“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” '

-Confucius

I think a lot about how to make environmental responsibility a fun thing. How to gently push people towards ways of life that are sustainable and beautiful, while also avoiding the plague of guilt and fear I personally feel for the current fate of our home planet and my role within it. The problems we currently face are daunting. We are participating in a rapid population growth, causing a massive resource demand, resulting in stress on our home planet and what is available. The hows, whys, and who’s that we will have to consult in the near future are big questions that I feel helpless to in the face of such extremity. What I am ready for is telling you some fun/easy/successful ways to create a lifestyle that plays a healthy role within our communities. When we begin to demand beauty, we find strange joy creeping up and forcing us to be better people. SO

Without further ado, here we go:

1. Invest in a cute/comfortable bike that you actually want to ride

   If you buy a bike you like, you’ll ride the bike. It actually is that simple. Some of us buy bikes because ‘we think we should,’ and because of that, end up begrudgingly riding around on something we mostly resent. This sends conflicting signals to our brain about how what is ‘good’ is also ‘painful and challenging.’ Riding a bike is one very huge way to positively impact the environment. It is worth waiting for a bike that is both comfortable and within your price range, so that you actually want to ride it.

2. Find a reusable shopping bag that makes you want to carry it

   Again, when we invest in something that brings us joy to look at, we end up using it more. We want to use it more. My bag dons a large slogan, ‘This is the bag I always forget to take shopping.’ It makes me giggle every time I’m in the store, walking around with such irony. It genuinely brings me joy to bring it with me. The point is, that when we find the bag that speaks to us, we think about it more often. Hanging out with that bag, and that bike, soon become habits that feel good simply because we are creatures that want to feel good. The problem with plastic bags isn’t necessarily the plastic itself, but the concept of being okay with material items being manufactured for ONE use. Years of resources, energy and time poured into a thing that lives for ONE specific purpose, and then does not die and return to earth.

3. Sit Down for your Coffee

   Learn to take your time doing things. There isn’t hard and fast science behind the benefits of going to a cafe, but after 8 years of working in the coffee industry, I am sure that there is some deep biological reasoning behind our drive to drink coffee with friends in public. I believe in connection, especially in public places where we are able to pause together. I believe in the the catch-up potential that we have in cafes to connect with our communities, selves, and what we have to do that day. When we take our drinks to go, we send ourselves a signal that ‘I don’t have time to enjoy this right now.’ You have time. Make yourself time. You will feel more fulfilled about the 5$ you just spent when you have spent TIME with the coffee and/or another human.

4. Say No to Single Use

   It isn’t the plastic, it isn’t the paper cup, it isn’t you… it’s an idea that we have accepted as normal; that it is okay to take finite resources and create products that serve only one purpose. We go through great lengths to be more earth-friendly… driving our electric cars, eating vegan, not eating red-meat, not buying plastic, only shopping at small local businesses… etc. but we disconnect from the reality that our society has built itself up on mass-consumption. We consume (even good things) with such fervor and desperation, that we have become victims of convenience and disconnected from the origins of our products. We have become okay with some materials serving only one purpose, and then returning to the ‘trash’ where they will not turn back into earth in any foreseeable future. Simply re-focusing our attention on products that are versatile, durable, and made to last, grants an appreciation for the energy, time, and resources it takes to create things.

5. Have Dinner With Your Friends

   Its fun. Its affordable. Its easy. It gives us a sense of appreciation for the preparation of our food. I could say a lot more about this one, but mostly… just do it. You’ll thank me, your wallet will thank me, your appreciation for the people who feed you will thank me. The benefits are immense. The connection is key. The food we eat turns into our bodies. Need I say more?

6. Cook Your Own Food

   Piggybacking off my last point, cooking our own food allows us to see what goes into our food. Understanding processes is a key part of changing our perspective. Simply understanding how difficult some things are, allows us the grace to thank the people who are putting in the elbow grease, and going the extra mile with their care and attention. Cooking our food is an immediate connection between plants and our bodies. When you cook, aim for beauty. Beauty of flavors. Beauty of produce. Beauty of presentation. When we demand beauty, we demand quality, and we demand ourselves to pay attention. Are you catching on to the most important part of change?

7. Pay Attention

   Couldn’t be that simple, could it? Yep. Paying attention is the most fool-proof way to get deep into the earth saving quickly. Let yourself be astonished and amazed by things. Wonder at where your coffee comes from, how your friend keeps themselves together, what caused your parents to fall in love, how the earth produces enough food for all of us (and doesn’t), and how incredible it is that you have a screen that can send my words into your eyeballs. There isn’t a ‘right’ way to live. Each person is responsible for learning about their home, their place, and their role within it. How to consume and then replenish their environment and resources so that it continue to provide for all of us. Paying attention allows us to see the niches we fit into, and then how to do it with such grace and style that we WANT to stay there.

8. Listen to the Kids

   Our children haven’t been logicked in to ‘how the world works’ yet. Their blunt, ‘BUT WHY?’ is a ticket into our own understanding of the earth. Kids are naturally inclined towards the miracles and magic that surround us. They don’t have the shields of whether or not something is cool, yet, and because of this are able to see how things are. Ask a kid about why they think something is a certain way, and I guarantee you their answer will be more interesting than yours. Let their answers carry weight, and carry them into your life. Maybe the sky is blue because it wanted to match the sea. Maybe watermelons do grow in our stomachs if we swallow the seeds. Maybe two people can love each other forever, if they find the right matching socks. The weird and wonderful parts of life are what keep us alive and curious. Don’t settle for the comfort and mediocrity of absolute answers. Demand beauty in explanations, and allow room for creative freedom. Your life will be much more interesting, and you’ll also want to slow down to breathe it all in.

As you can see from the list, saving the earth isn’t a one-way street. It isn’t about spending lots of money on ‘organic’ ‘green’ ‘natural’ etc… Marketing has found its way into ‘good’ products, and is harping on our willingness to spend more money to feel good about things. The best thing we can do is start to wonder how our things were created, where they came from, and who got them to us. When we understand the process of creation of the materials and foods that support our lives, we cultivate a desire to care for the people and land that created them. We are all on this planet together, whether we like it or not, and every life is as important as the other. Nothing natural is created for only one purpose. Every thing has periods of growth and decay and renewal into something else greater than itself.

Perhaps plastic bags were given to us strictly to teach us a lesson. That we cannot create what cannot easily be destroyed if it only is built for one-use in it’s lifetime. We must create things for the sake of function, durability, versatility, and beauty so that we can appreciate each thing as we use it. It’s hard not to sound spiritual as we wander into gratitude and appreciation, but a little goes a long way. By understanding how the world supports our lives, we are able to understand how we support the well-being of the world.

The one earth that we are inextricably a part of. I am a human, you are a human, we are humans floating around and trying our best. Know your products, know their origins, know the people behind them, and care (a little) about the quality of the lives that supports yours.