9 Easy Ways To Recommit To The Planet On Earth Day (For Tired Parents, Professionals, And Other Busy People)

When I was a kid, maybe 5 or so, a woman came to our classroom to talk about Earth Day and how we could save the planet. “Save the planet,” she said, because the planet has basically needed saving my entire life. It’s kind of sad, but at the same time, it was pretty neat to be in Kindergarten and feel like I could really make a difference in the world. She gave us some info on ways we could help the Earth. They kind of read like this Pusheen comic:

It…really didn’t seem too difficult. Except when I went home that day to ask my mom if we recycled, she said we didn’t. Our neighborhood didn’t have a recycling program back then so we didn’t have much of an option, except maybe to sort out our trash and then go on a bus to where ever the nearest recycling center was (my guess is there wasn’t one anywhere near us) and drop it off there, and then take the (very unreliable) bus back home.

I think I tried to get my mom to turn the water off in the shower while she shampooed her hair (as we were advised to do) but that didn’t really work.

Still, I spent most of my childhood and some teen years still feeling like I needed to make a difference. I did my best to remember to turn off lights and not be wasteful. I did this until I reached adulthood (say, my twenty-something years) when I started to fall into the trap of too-lazy-too-busy-too-tired to care. It happens to many of us.

It happens when we become too heavily involved in our careers and have little time for anything that isn’t responding to fifty e-mails and putting out fires and going to networking events and keeping up with the damn joneses.

It happens when we become parents and know full well that while in our heart of hearts we’d love to be the cloth diapering type of mom who has time to hand wash the poop out of all her kid’s diapers, there’s just no way in hell we can do that and actually feed my kid daily AND play with them AND read to them AND bathe them on a regular basis AND somehow still have 5 minutes for ourselves.

It happens for so many reasons. It’s happened to me. Where I used to always make sure to turn off lights when leaving a room, I now find all the lights in the downstairs part of the house still on when I randomly wake up at 6am. I find myself spacing out while brushing my teeth and letting the water run because my brain is playing a tennis match between the SuperWhy theme song and a list of all my writing deadlines. Basically:

But that doesn’t mean we’re off the hook.

We still need to make some commitments to the planet. It’s our home, after all. And while I don’t think I’ve ever called myself an ecofeminist, I do believe feminism and environmentalism go hand in hand (especially when the negative effects of pollution and other environmental disasters is routinely felt more by women and minorities). So if you stumbled upon my page looking for some other fab feminist lifestyle content, guess what? This is a part of it!

All that said, here are a few pretty simple ways I’m committing to the environment that you might want to implement in your own busy life as well:

Buy A Reusable Water Bottle

There are SO MANY REASONS not to use plastic water bottles. Yet I live in a household that is frequently stocking up due to the poor water quality in our area. Still, I can change this bad habit by either buying a water filter (or filter pitcher) and/or at the very least, buying larger gallon-sized water jugs rather than those individual 16 oz. bottles and already begin making a difference. So first thing’s first: I’m buying a damn reusable water bottle.

Use The Dishwasher–But Only When It’s Full 

I actually always do this, but I need to try and make sure everyone else does it as well as others in my household sometimes run it when it’s only partly full. If you’ve got kids helping you with this task, remind them to do the same!

Recycle More Effectively

While we currently have a recycling bin and a garbage bin outside our home, we have no way of sorting it inside the home, which causes everyone to eventually just mix the two together. So I’ve got another purchase on my list: buy a recycling container for inside the home. At the very least for the paper, plastic, and glass in the house (side note: check your local recycling program for info on what can be recycled. For example, I just now realized that they recycle plastic bottles but without the tops. Good to know!)

Drive Less

For one thing, driving less means spending less money on gas, car repairs, tolls, etc. But that’s not the only reason why we should drive less and use other means (like carpooling, biking, walking, and using public transit) more. For every gallon your car or truck uses, your vehicle will emit about 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases. That’s…a lot. We live in an area that’s hard to get around without a car (not only because of lack of public transit but also extreme heat and way more mosquitoes than is safe for a toddler to be around at certain times of day/night) but that doesn’t mean I can’t find more ways to reduce the number of trips I make and/or carpool or walk to my nearby grocery store. Plus, it’ll help me stay (get?) fit.

Stay Veg

I’ve been a vegetarian for more than half my life now (about 16 years or so). It’s pretty great and I don’t really miss meat (I only wish I had more options at most places). If you ever needed another reason to go meat free (even if it’s only once or twice a week), helping the environment is a good one. And while some might argue that broccoli can be as bad as beef on a calorie by calorie comparison of environmental damage, if you grow your own (or live in an area where you can buy it locally/seasonally), then you’re still doing much better. And things like beans and lentils and peanut butter are still always a better choice.

Go On An #EmptiesChallenge

There are certain items we use that we have a tendency to waste. Beauty products, for one. That’s why there’s something called an empties challenge, where you basically tell yourself you won’t be buying any more new products (like eye shadow or face cream or even shampoo and toothpaste) until you’ve completely finished off what you had before. It’s also a great money saving challenge. And once you’re done, you can make sure to only buy new eco-friendly beauty products instead. Hell, and if you’re a fellow writer/blogger, you can even blog about them.

And Look Into Other more sustainable purchases

They make plenty of paper products from recycled materials, so why not buy some? But why leave it at that? As a mensturating person, I know I tend to buy (and throw out) a lot of pads and tampons, which basically sucks. But I have been toying with the idea of going a bit greener on my period purchases (like getting reusable cloth pads or period panties, or possibly even a menstrual cup).

Bring My Reusable Shopping Bags To The Store

Do it! They sell some pretty cute ones and they make carrying all your goodies into the house (while holding a toddler) a hell of a lot easier. Plus, you get like… $0.25 back if you do this at Whole Foods (lol…I know).

Create Reminders To Turn Off Lights, Etc. When Not In Use

To start this habit, I think I’m going to grab a pack of post-its and a sharpie and stick them around the house. Then maybe my husband will also begin to take the hint to turn off lights when they’re not in use. Same thing for the water faucet. These changes may not happen overnight, but with a little prompting, they just might reduce our light bill and our negative impact on our beautiful planet.

What are some ways you’ll be re-committing to the environment this year? Leave your ideas in the comments below!