3 Easy Ways to Celebrate Earth Month All Year Long

Become aware of the food you eat. Did you know that much of the food grown in the US (I’m talking billions of pounds) is completely wasted because it’s not attractive enough to be sold in the markets? In fact, 25% of greenhouses emissions come from wasted food! Thankfully, our country is also brimming with big-thinking entrepreneurs who look beyond the dollar for fulfillment. Enter Imperfect Foods, the food delivery company that strives to create a better food system where “ugly” food and excess inventory is not relegated to landfills and greenhouse emission causing waste. We have been using Imperfect Foods for about 6 months now and in that time, I have turned anyone who will listen on to this revolutionary new way of distributing food. Not only do they drastically reduce food waste in the US, they also sell their products for about 30% less than in the grocery store! So not only are they helping Mother Earth, they’re also helping the consumer’s pocket book. And, they strive to become a net-zero carbon company by 2030. I have no personal affiliation with Imperfect Foods, but I highly recommend checking them out and seeing if they service your area because they are just so damn great. Check them out at www.imperfectfoods.com to learn more about the foods they sell and their noble mission to end food waste.

Think about the things you throw away. For so long, many of us (self included) just threw away the things that we didn’t want in the trash cans without ever thinking of where it went. Now, as our awareness increases around our actions, we know better. We have the information and realize that all things end up somewhere beyond our garbage bins. In becoming aware of what we throw away, we may begin to see that some of those things can be repurposed or reused. For example, I used to use the plastic baggies in the produce aisle for my fruits and veggies because I would reuse them for cat litter or dog waste. Then, a friend challenged me about those plastic baggies...something I really thought I needed. I defended my use of them because I felt justified as I reused them for other things, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of my brain that wouldn’t ease up: what if I didn’t really need them? So, I stopped using them at the grocery store and started looking for them in other things I already used. Turns out plastic bags suitable for animal waste are everywhere! Think about the big plastic bags that come in cereal boxes. Or when you buy those big bags of apples. Sugar bags. Coffee bags (not plastic, but still serve the purpose of collecting animal waste). The list goes on...I had just gotten so used to throwing this perceived trash away that I never questioned my actions. Because of this, my mind opened to more possibilities of rethinking “trash” and creatively thinking about how things can be repurposed. And my fruits and veggies have yet to complain about going bagless in the cart.

Take your bags shopping with you. Many of us were doing so well at bringing our own bags shopping with us until Covid hit, whence we were not allowed to bring our own bags into the store anymore. I did not like this at all and chose to bring my own bags anyway and bag my groceries in the car! Not because of any self-righteous reason, but merely for the practical understanding that I did not want a bunch of bags piling up my house and ultimately the garbage cans. Now we are once again allowed to bring our own bags into the stores as long as we bag them, which I am totally okay with as I actually enjoy bagging my groceries. So I encourage everyone to start bringing your own bags again. And don’t stop at the grocery store. You can bring your own bags anywhere you shop! Target, the mall, the .99 cents store: it’s all good and helpful.

And that’s all, folks! You see, contributing to the well-being of our planet doesn’t have to be something grand and large-scale. It really boils down to being thoughtful. When we take the time to think and learn about our actions and how they affect the whole, we can become creative and helpful. As humans, we have big brains completely primed to learn and adapt, but many of us forget that and become enslaved to our habits and reactions. Often, we don’t like change and stick to our old ways of doing things even when they become outdated. We cannot change when we are hindered by close-mindedness, so an opening to different ways of being and acting is at the crux of the issue. If the only thing you start to do today is think more about the effects of your actions, I know you will make some progress towards the goal of a happy, healthy, and peaceful planet. Happy Earth Month-Year-Life!

Check out our other blog posts on sustainability:

- 5 Tips For Spring Decluttering

- 5 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

- Sustainable Living