Today is Earth Day - the 53rd annual Earth Day. This special day was created in 2015 by Wisconsin Senator, Gaylord Nelson as a day to promote awareness about air and water pollution. Why is it always on April 22nd, you may ask. Well, the creators thought it would be the best day to bring University students together, since it falls between spring break and exams. But now Earth Day is celebrated by people of all ages. My nieces in grade school made posters and presented talks about what Earth Day means to them. It's a popular cause for all schools to participate in.
Anita Vandyke has written a series of books, including A ZERO WASTE LIFE and A ZERO WASTE FAMILY (ApolloPublishers) of practical guides to improving our lives and our impact on the world. She believes all of us have the power to reduce our waste by 80% in thirty days - without changing our lifestyle. It allows us to focus on things that matter most: family, community and the environment we all share.
Did you know:
1. Shoppers worldwide use 500 billion single-use plastic bags per year. That's a million bags per minute across the globe.
2. Every piece of plastic created since the 1950s still exists.
3. At least 2/3rds of the world's fish population is suffering from plastic ingestion. Think that doesn't affect us? We eat fish and drink the water that we are dumping plastic into.
4. And plastics are made of petrochemicals that get into our waterways and enter our food chain.
https://plasticpollutioncoalition.org
Anita Vandyke believes that by incorporating thirty simple rules into our lives, one day at a time, over one month, each of us will have better tools for tackling and making more ethical choices, when it comes to shopping, eating, travel, beauty and more.
So here are a few things you can do to eliminate waste in your life now.
1. Put yourself on a spending ban. Don't buy stuff you don't need.
2. Bring your own reusable bags when you go shopping.
3. Invest in a reusable stainless steel or glass drink bottle. Buy a reusable straw and coffee cup.
4. Donate and recycle your clothing. Learn how to upcycle, recycle, donate and mindfully dispose of clothing.
5. Never buy a paper towel again. Use old cotton washcloths and t-shirts. Use rags until they get dirty and then pop them into the washing machine.
How do you start? The answer is you can't do it all at once. Just take another look at the list and try incorporating one change into your life.
We'll become caretakers of the only planet we call home. We are all into this together.
ANITA'S THOUGHTS
Minimalism and zero waste living transformed my life. After a couple of years of soul searching and stripping away the layers of excess, I have finally found work that is in alignment with my true self.
I quit my corporate job, went back to university to study Medicine and started an Instagram account (@rochket_science). My Instagram account documented my minimalist and zero waste journey and was a creative outlet for my engineering mind to find solutions to plastic waste. It grew and grew - which lead to the formation of this website.
I don't have all the answers to living a 100% zero waste life, but 'zero' is just a number. It's a goal, nothing more. I believe we can all
be every day activists and do little steps to reduce our waste.
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