When you’re out buying groceries for the week, or cleaning your house, cooking a meal, driving your car, and tending to your plants or pets, do you ever wonder if you’re making a difference? Do you ask yourself;

• “What I do isn’t going to make a difference…”
• “One person can’t change the whole world…”
• “We’re too far into this mess, it can’t be fixed now…”
• “What’s the point in trying?”

You are not alone. In fact, I’ve talked to so many people about their experience and perspective on the litter and trash, and of course the packaging concerns. Each person has at least one of these perspectives, and for a good reason. But if you’re wondering how you can be part of the solution to really help our planet, keep reading.

In this post, I’m going to share with you 10 simple ways YOU can make a BIG impact and help heal the earth.

First, let’s just break down why those perceptions and perspectives are so common. The amount of pollution that’s happening around the world is too much content for one post, so we will focus on just a couple of subjects, then get to those awesome tips I told you about. First, we need to understand that the Earth does need healing, and here’s one reason why: the amount of trash polluting Earth!

In reality, the amount of trash in our world is incomprehensible, we cannot imagine it, and we cannot even calculate the full amount. I can’t even guess the amount because in my mind, we could fill Lake Michigan and still have more. But if you know a rough idea of how much garbage pollution there is in the world, please let us know in the comments below!

There is garbage littered, piled, buried, and drifting around the world, and once you start really paying attention, you might notice that it’s everywhere. It’s hard to NOT see plastic. And it’s easy to get discouraged and feel like the situation is hopeless. The question I keep asking myself is this, how has humanity done so much damage with something as “simple” as plastic?

Like I said, it’s so easy to think that this is a hopeless cause. But it isn’t. And we cannot afford to give up taking care of what we can. There’s a word for that, do you know it?

Stewardship? Yes, you nailed it!

One of our roles as humans is to take care of our lands, to govern it with care. If you begin to think of this Earth as your own yard, you would treat it differently. You wouldn’t want someone coming into your yard and opening their garbage bag and dumping it out, leaving it to rot and stink, would you? Well, that’s what we’re doing constantly, and that is quite literally happening around the world. Garbage is being exported from countries, and imported to other countries, usually poorer countries, and they’re overwhelmed in our bags of trash.

And I know what you’re probably thinking, “Responsibility? I really don’t want any of that responsibility.” But this is a great thing! Don’t be afraid to take ownership of this Earth, take ownership in this land. Because whether you like it or not, you will be living here for the rest of your life. And what’s more, your children will be growing up in what you leave behind. So, as my parents used to tell me, I’m now going to tell you, “leave it better than when you first came”.

 

Inspiring Leaders of Our Planet

But let’s be real, it can be really difficult to know WHAT and HOW to make a positive difference. We need better solutions. So what can we do right now?

This is a lot to take in, and to be honest, you’re not even seeing a fraction of what’s happening globally. But the great news is that the cleanup isn’t unreachable!

There are many people stepping up to be good stewards of our planet, and we can learn from them, be inspired by what they’re doing, and share their story so others can benefit, too.

Here is a great example of a team that makes this massive cleanup achievable. If you haven’t heard of The Ocean Cleanup, they’re a huge inspiration to me and I encourage you to check them out and support what they’re doing. They are on a mission to clean the ocean and rivers of trash, and their efforts to clean up what seems impossible just motivates me to do more. I hope it does for you, too.

It’s also great to see the growing demand for better-for-our-planet products, and consumers are starting to take notice of the impact of their purchase.

Biodegradable products and items made with natural elements are becoming more popular and more accessible, which is really great news. And the more conversations I have with people about garbage/litter pollution, almost all are frustrated with the amount of trash littered everywhere, and they should be! It’s unpleasant to look at, and it’s really bad for the environment. We all want something better for our own lives, our children’s lives, our community, and the Earth, don’t we? We all want to be part of the solution and positive change.

10 Simple Ways You Can Heal The Earth

Here are 10 quick and easy tips that you can apply right away and know that you’re taking powerful steps to heal our planet. I know you can pick at least ONE item off the list below to commit to as a lifestyle change. But, can I challenge you to do at least 5? I believe in you! I’d love to hear from you in the comments below if you already do some of these, if you’re going to (or don’t want to..?), and if you have more tips!

1. Buy used or sustainable products as often as possible
2. Bring your own bags when shopping, or use biodegradable
3. Stop buying individual plastic bottled drinks. If you do buy them, make sure to dispose of them correctly. Use reusable mugs and water bottles at home and when you purchase beverages from restaurants
4. Stop using plastic straws wherever you go. Buy reusable straws instead
5. Stop buying individually packaged goods. Buy in bulk when you can
6. Use reusable containers to make individual servings, snacks, and meals
7. Give up gum (or find plastic free gum). Yep, you read that right. Most gum is made from synthetic rubber. That is plastic!!
8. Use matches or stainless steel refillable lighters instead of plastic lighters
9. Use a razor with replaceable blades instead of disposable razors
10. Avoid plastic packaging whenever possible, including cardboard lined with plastic
11. Avoid single use plastics, or individually packaged items as much as possible
12. Make your own cleaning products, it is easier, less toxic, and cheaper, and you will not need multiple plastic bottles of cleaner

Bonus Tip For Parents:

Use cloth diapers to reduce your baby’s pollution contribution, and save money.

DID YOU KNOW? The EPA estimates that 7.6 billion pounds of disposable diapers are discarded in the US each year. Yikes!

Conclusion

You can make a difference, you have a lot more power than you think you do, and you’re capable and able. These words are starting to feel overused, but we need it now more than ever…

Reuse
Reclaim
Recycle
Reduce
Refuse

Our planet is suffocating because of what humanity has done, it’s time to take ownership and it is up to us to help the Earth heal.

Here is my final tip:

Just do something. Whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Do something!

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Our goal is to share what we find so you can feel and be empowered to make BIG impact.