.
Today is set aside so that as a collective, we can put energy in respecting, honoring and giving our gratitude to Mother Nature. She is our true home and provides for us all.
Prior to 1970, there were no environmentally protective mechanisms put into place. We have made important strides over the years in creating better protections for us all, but there is so much more we can do. We all have a role to play and an opportunity to contribute.
Our actions don’t need to be large or grandiose either. Sometimes it’s the small everyday choices we make that create the biggest impact.
how to protect the planet
One simple thing we can do is make a change to how we eat.
Many people are unaware of how powerful Addressing the Climate Crisis Through Our Eating Habits truly is.
The climate crisis affects us all, and what we eat and how we eat should be a big part of the discussion.
During this pregnancy, I’ve thought a lot about children and our future generations and the world we are leaving them.
We need to be having this conversation ongoing (at least with ourselves), not just today to see how we can come together to really help support Mother Earth.
There is a saying in Ayurvedic medicine that says, “As is the micro, as is the macro.”
When we begin to address our personal choices and lifestyle, it really does affect the greater whole, the greater community, nature, and the entire world.
Many of you are already living a life in alignment with my recommendations below and these ideals. For some of you, this is new or you’re just starting. Wherever you are in your journey today, just remember we’re here to support you!
Eat Plant-based
I believe the number one thing we can do to protect the environment is to eat plant-based.
For those of you who aren’t yet ready to be 100% plant-based, I encourage you to try to eat a mostly plant-based diet.
There is a lot of information online now that supports plant-based diets, not just for the environment, but for your health and longevity too. What’s good for Mother Earth is good for us too!
I encourage you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions. There are many great documentaries available today to watch too. One I personally recommend is Cowspiracy. If you’ve already watched it, you’ll know why!
I also encourage you to read books written by the well-respected environmentalist and author Paul Hawken. He speaks all over the world and writes about important environmental solutions.
Many people choose to eat “healthier” meat by consuming organic or free-range poultry and beef, and these are healthier choices, but many don’t realize that even with free-range, large amounts of land is needed for the cattle to graze on.
With the growing population and increased demand for meat, more land is needed. This results in deforestation. About 90% of the destruction of the rainforest comes from cattle raising.
Our oceans are overfished, and the big trolling fishing nets kill other sea life like dolphins.
The more we eat a plant-based diet, the less of a detrimental impact we have on the earth.
Buy Local & Organic
How far your food travels matters. There are real environmental costs linked to our food choices. The food you buy in a grocery store that has traveled a long distance to get there may often look the same (although I’d argue they don’t taste the same), but they’re worlds apart environmentally.
Eating more local food helps reduce CO2 emissions by reducing the distance food has to travel from the farm to you.
Did you know the average piece of produce in the US travels 1500 miles?! Most local food travels fewer than 100 miles.
There is not only the impact that transporting the food has on the environment, but we’re also removed from the farming practices used. Many local farmers have a smaller footprint and use more sustainable farming practicing when growing their food.
Local farmers markets are a great place to find high quality food with less of an impact on our environment.
Grow Your Own Food
I’m also a big fan of growing your own food if possible. When you grow your own food you are 100% in control of what goes in the soil and on the food. You’re able to reduce the use of toxic chemicals on the food and what goes into the soil.
When chemicals get in the soil, it pollutes the environment and ground waterways. If you grow your own organic fruits and vegetables and using safe and natural fertilizers, you’re doing your part to keep our earth safe.
Related: Your Guide to a Quick and Easy Balcony Garden
I also encourage you to use all parts of your food, including vegetables. I like to take my scraps and make my own stock. I also compost and add it to my garden to create healthier soil.
There are so many other small simple things we all can do that add up to something truly impactful. These are just a few. Today, think about how you can incorporate these three things into your life.
Get the whole family involved! One thing I’ve done with Bubby is help create a love and connection with nature. He and I LOVE to run around barefoot. Being shoe-free is a fun way to tune into nature.
Bubby naturally kicks off his shoes any time we’re in the park or we’re in the yard. I think the more children connect with the earth, and all of us connect with the earth, the more that we love the earth. The more we care. And we feel that healing vibration and it’s really, really wonderful.
I encourage you all to get into nature, spend some time earthing, and just breathe in the air and feel an abundant love for Mother Earth.
Love,
Kimberly
Thank you for your post. I live in rural Iowa surrounded by fields. I wish farmers would understand how their pesticides are harmful. We even have to put up with crop dusting. Horrible!