Your Earth Day Wake Up Call:
Citizens of Planet Earth, This is an Emergency!
– by Donnalyn Murphy
If someone from another planet asked you what Earth Day was all about, what would you say?
Perhaps you say something typical like, “It’s a chance to reflect upon all on the gifts we receive from our planet and to show our appreciation.” (yawn)
Would that alien visitor then think, “Wow, that’s really nice!” or “Wow, that’s really twisted!“?
Showing appreciation is certainly very nice and all, but when it comes to things we depend on for our very survival, shouldn’t appreciation and respect in regards to the Earth be just common place, every day, naturally occurring, guiding principles, and something we shouldn’t need to be told to do?
Yep! But evidently, that’s not the case.
Citizens of Planet Earth, This Is An Emergency!
Citizens of Planet Earth, we have become way too big for our britches! We have become a Smarty-Pants population that thinks new trumps traditional without exception, like a bunch of badly behaved teenagers who think their grandparents’ ideas are nuts. We truly think we can out smart everything and everyone and we cheer each other on with each new discovery.
Technology is great, but in some areas of life, onward and upward is the wrong direction. Just because a farmer can raise more animals at the same time than any other farmer before him doesn’t make it a good idea. Just because another farmer can grow a crop that bugs don’t find tasty doesn’t make it a good idea. A drug that handles problem x but causes problem y isn’t a good idea. Berries or seafood that cost way less than they should aren’t really a bargain. We need to think of the true cost of things like these to our health, and the health of our planet, before we applaud ourselves for our so-called ingenuity and mastery over life on this beloved planet that we inhabit.
Show The Earth How Much You Care!
If we dropped our arrogance long enough to ask our dear Mother Earth what she’d like for her special day, she’d probably say a break because she’s running out of patience and resources with which to clean up our many messes. So, ask yourself again, how do you wish you could describe Earth Day to the alien visitor or to that little face that looks up to you for guidance? What will you do on Earth Day, April 22, 2012 to help our struggling planet?
Of course, Activity number 1 should be saying, “Hey, Houston, we have a problem.” Recognition and acknowledgement is the first step. We’ve all contributed to his problem on some level or another, and so we should all help solve it. But, too many assume any activity on their part couldn’t possibly be part of a solution capable of amounting to anything. They resign themselves to the status quo, assuming the problem is “just too big”. That attitude is at least a litter better than some of the attitudes of others, which is to assume the next big discovery can handle any problems we are now experiencing so they needn’t worry.
What would you be proud to say you are doing this Earth Day, and every day, to take your share of the burden off the shoulders of Mother Earth? There are so many activities to choose from.
What Can You Do For The Earth?
One of my children said we should drive our vehicles less. Another said we should pay more attention to the cleanliness of our lakes, rivers and streams. My husband said people should turn off their lights when not in use. Perhaps that was because he had just seen our last hydro bill. Regardless, all are great ideas.
In my work as a Health Coach, I delight in helping clients discover a healthier, happier version of themselves and I always start with food. Food affects mood – both yours and Mother Earth’s. Perhaps she’d realize you were on her side if you committed to showing her some love via your food choices. One way to do this could be to commit to Meatless Mondays, for example.
According to Earthsave International, the true price of every pound of hamburger consumed is 12 pounds of grain, 55 square feet of rainforest and 2,500 gallons of water. Even if you find this hard to believe, you can’t deny that there would be a positive impact on our planet if we would lay off the burger, and all other animal products, for a day. Just one day. Even better would be just one day a week.
Oh The Horror! What Would We Eat? Just Plants?
Yep, just plants. But you can do even more!
I discovered a product that means my plan for Earth Day can go even further. It can enable me to be a true local-vore for Earth Day, or any day for that matter, even though I live in Canada and even though Earth Day isn’t celebrated during what we typically think of as harvest time in Canada. I may need to invent a new word, however, that means eating just what grows locally, and by locally I mean eating what grows on your own property. So maybe the term should be home-grown-ivore? No matter what it’s called, Mother Earth will surely feel the love!
That’s a nice thought. Not so nice is the fact that I’m celebrating this opportunity to thumb my nose at the gas companies, since my locally home grown garden produce will no longer have added transportation costs. For far too long, and totally unnecessarily, those companies have been thumbing their noses at us. They have been charging us insane prices and laughing all the way to the bank, while ruining our planet and making us pay for their arrogance in ways too numerous to count.
Be A Home-Grown-Ivore: Grow A Garden!
To see how I plan to be a home-grown-ivore, perhaps you’d like to visit a restaurant called Bell Book and Candle if you’re in New York City. Enjoy the freshest restaurant salad you have ever had. They pick the ingredients from their garden on the roof and you eat it! Maybe your travel plans include a stopover at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. There you could marvel at and sample the “growth” between terminals 2 and 3.
Or, you could check out the video links HERE. Learn how you, too, can, easily and inexpensively enjoy the delicious bounty of a patented, aeroponic, vertical, growing system, with both home and commercially applications, called a Tower Garden!
Even those without a tinge of green on their thumb can produce food in half the time of conventional gardening methods, using only 5 percent of the usual nutrient and water requirements – all of which is recycled within this closed, green and highly efficient system. In just a 2.5′ x 2.5′ footprint, one can grow 20 to 44 plants making a Tower Garden ideal for any size yard, balcony or indoor space, and an affordable and effective way to feed your family healthier, herbicide-free food.
Take a significant step towards giving Mother Earth what she’d really like for Earth Day – this year and every year. I wonder what she’d be inspired to do in return for us, given that this would free up so much of her energy. I also wonder if that alien would then marvel at our collective resourcefulness as we take this giant step toward solving the problems our lifestyle created, and conclude that we are a very wise species indeed!
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How do you celebrate Earth Day? What do you already do on a regular basis for the Earth’s well-being? …What else can you do?
Please leave a comment below and share! Hopefully your actions as reflected in your comments will encourage others to do the same!
Happy Earth Day!
About Donnalyn Murphy
Donnalyn Murphy, B.A., B.Ed., CHC, AADP, Health Coach, Teacher, Founder of Body & Soul Health Coaching & former Very-Sick-Person, LOVES to work with motivated people wishing to explore, or adopt, a whole-foods, plant-based lifestyle, to improve their health and happiness, and/or that of our planet, perhaps also with the goal of raising healthier, happier children, who are ready to examine all aspects of their life.
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