Sunday, April 21, 2013

How did YOU celebrate Earth Day?

While today is officially Earth Day, many related celebrations and promotional events took place this past weekend. I didn't attend/am not attending a celebration or anything, but today is just as good a time as any to get inspired by some good music (see bottom of post for Music Monday Earth Day Edition goodness), share some great green links (also towards the bottom) and re-commit to my own goals.

Earth Day, celebrated on April 22 each year, is now in its 23rd global year (originally proposed in 1969 and observed in the United States for the first time on April 22, 1970, it didn't become an international celebration until 1990). While there have been too many positive outcomes to bringing awareness to our environment over the years to recall here, there is still much to be done. And I do not have the answers - but I know what I will be doing to hopefully do my part in keeping our planet as clean and safe as possible.

The biggest thing for me - and I've been doing this for well over a year, but am still not 100% on board - is to continue the switch to home-made, eco-friendly cleaners that are also as cruelty-free as possible. To be honest, I'm more worried about animal cruelty than I am protecting the environment, but they do eventually go hand in hand. And I'll be attempting to do much better at the three basics: reduce, reuse, and recycle. More on those in future posts, hopefully. But any recycling I do is going to be an improvement over the amount I do right now, which is, shamefully, next to nothing. And my second home, Target, now has a small recycling center inside the store, so this should be a no-brainer.

Many of the following ideas fall under the basic three, but I thought they were worth mentioning on their own.....

Go paperless. I have my bank statement accessible online, only write paper checks every once in a great while, have gone mostly from paper books to an eReader, and will be putting as many coupons on my cell phone as possible. Shopping lists and calendars are all online as well! The only exceptions to the paperless goal at this time are:

  • Bills. But I will be looking into this again since the last time I wanted to do paperless billing I had to set up auto pay. For reasons I won't go into here, auto pay is not an option for me at this time.
  • Special editions of favorite books, or books that are given to me.
  • Magazines. I tried a magazine subscription on my Nook, and never really got the hang of it. On top of that, either the formatting of Nook magazines changed or that particular magazine changed its formatting, and I was no longer able to enlarge the pages well enough to see them. If I can't read it, I don't pay for it. I don't actually buy many magazines anymore anyhow, but when I do, I will just donate them when I'm done. And who knows? Maybe I'll try another e-magazine in the future.
While these may not be options for me, there's nothing saying they can't be perfectly viable paperless options for you, so definitely consider going paperless when and where you can and recycling/reusing the paper you have.

Go plasticless. I've been an advocate of the reusable shopping bag for a few years now, though you probably couldn't tell by seeing me shop. I am so bad about forgetting to bring them with me! But I finally settled on a design that works for me (I prefer the nylon ones that roll up into themselves in a self pouch which I can then just throw in my purse, many of which are relatively small). The best thing about any reusable shopping bags are that they are cheap, now readily available from virtually any retailer or grocer, and you can really have fun with them. So have some fun with them! (Just be better than me about remembering to put them in your purse or somehow carry them with you.)

Here are a few of my favorite green links - some to websites, and some to some of my favorite green cleaning products. Feel free to add your own in the comments below.

  • Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day cleaning supplies. Yummy and unusual scents. I love their dishwashing liquid - I use only a teensy amount, and it lathers up so nicely and gets my dishes so clean with little effort. And you can smell the scent all the way through the house.. I want to try each and every scent! Pure cleaning bliss.
  • Method. has long been a staple in my household. Like Mrs. Meyer's, they also come in a variety of divine scents, all of which I want to try. Bonus? They're very affordable for green cleaning products and probably more readily available in retailers than Mrs. Meyer's.
  • I don't have much experience with Seventh Generation products, but have been satisified with their dishwashing liquid and laundry detergents when I've used them. They don't seem to have the same range of scents as Mrs. Meyer's and Method, but they are affordable and readily available as well.
  • Gorgeously Green has a large variety of home-made recipes for just about everything you could possibly need. I find the essential oils Sophie Uliano suggests a bit pricey for myself and most people on a tight budget, but you can definitely draw inspiration from her recipes, and substitute any different brands that you are comfortable with! That is what I plan on doing.
  • Sayward at Bonzai Aphrodite is a newly certified Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator (congrats on this accomplishment, Sayward!), but she is also Socially Conscious, Totally Fabulous and I have drawn a wealth of inspiration from her blog posts. I'm sure you will, too :)
  • Punk Rock Homesteading - lots of fascinating ideas here that are geared towards survivalism and sustainable living.
  • Mousevox is a blog run by Rachel of Mousevox Vintage, where she promotes sustainability and eco-friendliness in her own unique way by styling fabulous vintage clothing finds sure to appeal to new generations.

Now for Music Monday - Earth Day Edition, I have two different songs called "Don't Go Near the Water"....today's theme at 4Ms is actually songs about earth, but these environmentally aware songs are still very fitting for an Earth Day theme in general.

My favorite is Johnny Cash's song, and I picked this video because the other two were just too hard to watch because they were mainly set to slideshows from the BP oil spill.

And if The Beach Boys are more your thing, here's a song by the same name that I found by them. It may not be the same song, but definitely carries the same message. And for me, it was a trip in and of itself just to watch such a vintage video!

Who are some of your favorite environmentally conscious artists/bands/musicians? What are some of your favorite earth-inspired and/or environmentally aware songs? Speak up in the comments!

Music Monday:
X-Mas Dolly
Run DMT
My So-Called Chaos
behtere2day

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16 comments:

  1. We are going to celebrate Earth Day by taking out a tree! It died over winter and needs to be replaced.

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  2. i enjoyed these I am a massive Beach Boys fan :-)

    i celebrated with a big bag of popcorn..I'm such a devil aren't I heheh!


    have an earthtastic week :-)

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    1. Glad to have played something you liked, Steve! Thanks for stopping by; I will definitely have an earthtastic week!

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  3. Great tips and reminders! I love Johnny! Happy Earth day.

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    1. Happy Earth Day to you, too, Lynn! I hope you find some useful tips that work for you if you get a chance to check some of the links out. Thank you for visiting my blog :)

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  4. Oh wow! Those are both new to me, Kim - I love them both! The Beach Boys are a big time favorite of mine! :)

    Big Yellow Taxi is The Last Resort since I’m just an Indian Outlaw on this Mother Earth

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    1. Glad to bring some new tunes from old favorites your way! Thanks for stopping by today!

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  5. Can't go wrong with The Beach Boys!

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  6. my kids and I generally go to the park across the street from our house and pick up garbage. but since hubby is away right now, and other 2 are in school today, we are going to do on the weekend instead.

    so for today -- no TV or Wii for kids.
    mama is via battery on her laptop. but you know I'll be plugging in after kids go to bed. I'll do it by candlelight though :)

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    1. You're really getting into it to do (for the most part) without electronics. Or to make the kids do without them, haha!

      Thanks for coming by!

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  7. My first to listen to this song by the Beach Boys :) Thanks for sharing for this Music Monday.

    I am also into caring for our environment, in my own small way. Planting a thousand moringa trees together with my family has been one. Moringa Trees plays a critical role in maintaining safe levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Actually, I am into moringa seed distribution and selling so that other people will follow suit.

    We are also in worm composting / vermiculture which aids waste reduction and reduces pollution.

    Riding bikes more instead of motorcycles/cars are also one.

    Great to know everyone's tips in caring for Mother Earth :)

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    1. Those are all such great ideas, Rich! I need to get way more proactive with the green movement. Glad I could give you something you hadn't heard from The Beach Boys!

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  8. Very informative posts!

    Thanks for sharing with us today girl!

    Have a blessed week!

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    1. And thank you for stopping by! I hope your week will be a blessed one as well :)

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