6 Simple Changes to Make Right Now for the Planet

Here are six simple (although not completely easy) ways that we can help the 🌍earth, and we can do them today. Enjoy!

1. Let go of our most common single use thing

 Not only is getting rid of our 🚮waste important to build momentum for more changes, it helps alter our 💭mindset around the stuff we own as well as the actions we take as a whole. Zero waste may start with our stuff, but it can also be a change that affects our life as a whole.

The most common thing we use is the best place to start, which looks different for everyone. For some it could be water bottles, for others it could be 🍴to-go utensils, maybe it’s a cotton swab, or how about tissues and makeup rounds? Take note of what you’re throwing away most on any given day, and there is probably a reusable replacement out there for you to switch to.

2. Let go of our manicured lawns

🌱The grass lawn: a place to play, or lounge, and enjoy, but most of the time...it’s just something we put money, time, and environmental resources into for no reason at all. Our lawns consist of a lot of space that could better serve either us or the planet too. Plus, the footprint of lawns can be pretty detrimental.💧🧪

Luckily though, nature doesn’t require us to do much for it other than to simply leave it the heck alone. And that’s largely what we can do with our lawns. If we want to, we could also throw certain local native 🌸wildflower seeds down to speed up the process. Or, when we see a 🌱tree beginning to grow, we can help it along by watering it and clipping the weeds around it.

Whether we just leave our lawn alone, or plant specific helpful plants and foods, the soil, bees, birds, and earth will thank us. Check this blog post out to learn more about lawns. 

And hey, if you love your lawn, you use your lawn, and it really adds value...then great! Enjoy the heck out of it. But most people probably just keep it up because they feel they have to and then never look at it until it’s ready for maintenance again. If that’s the case, it’s okay to use that space for something else. 🍉

3. Try eating a low footprint meal

We can’t knock it until we try it, right? With all of these changes many of us become overwhelmed at the idea of being perfect or all in 100%. Whether it be eating more 🍠eco friendly foods, going zero waste, or anything else, we don’t have to be perfect. But if we simply want to do better, we can do better, and that starts with small changes.

Try out a more 🥑plant focused meal that is as local and organic as possible. This doesn’t mean we have to eat these meals every single day for the rest of our lives. But maybe by simply trying it, we can implement them 🗓once per week, once per month, or once per day! The beauty of it all, is that it’s really up to you.

Plants have typically less of a footprint than 🐄animal products like meats, eggs, or dairy. But it doesn't really end there, plants can be just as harmful if they aren’t grown in a responsible way and then ✈️shipped across the world. Try and eat local, well grown food. For more info, check out the footprint of food and also how to eat a more eco friendly meal. 

4. Grow an edible plant

And speaking of food, what’s more local and known to be grown well than food in your 🏡backyard...or even on your windowsill! Just as it’s revolutionary to switch to a reusable alternative in a world that blindly consumes, so is growing our own food separate from a very wasteful, globalized food system. Plus, it’s practically free!

There are many edible plants that will grow and grow even if you forget about them, and there are of course ones that require a lot of maintenance. Some can even be grown inside a 🍅small pot by the window if it’s cold outside right now. Once again, the choice is yours.

By growing our own food we can save money, use our lawn space for something good, 💪get better nutrition, reduce stress, and build an appreciation for nature as well as the food we consume.

Again, this can be something hearty and easy to grow such as 🥔potatoes, or it could be something much more simple like 🌿herbs. Start small, and see how you like it!

5. Bike, walk, or take the bus/train somewhere instead of driving

This one can be approached similar to our lawns actually, because it’s all dependent on what we get value from. If we love to drive, and we really get value from it, then great. Maybe consider upping those MPG’s or going electric. 🚙But a lot of people probably just drive because everyone else does, or maybe because they have to.

There may be somewhere within walking or 🚲biking distance, or maybe there's even a bus/train that’s accessible! Give it a shot, it doesn’t have to be the only way we get around, but we may find that we enjoy the bit of extra time it takes. 🧘🏽‍♀️We can have quiet time to think, to learn, to listen, to breathe. 

For more info, check out the impact of transportation and how to commute in a more eco friendly way. 

6. Get out into nature

🌲This one seems like a rather ineffectual way to help the planet, but it has more impact than we may think.🦅 By going into nature, we are able to appreciate it more. We develop more of a deeper purpose for the changes we are trying to make. Not to mention, it usually relieves stress, boosts creativity, and helps us solve problems...or it makes our problems seem not as big.💚

🧗‍♂️Take a hike, go for a walk, ski, bike, sled, hop, skip, or jump through the tall grass or snow! There’s a beautifully unique natural world out there and it embraces us with open arms: ready to take away our stress and anxiety, and ready to give us more joy and calm. Just don’t forget to watch your footprint while you’re out there, it’s the least we can do.

Thank you for spending some time with us today reading this list. We hope it’s motivated you or relieved some stress related to change making. You are in complete control of the 📈momentum that you want to build towards a better world, or better self. It doesn't take massive leaps...but just small steps. 🦶🏼