How Can You Make a Difference for the Planet?: Individual Actions for a Minimal Waste World. How did we end up so sideways with the planet? Simple, we lost our connection to the breathing earth beneath our covered feet.
By now we’ve seen how our individual actions affect the whole planet and all who dwell here. Entire forests cleared to where orangutans, frogs, insects, birds, and countless species have gone extinct. The conversation goes far beyond climate woes. It’s easy to list all the problems; this can get overwhelming fast.
So, let’s talk about solutions. Individual actions for a minimal waste world become simple…maybe…fun?
I call on each of us to think about our wasteful actions and ask new habit-forming questions.
How long is the life of a to-go container? Or a coffee cup? What happens to bottles, clothes, shoes, tires, diapers, or yoga mats when we’re done using them?
What about the invisible but sharp fishing line when it breaks? Think about how current methods of generating power affect other species.
Then be creative. Pick one or two things that you care about and do them consistently.
Me, I’m a nut. I go overboard and still end up with waste. I’m hyper-focused on solutions. So I carry my to-go containers with me. I bring my own bags to the grocery stores, but it took a while to remember to take them out of the trunk of the car.
We’ve had our camping to-go containers with us since 2010, and they’re still going strong. I bring them to parties, camping, and day adventures. We even asked to use them at the Fro-Yo store the other night, complete with our own spoons.
One year our awning blew away in a windstorm. I didn’t know where it ended up. We repurposed empty thick plastic bags from soil, wove in the plastic pieces that lay strewn all over the yard from the awning, and built a “new” model. The following year, another wind storm came through, but our awning stuck and the original came off its hiding place (the roof) and reappeared on the front lawn.
When the time came to change our tires, I begged four different tire stores to recycle the broken rubber timing belt from our car as well. I figured why not? It’s all rubber. I finally got a YES!
With every military move we’ve made, I’ve worked hard to recycle waste. We had a box of rock glasses from our wedding with our names on them, which we never used. A loved one thought it was a great idea, so I held onto them for two years before I found a new home for them with an artist who turned those glasses into artful masterpieces.
Great problems require greater lasting regenerative solutions.
I share these short anecdotes with you in the hopes they will give you creative ideas or some solutions to see what is possible in each moment.
Each moment, we have to make a choice. Open your heart and mind to solutions that will benefit the greater good of all. Open the Buycott App when grocery shopping, to support companies that align with your passions. When you find companies who care, buy their products, and tools. Recall the workings of supply and demand. As consumers, each one of us drives the market. We speak with our wallets.
Learn how to compost your daily food scraps. Decentralize the waste stream. Sort and separate food, containers, e-waste, paper, and household goods so you can recycle appropriately when you do have waste. All of this spares the landfills and saves money. All the hauled away waste goes by weight and volume. When we decentralize with compost and sorting, then the cost of waste removal goes down, almost to nothing.
Bonus note for a minimal waste world
Yes! Even energy becomes saved. When we create less waste, we no longer need to use energy to process nor transport it. Disposable single use bags take energy to make, reused bags don’t. Even the store saves money because they order less often. Trees continue to thrive, which enhances the process of photosynthesis, and reduces our carbon footprint. Cool eh!
We didn’t get to this high-waste place overnight. We can make different choices. We can do better. Changing is simply a matter of being willing to do so and begins with gratitude for what we have right now. Look for what you and others are doing well.
Be willing to be surprised. You’ll see solutions in every day problems.
Thank you for reading musings from The Earth Coach. If you like the topic, please share on your social media.