Importance of our Planet
Take a moment with me and think about a place that makes you happy. A place you go to when you’re stressed. A place you vacation to. A place that comes to your mind when you think of somewhere breathtakingly beautiful.
How many of you pictured a place outdoors? Somewhere in nature? Maybe the top of a mountain with that perfect sunrise. Or on a beach with your feet in the sand. Or just walking through a forest, the fresh air and scent of pine trees surrounding you. I can bet that most of you pictured a place that involved nature in some way.
My place is a bluff overlooking Yellow River State Forest in northeastern Iowa. So much beauty. The fresh air. The beautiful fall colors below. Even envisioning it sends a calm through my body.
The environment is important to us. Seeing the sunshine after a week of rain makes us smile. Polluted air in the cities makes breathing a little harder than that fresh forest air. It plays a big role in our life and directly effects how our body and mind feel day to day. That is why it is so important to protect.
The title of this post “Importance of our Planet”, really hints at how we view the Earth we live on. We see it as OURS. Something that we own. If you really think about it, though, the planet actually owns us. We owe our very existence to the earth. It provides us with every thing we need to survive – air, water, and food.
It seems odd to me then, why we don’t treat our environment like something we depend on. Instead, we pollute the water, cut down the oxygen producing trees, and deplete nutrients in the soil that grows our food. We should actually be protecting these very things that keep us alive.
I understand there are other issues out there that need our attention, too. Poverty, discrimination, healthcare…etc. But if you think about it – we wouldn’t have any of these issues if the human population ceased to exist. And without a planet to sustain us, we would surely face extinction.
The habits of our current society make it hard to live an environmentally friendly, sustainable lifestyle. We are always busy with packed schedules and crave convenience. Ah, sweet convenience. Getting paper plates so we don’t have to do dishes. Driving to the grocery store even though it is only a block away. Buying individual pre-packaged snacks for on the go. See the trend here…all of these conveniences involve waste. More trash added to our landfills.
Accumulated waste is not the only planet destroying habit we have. We pride ourselves in having green, manicured lawns that take loads of chemicals and water (our drinking water!!) to maintain. We buy so many plastic items it makes me sick (think personal care products, dish soap, condiments…). Our portion sizes are ridiculously huge and usually don’t contain food that is grown in a sustainable way. The list goes on…and on…and on.
I am guilty of doing all of these things at some point in my life. I actually still do some of them today…unfortunately. Again – that convenience factor is so nice. Who has the time to make their own personal care products to eliminate plastic bottles? Or do dishes after having a large gathering?
So what do we do about all of this destruction?
How can we turn our habits around in order to actually improve the planet and sustain human life?
Well that is where The Positive Footprint comes in. There are SO MANY changes we can make in our daily lifestyle in order to change our habits and create a more positive, sustainable footprint on the earth. I have begun making these changes in my own life and am excited to share the ups and downs with you. We are going to be talking about everything eco friendly. Zero Waste tips. Products that are good for the planet. Environmentally friendly travel. And so much more!
We are also going to talk about the hard topics. Discussing Climate Change and the real facts and research behind the issues our planet is seeing. Let me tell you – it is scary stuff.
Unfortunately, it is too late to move slow. The human population needs to wake up and realize that we are destroying our planet at an increasingly rapid pace.
Two (of many) mindsets stop us from waking up to this reality and making changes in our own life. One of them being “what difference can just one person make”? Well one person can make an enormous impact on those around them. Think Martin Luther King. Mahatma Gandhi. Adolf Hitler. These were people who stood up for what they believed in (even if it was terrible) and made a difference. They got millions of people to make changes just by going after what they believed in. And it all started with them – one person.
The second mindset is “what harm is just one [insert disposable item]”. Think about if every single person on the planet thought this about a plastic straw. That would be 7.7 billion straws! If laid in a straight line that would go to the moon and back TWICE. I can’t guarantee that 7.7 billion people are thinking this same thought, but I bet more than just one person is.
We need to change these mindsets (along with all others) and realize that one person can make a difference. Your actions have a huge impact on the environment around us. The changes you make will have a ripple effect on those around you.
As you can tell, this is a topic I am passionate about. And honestly, we all should be. We rely on our environment for our very survival and must protect it.