Hey! It’s Earth Day!

While we are all very preoccupied with our skin (including me), we need to remember that making conscious choices is not only important for our us as individuals but also our ailing planet.

But the good news is that what’s good for us is also good for her!

By cutting way down on processed food and its packaging, minimizing commercial beauty products, getting outdoors to connect with her, and becoming more aware of the crooked policies and practices of those in charge of our countries, systems, and large corporate businesses, she is only going to benefit.

An extra step that I think is incredibly important in the fight for our planet it to start supporting local, small-scale farming.

There is a popular idea that becoming vegetarian will solve our problems, because the grain fed to animals could be fed to humans. Yes, I do think the planet could benefit from absolving factory farming, but I disagree that meat as a whole should have the finger pointed at it.

It doesn’t matter whether commercial farmland is used to grow animals or crops – the fact is that mono-cropped, synthetic agriculture is destructive to us and the planet. I strongly believe that the answer is not cutting out food groups, but by growing, eating, and buying local food that is farmed in a sustainable way (and that can include meat!).

The benefits are immense! Not only is the food fresh, (mostly) organic, and nutritious, but you are cutting down on transportation of that food, supporting your local economy, and fostering sustainability.

Luckily this idea is catching on and it’s pretty “hip” these days to be into the organic, backyard farming movement! Despite its trendiness, it’s a serious step in the right direction.

So please! My number one tip is this:

Grow a garden this summer and visit your local farms and farmers’ markets!

What else can you do to help the planet?

  1. Walk or cycle to work or school. You ditch your car for a bit, save some money on gas or bus fare, and you get that elusive fresh air and exercise to boot!
  2. Obviously continue to recycle. But as discouraging as it is, recycling doesn’t always do everything we hope it will – a lot of it still ends up in the landfill! So it is simply better to just be conscious and consume things with less packaging, or think if you can reuse it in some way (starting seedlings for your garden maybe?).
  3. If you don’t have a compost pile in your backyard, see if you can start one. You can then use that compost to fertilize your garden.
  4. Head to the thrift store. I only buy second hand clothing because… well, I’m thrifty, but also because I’m not directly contributing to consumerism. It’s recycling.
  5. We’re now being very careful with what we put in and on our bodies, but we also need to be careful of what we’re cleaning our houses with. Synthetic cleaning products end up in our ecosystems, so see if you can get biodegradable, natural cleaning products and soaps.
  6. Turn down the shower temperature a notch and keep it short (or shower less frequently!). This will help your skin and the planet!
  7. Sorry to bring politics into this, but if you’re Canadian, please vote Stephen Harper out of government this coming election (May 2nd, have you registered to vote yet?). He is not a friend of the environment, the planet, or human beings. Did you know that Canada is one of the biggest polluters in the world and seriously violating our climate change agreements? Let’s stop being global assholes!

Alright, get out there and go green 🙂

What are you going to do to help save the planet?