Day 349 of 365
Today is Earth Day. I love Earth Day. Of course I wish Earth Day was every day, but we’re a long way from that, I’m afraid. Still, I am thankful that some of us are aware and trying to do things to help the dire situation we find ourselves in. I have had some people point out to me that events like Earth Day tend to focus more on the things individuals can do to help the planet, but the big changes needed will need to come from the government level. We need big things to happen. We need regulation and support and some money at the global level to help make shifts in our global economies happen more quickly and less painfully. I get this.
However, trying to do things myself, at the individual level, at least makes me feel useful, and that seems important too.
I grew up in a throw-away culture. It was a bigger-is-better culture. It was a consumerism-is-a-fun-activity kind of culture. I threw away food. I bought way too many things made of plastic. I was not nearly careful enough with water conservation. It has taken me decades to shed some of this thinking and these habits, and I still wish to do better.
Every Earth Day, I try make one little goal I can meet in the year to do better and make my footprint on this beautiful planet a little smaller. My goal for this year is to set up a clothes line in our yard and use it to dry our clothes in the spring, summer, and fall. I have always been hesitant on this issue because my autism makes me really sensitive to textures in my clothing. Line-dried clothing always felt “crunchy” to me, but I researched it and am hopeful there are solutions. I will have to write more and let you know if what I read about works.
In the meantime, I am just thankful for such a beautiful place to live. Maine is such a magnificent state. I love our trees. I recently researched an article I wrote for a local magazine about Maine’s forests, and I learned that Maine is the most forested state in the U.S. and these forests sequester nearly 70% of the carbon emissions from our state. How wonderful is that?
Wherever you are, I hope there is beautiful nature somewhere near you and you get to enjoy it often. And here’s a picture of some of Ron’s beautiful organic seedlings that he is “hardening off” before they go into the garden. Aren’t these beautiful babies?
Happy Earth Day!
Farmer-ish 