Earth Day

We all know the importance of taking care of the Earth. We have been celebrating Earth Day for 50 years. And as the years go by, there are more and more ways to help stymie the destruction of our environment.

Unfortunately, there are always people of all walks in life who do not do those so simple things that could make a difference. Let’s list a few:

Always recycling, but also reuse things, restore them instead of replacing something or upcycle it. If you can’t use it, maybe someone else can.

Watching what you buy and how. Like buy local whenever you are able to because that saves on packaging and travel costs to get food to the grocer. Consider a vegetarian day or two to cut back on the cost of growing and processing beef and pork and chicken, for example. It takes a lot of resources to take a calf through to the time of slaughter. Cut back on meat….and processed foods too, where you can.
And when you are shopping, bring your bags, no more plastic!

You can even get a toothbrush that is not made from plastic now! It’s made from bamboo. And tooth paste that is a pill that you chew to start, eliminating plastic toothpaste tubes. There are many, many things now that you can get that are not made from plastic to replace what you are now using.

STRAWS! Either refuse it, bring your own, or some places have paper straws again…just like the old days.

So, you see, there is so much we can do individually as well as united. We at Unity try to keep our Center as environmentally friendly as possible.

But all this is just leading up to what I’d like to mention today. Have you seen pictures of places that used to be so crowded you could hardly move? And now, with this virus, they are empty, and along with that, the smog has lifted.

Right, no cars and fewer trucks. No factories pouring smoke and suet into the air. It was really amazing.
It made me wonder if anyone had noticed who could do something about that…to fix those factories so they don’t pollute. And the cars and trucks so they are meeting guidelines.

So, few planes that the skies were so blue with only clouds to see instead of the smoke trails from the jet traffic.
We don’t want to go back to the way things were…it’s obvious that wasn’t working.

My point, see, as Mr. Rogers’ Mother told him, ‘Look for the helpers’; maybe the Earth was telling us that it was time to clean things up. Maybe the message here is, do the right thing.

We are to have dominion over the earth and all that is there, if we take Genesis literally. That means to take care of it. We weren’t doing that, were we? I feel as if the earth is managing a virus that is dangerous to her health —humanity.

What were you doing that went against taking care of Gaia? What can you do now to help take care of her?
If we don’t, who will? Our children are yelling and screaming and telling us to be the adults here and get it right this time. Do you think we are able to do that?

I know we have it in us, but do we have the guts to stand up and say yes to the Earth and no the easy way? Can we look at our behaviors and see where we are passing on the opportunities that we can help?

Is it so hard to go without a plastic straw to sip your water or soda? Can you let go of your laundry detergent or dish soap because of the plastic bottle it comes in and look for an alternative? They are out there!

There’s a lot of opportunities out there…just take some time to look

I guess we will see, once we get out of this pandemic situation, what we do…go back to ‘normal’ or look to a different ‘normal’. Are you ready for that growth opportunity?