Happy Environment Week!

Happy World Environment Day, in the middle of Environment Week. Here is something really beautiful. Let's do all we can to enjoy our forests and care for our environment...

Be environment-wise

It's World Environment Day today, the first day of Environment Week, and there are probably a million different actions we can do to help the cause. It all begins, of course, with being mindful of how the way we live affects our planet. What we eat, what we wear, how we keep ourselves clean, how we travel, the work we do, how we entertain ourselves -- in short, everything we do during an ordinary day can have a greater or lesser impact on our environment, and most particularly on our climate. Just by breathing we are creating greenhouse gases! Never mind driving, cooking, heating or cooling our homes, etc...

Just because a certain world leader chooses to ignore the fact that we are experiencing global climate change doesn't mean that the rest of us can afford to follow suit. That's part of the reason I've been moodling here for almost seven years -- to offer my readers all sorts of simple suggestions about things we can all do to live more lightly on the planet. Some of my "Simple Suggestions" are obvious, others are whimsical -- how can flying a kite improve our planet's well-being, you might ask? The way I look at it, anything we do that gets us to appreciate our environment, to entertain ourselves and use personal energy instead of the worldwide web or the electrical grid, and takes few resources is a step in the right direction. A certain filthy rich world leader has already fallen behind ordinary citizens like us who are truly taking the lead for our planet's sake. We understand that, as Richard Rohr is fond of saying, there is enough for everyone's need, but not everyone's greed.

Rather than re-list ideas I've already listed before, you're invited to review my Simple Suggestions page, revisit your environmental footprint by clicking here (I'm happy to see that our family's footprint has gotten smaller since a year ago), or find a website with other ideas that work for you (let me know if you find a good one!) And maybe step outside, breathe deeply and appreciate the abundance and goodness of our sister, Mother Earth, and consider what else we can do to return her many favours. Let's let our gratitude lead us to action for our earth's sake and leave the climate deniers in the dust. They'll have no choice but to catch up eventually!

And now, I'm going to pick some mint and make a cup of backyard tea to toast the health of our environment!

Simple Suggestion #207... Celebrate Environment Week

How will you celebrate? I'm celebrating by taking extra long walks in the river valley with my dog and appreciating the fragrance of blossoming trees. Or maybe I'll plant some extra bee-friendly plants in my yard. I'm definitely going to recycle the unnecessary papers on my desk. I'll ride my bike to work tomorrow. And maybe I'll make a fresh salad from the lettuce that is almost big enough to be picked from our cold frame as part of our 50-foot diet.




Click here for info about Environment Week in Canada

If you know me, you know that none of these activities are out of the ordinary around here. So how is Environment Week any different than any other week of the year? I guess the point I'm making is that I'll continue to do the things I'm always trying to do, because EVERY WEEK should be Environment Week. Reducing our ecological impact on our planet needs to be a daily, ongoing thing in a world threatened by climate instability, pollution, over-consumption and waste. As I'm constantly reminded, the way we live is a justice issue -- we owe it to the web of life to live more lightly on the planet, or, as Desmond Tutu commented earlier this week in Fort McMurray, we'll all be "kaput."

For me, Environment Week is a good time to up the ante -- to learn more about my local environment and how to protect it. It would also be good to come up with even more hard-core activities I can implement at home to reduce my ecological footprint. Those are harder to figure out. If you have any suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them! Ah, one just came to me. A shorter shower this morning...

The thing is, we only have one environment to protect for future generations, and every choice we make as human beings impacts it in one way or another. How can we impact it positively? If we think and act on that question all the time, every week IS Environment Week, as it should be.

How will you celebrate?

P.S. If you're in the Edmonton area, why not take a tour of the city's amazing Waste Management Facilities? Tours are being offered every day at 1:30 and 5:30 pm (except Wednesday, only 5:30) and you can register/get details by calling 311. It's well worth the trip -- an awareness of where our garbage goes and how much waste our city produces has inspired many Edmontonians to find ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover things that might otherwise end up in the landfill, something our earth can no longer afford.

P.P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.