The Earth Needs You.
here’s where to start
This post was written by Community Partner, freelance writer and conscious living advocate, Jennifer Sy.
Across our busy lives, there comes a moment when we realize our fractured relationship with the planet. For some, it could be coming across an apparently pristine sea for the first time, only to look closer and notice the rubbish and oil slicks lapping up along the shore.
Most of us have seen the curved planet from a plane window, viewing mountains and famous sights below, that when you get up close, are broken wastelands. And, for a lucky few, astronauts have looked down at Earth from on-high and seen the tiny fragility of the blue pearl.
Whatever the moment, realising the Earth is in peril now, and it is up to all of us to do something about it is a personally defining moment. Here are five ways you can help in the battle to save the planet.
Address the Water Crisis
While our planet might be 71% covered in water, it remains a perilously precious resource that humanity is toxifying, polluting and littering. Supporting causes like The Ocean Cleanup project helps clean up rivers, preventing rubbish from reaching the sea, while also scaling up its efforts to tackle blights like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
At a closer-to-home level, solving the clean water crisis is a challenge we can all rise to. Using less water at home, adding water butts for the garden or allotment, and minimising water waste is a strong first step in helping preserve this resource.
Finally, education is vital, for family, businesses, social groups and in generating political pressure. Learning about issues like microplastics, forever waste, vanishing water resources and events like the Flint pollution scandal, all help us understand the planet better.
Get in Touch With Inner You and Inner Earth
Our hectic, screen-dominated. always-on-the-go lives leave little time for most people to literally stop and smell the roses.
Taking country or urban walks helps us see where nature can maintain our sense of balance, where the damage is being done to our planet, and the small steps we can take to help it. From encounters with wildlife to learning about local birds, and rare or common plants, developing a sense of nature’s place around you helps us value it more.
Beyond walks, yoga and mindfulness classes can help you take the time to uncover an inner sense of worth, and, if you are so inclined, to hear the planet as it revolves through space, a tiny speck in the solar system, but one teeming with life.
If you’re lucky enough you might want to venture underground and see the Earth’s internal mechanisms in action. From crystal caves to deep salt mines and submerged caverns, these amazing sights help give a sense of wonder and perspective on the nature of our planet.
Bring Some Green Into the World
Plants are the oxygen-creating engine of this planet, and many homes or businesses are bereft of these little (or large) delights. Adding greenery to your personal environment will also help the bigger environmental picture, and plants can tell us if that environment is healthy or in a poor state.
From skyscraper apartments to shopping malls, every place should have an area that has some greenery to help us relax in, to give us something to look after, creating a connection to nature no matter how much steel and glass surrounds it.
Pretty plants help us feel better, can reduce stress, give lonely people something to talk to, and can improve the air quality around us. Productive fruit and vegetable plants help you become aware of the growth cycle, provide food and treats, and can help develop an understanding of the mass-produced nature of most foods we see in stores.
If you want to make a further change for the better, you can ditch the grocery store and find farmers’ markets, organic local sellers and other producers who hold the planet to a higher standard than your typical corner store.
From micro to vertical gardens, there are many ways to fit plants into your home or office life. From near-indestructible hardy air plants and aloe vera, to delicate flora, there is something for every space.
Get Out There and Fight for the Planet
Individual efforts, while noble, can only get you so far. Fortunately, there are many groups and movements taking steps to improve our relationship with Earth. From local clean-up initiatives to protesting against environmentally unfriendly projects, there is always something going on at the local or regional level that people can get involved with.
Not only do these put you in touch with like-minded people, building new social relations, they can help people fighting for our planet feel that they are not alone. That there are successes, no matter how anti-green and pro-pollution the mainstream media is turning.
Understand the Science of Ecology and Beyond
Education doesn’t need to stop when you leave school or college. Learning about the details of science and nature, through articles, documentaries or courses help improve knowledge and make us better advocates for the planet.
Being able to back-up an argument or decision with facts puts you in a better place to respect and defend the planet. While learning the science behind nature, human impact on it, and how to improve the situation in the future all create a drive to change for the better.
You don’t have to be an eminent Doctor with a TV show to convince your local friends, politicians, decision makers and influencers. Simply knowing the facts and the value of change for the better can give you influence and power way beyond what most people believe they are capable of.
Conclusion
However you want to get in touch with the planet, there is always a get involved at the individual, local or higher level. And while the Earth might not be able to talk back, any signs of improvement and a better world will be visible to you, and the sign that your efforts are helping our relationship with the Earth.