Let’s celebrate Earth Day

Hi there everyone! 

I know that Earth Day is technically tomorrow, but I couldn’t go through the month of April and not do a post for it so today is going to be my Earth day post.

Earth day is the chance for us to celebrate and appreciate the incredible planet that we live on, and all of the wonderful aspects of it. Unfortunately this year’s Earth Day celebration is a little bittersweet for me. Not because of anything hugely dramatic, but because over the last year or so I have gotten more and more involved in wildlife conservation and the climate crisis and it’s just made me so sad about all the damage we are continually doing to our beautiful planet instead of celebrating it. 

I’ve been on a bit of a journey to become more eco-friendly over the last year in particular. It’s been a challenge, I won’t lie, but it’s been one of the more fun and inspiring challenges I’ve ever done. Unlike my weightloss challenge which is still ongoing and at times more than frustrating, this one just feels right. I’ve pitched as much single-use plastic in my life as possible, walk everywhere I can or if I need to drive, I carpool with others. I’ve limited my water usage, switched to more sustainable stores and products and even had a vegetarian week, which I will talk about at a later stage. All in  all, it’s been an adventure but it’s one I’ve enjoyed.

A friend asked me though why I insist on doing all of this, and why I talk about it on my blog considering society makes it so difficult to commit to these changes. Free-range or local produce and healthy food tends to be more expensive, being eco-friendly can also be less convenient, and at the end of the day, you know that what you are doing is not going to save the planet. So why on earth do I do it? Well, as  I explained to them, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t have a huge impact, because it makes an impact on me. 

As much as it may not be slowing down the rate of deforestation, ocean pollution or species loss, I know that I am doing what I can to try and be as earth-friendly as possible and it may not be much, but it’s still something. I think the key thing that I’ve learnt is it doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing – it matters what you do and so long as I keep trying to be as eco-friendly as possible and do what I can to support wildlife conservation etc, I know that I’m at least doing what is in my power. Plus, I know that by sharing my story and trying to make a change in myself, I can maybe inspire just one other person to make a positive change too. And who knows maybe that will inspire someone else, and someone else, and then just like dominoes, everything else falls into place too.

This whole idea reminded me of the lesson we all learn as kids – treat others the way you want to be treated. With that logic, behave the way you wish others would behave. That’s why I keep writing about my little monthly challenges, and try to share eco-friendly tips and why I still try to do everything I can because if I want others to change, I first need to be willing to change myself. I’m also hoping that I can inspire others to change, and if everyone does their small part, and influences one other person, a trickle will become a roar and we can all come together to save our beautiful planet. 

Now I know that this is very naive – of course there are huge, fundamental changes that need to be made within our society if we want this to have any real effect. However, I sadly can’t do anything about creating a carbon tax, or fishing vast amounts of plastic out of the ocean. I can however, use less plastic myself, sign petitions and do everything in my power to be earth-friendly. And when enough of us do this, we can create the pressure to make greater changes. 

So, before signing off, I wanted to say a huge thank you to our amazing planet for how incredible it is. We definitely take you for granted, but literally nothing would be the way it is without you. I am so grateful to have such a beautiful place to live and I am reminded of that every time I go to the bush and can see a patch of wildlife that we have chosen to protect. Now we just need to do more of that. 

Happy Earth Day for tomorrow everyone!! And for Earth day, I challenge you all to try this Earth Day challenge with me – how many have you done today, and how many can you do before the end of the month? Let’s see! 

Also, how are you celebrating Earth Day? Are you doing anything eco-friendly? What is one thing you absolutely love about our planet or nature or wildlife, or what is one thing you are grateful for this Earth Day? Let’s chat in the comments section! 

Lots of love

Blondey on a Mission xxx