Happy Earth Day, Now What?

Posted on 22. Apr, 2010 by in General

Earth DayToday is Earth Day. It marks 40 years of this event yet after 40 years of trying hard things still get worse and worse. Pollution related issues are at a high, we are using up all our natural resources and I don’t think anybody can sensibly say that we are in any way improving our glorious planet.

That is why Earth Day is more important than EVER but…. a day of turning lights off when you leave the room, not eating imported fruits and telling your friends it’s Earth Day may make you feel good about yourself but it won’t do much good for the planet in the long term.

I am not saying Earth Day is worthless… It’s an awesome event but we need to look beyond a day.

Luckily most people reading this blog happen to be frugal types, being frugal often means that as a consequence you use up less resources and are helping the planet by doing so but we can always do more.

I really advise you to visit the Core Issues section of Earth Day’s website. Have a read through, find something that pulls at your heart strings, then do something about it, learn more, preach to your friends until you annoy them into joining you….. do anything you can.

“Alright Mr Green Living Preacher, What Are You Doing About It?”

Ok ok, I am no Mr perfect when it comes to being green either. I have a bad habit of leaving the bedroom light on. I threw a load of organic waste into the recycle trash the other day and I am planning a flight to Europe this summer…. Shame on me.

ADVERTISMENT: CONTENT CONTINUED BELOW

It’s not about being perfect, it’s about doing more than you comfortably have to.

For the last few months I have slacked off a little as I was not sure if I was leaving Egypt or not. However I have been separating all recyclables, buying local produce wherever possible and I walk almost everywhere.

As I will be here for another year now I plan to set up a kitchen herb garden and try my hand at growing some Tomatoes and possibly some other easy veg. I only have a small balcony in my apartment but it’s no excuse. We all have to do what we can do.

What are you going to do?

Further Reading: As it’s Earth Day a lot of people are going to be writing posts today…. I will be reading and commenting as much as I can. Here are a few posts that I have noticed popping up already today:

Earth Day and Your Finances from Your Finances 101

Happy Earth Day from The Centsible Life

Earth Day: Camping is Fun from Money Funk

Every Day Should Be Earth Day from Simply Stephen

Earth Day & Giving through Freecycle from Consciously Frugal

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15 Responses to “Happy Earth Day, Now What?”

  1. Financial Samurai

    22. Apr, 2010

    Dang, didn’t know today is earth day! The #1 problem? An exploding population. We will kill the earth faster than ever.
    .-= Financial Samurai´s last blog ..Don’t Have Children If You Can’t Take Care Of Yourself =-.

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    • Forest

      22. Apr, 2010

      You are right Sam….. Overpopulation is a huge factor contributing to this whole mess…. As is plain and simple overuse of our resources.

      The fact that the average US home uses double the energy of a European home bemuses me…. The US is not in official terms, overpopulated and the population growth is seen to be fine there as far as I have heard…. However USA is still consuming more energy than many many higher populated countries.

      If we could just find an ethical way to curb population growth, distribute people better (some countries like Canada say they actually need people!) and seriously reduce consumption on all levels then we may have a better chance!!

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  2. Jeff

    22. Apr, 2010

    40 years eh? I only remember 4/22 every year because it was rammed down my throat in school. I personally don’t think Earth day means much at all. It seems to be just another day. If people really cared about the earth we would do many things much different than we do now. We are only concerned with things that benefit ourselves. At least that what it looks like to me.

    In my house we recycle 75% of our weekly “trash”. I do it because my wife enjoys it. A happy wife is a happy life. I always turn off the water while shaving and brushing my teeth, and never leave a room with light on. That’s it, it just doesn’t matter to me.

    I’ve lived in China and see what happens there. How can we combat the 1.6 billion people destroying the earth??
    .-= Jeff´s last blog ..Newton’s First Law of Debt Reduction =-.

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    • Forest

      24. Apr, 2010

      Hey Jeff…. ha ha… don’t tell me you only care about the world to keep your wife happy :)

      As for China…. They are a serious problem, their CO2 emissions have doubled in less than a decade and they are now the world’s No1 polluter (a crown swiped away from the US :) ).

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  3. Jason @ Redeeming Riches

    22. Apr, 2010

    I think it’s a good idea to have a day dedicated to good earthly stewardship, but like you said, one day doesn’t do much.

    I think a part of living frugally means we live with an idea of earthly stewardship – we turn lights off etc because it saves us money and it’s a good idea to preserve the earth.
    .-= Jason @ Redeeming Riches´s last blog ..5 Things Dora the Explorer Teaches Us About Personal Financial Planning =-.

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    • Forest

      24. Apr, 2010

      Agreed, sensible consumption normally coincides with habits that are better for the planet.

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  4. ConsciouslyFrugal

    22. Apr, 2010

    I feel like such a negatron, but I want to smack someone. One of the first articles I saw on yahoo this morning as I went to check my email was about how you can get free stuff on Earth Day. Um, hello? Aren’t we supposed to stop. freaking. consuming. to help the earth? Isn’t our hyper-consumerist culture killing the planet? Hello?? Anyone out there??

    ARG!!!

    I will be doing today what I do (almost) every day–eating as locally as possible, driving as little as possible, refraining from birthing any new humans into the world, not buying new crap I don’t need, and preaching the ‘sustainable word’ to anyone who will listen. Naturally, I’m just preaching to the choir. Sigh.
    .-= ConsciouslyFrugal´s last blog ..Tuesday’s Tip: Make Your Own Instant Oatmeal =-.

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  5. Daddy Paul

    22. Apr, 2010

    If you were around in the 1950’s you would not have the view that the world is getting dirtier.
    .-= Daddy Paul´s last blog ..The best taxable bond mutual funds =-.

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    • Forest

      24. Apr, 2010

      Hey Daddy Paul….. You and Fred got me thinking more about this…. I’ll be leaving a longer reply to Fred below.

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  6. david/yourfinances101

    23. Apr, 2010

    Hey,

    Thanks for the mention.

    Great blog you have here.

    I signed up for the updates.

    Look forwardto connecting more often.

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  7. Fred @ TheDebtHawk.com

    23. Apr, 2010

    I think that characterizing the earth as more polluted today than 42 years ago is not accurate. Great strides have been made, especially in the Western world. As a life long Boy Scout, I am proud of all of the advance made in improving our standard of living while conserving this beautiful planet that we live on.

    1. Air and water pollution – The air quality and water quality in the United States is MUCH better than 42 years ago. Except for the largest of cities in the United States and Europe, it is hard to walk outside and not be delighted with the breath of fresh air.

    In 1990, I visited the Soviet Union where the air pollution and water pollution was REALLY bad. Here in the U.S. most of us don’t really know what pollution looks like. In the Soviet Union, you almost tasted the lead and soot in the air.

    2. Preservation of resources – Over the last 100 years, we have made great strides in conserving our resources. 50 – 100 years ago, the entire state of Pennsylvania was strip mined and clear cut. But, today that is very uncommon. When timber companies buy land rights today to timber mine, they agree to replant the trees as they go. Then in 20 years, they come back and do it all over again. That is the amazing thing about tree, they are the ultimate renewable resource.

    3. Littering – For those of us older than 30, we remember a time when people thought nothing of throwing their trash on the ground or out the car window. But, today I rarely see this type of disregard for others. Again, except in the largest of cities where it seems like littering in poor areas is a huge problem, the littering problem is almost no existent today.

    The only reason why I decided to write this long comment is because I don’t think that this issue needs to be polarizing. I know of no person who is not amazed at the beauty of this world. And, the vast majority of people want to keep it that way.

    There is no reason to tell people that they aren’t “environmentalists” just because they believe in a balance of using resources and conserving them. Also, I don’t think that it is an effective strategy to tell people they need to drastically reduce the amount of energy they can use. The best way to fight through the energy problem is through technological advancement.

    Human ingenuity is awesome and we will keep making cleaner energy production methods. That is the way to achieve cleaner energy, not telling people to drastically reduce their usage. That will not work.
    .-= Fred @ TheDebtHawk.com´s last blog ..Time To Pay Down Home Equity Line of Credit =-.

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    • Forest

      24. Apr, 2010

      Hey Fred, thanks very much for your comment, you and Daddy Paul really gave me something to think about here….

      I don’t believe the world is in better shape than it was 50 years ago but you are certainly right that certain cities and areas may be cleaner to live in than they used to be…. Here is my take on it…

      Much of what you talk about in USA could be due to globalization. I don’t know the exact figures but it’s clear that every major country uses more resources than they used to. Much of this is due to increased population but also due to technology requiring more energy and an increased consumption on an individual level.

      While you single out USA as being cleaner it has to be realized that it is not an individual country problem, it’s a world problem. China is the world’s biggest polluter (followed by USA). USA imports so much stuff from Chinese factories that it cannot be said that USA is not contributing to China being the world’s biggest polluter by doing so. Our society of demands means that even more pollution occurs. Many years ago, if a fruit was not local, it was rarely eaten. Now days it’s just shipped around the world which causes pollution along the shipping lanes and is slowly killing our underwater environment as well as our land environment.

      Also with strip mining…. the import thing is happening here again. I think it’s cobalt that is coming from The Republic of Congo right now. Cobalt is in 80% of electronics and it’s a rare element that mostly comes from Congo. International companies have managed to take advantage of the fragile state of the civil war to go in there with very little control and just rip this stuff out of the ground…. just so I can have my Apple Mac and So and So can have his Thinkpad, everyone can have a blackberry, droid and Iphone and we will all be happy in our technology filled electricity run world….. (This isn’t a declaration that i am giving up my Apple Mac ;) ).

      With many countries coming into the age of industrialization (such as India) it’s hard to tell them that they can’t have what USA already did have….. but there has to be a way to spread consciousness about issues.

      I don’t believe energy consumption can continue to rise and technology will fix it, that is like saying…. keep getting fat because diet pills are getting better. Surely prevention is the best cure?

      We don’t have to consume as much as we do. What is the point of having a kitchen full of gadgets from bread makers, to popcorn poppers and sandwich toasters when you can do exactly the same thing with a third of the equipment and a small amount of extra time? With these items all plugged in 24/7 slowly pulling energy from the grid we are just wasting resources…. This analogy runs across the board of energy use.

      As for green technology….. it is amazing and I fully support it’s advancement. However producing 100 giant windmills takes another factory pumping waste into the air and water. The same goes for some harmful chemicals in battery and solar panel production. I want this stuff to be made but with habits of less consumption by us all…. less of this stuff has to be made.

      Turning off a light won’t save the world….. but 10billion people turning off a light will certainly help.

      Awareness and less belief that it’s our “right” to use up all the wonderful energy (ok, energy can technically never be used up as it just changes into another kind of energy…. but you get the point here!) will help slow down the destruction of our amazing planet.

      Just look at the coverage of built up areas in the 1950′s and the coverage now…. The vision of a concrete world briefly glimpsed in Avatar is not totally unbelievable.

      Please don’t see this as an attack, and please don’t think I am being self righteous…. I am a consumer too… I have many electronics and I am as responsible as everyone else.

      I love this planet, from the hills and the trees to the skyscrapers and the electronic coffee machines…. What we have achieved is amazing…. Now if we could all be a little nicer to each other and stop this war nonsense :) .

      I will agree that we are not destroying the planet…. We are only destroying the planet for ourselves. I am sure the planet doesn’t give a crap if we and all the animals and plants survive… When we are gone it will recover and change into something new in a relative blink of an eye.

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  8. Matt @ Dividendmonk

    23. Apr, 2010

    I suppose it depends where you look.

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