Well, hello there! Welcome back to our weekly post --Oh, you're saying it's been almost two years since the last time I posted? Yeah... I was just trying to do an "Irish Hello." You know, the Irish "Goodbye" is when you just leave without telling anybody (big fan!), the "Hello" is kind of like pretending we were never away? Oh forget it, you know what I mean! You're saying you don't and want explanations? I mean... I don't know if they're needed. Let's just forgive and forget, how about that? I was gone, but now I'm back... You were always here. I see... Well, how about we hug it out? I'm taking too long trying to come back, you say? Oooookay!
I want to talk a little bit about Mother Nature. I feel it's going down the drain, lately. Not specifically Mother Nature herself, but the human aspect of it, in the sense that we're destroying her. Here's the thing: we live on Mother Earth. I know a lot of you already care about Mother Earth and Mother Nature a whole lot, but you're feeling like you could do something about it --What's that you say? Mother Earth and Mother Nature are the same thing? I just like to emphasize them both, to give it more importance, if that were the case. Anyhow, as I was saying... I feel like this would be a great place to start in order to do something.
Now, let's not go to extremes here. We can do that a little later. For now, I just want to take some baby steps to get us started. You know, progress always comes from millions of baby steps, so if you're new to caring about the environment (I know I was at one point), I just want you to dip your toes in the water. Get a nice taste of it. Then once you do that, the BIG BEAST will come out of the pool and pull you in. You don't like beasts? Don't worry, this is a nice beast. Look at how pretty and wonderful. It's a good kind of beast. Maybe I made a poor choice of words. Look at the picture, I say!
Look at it! You can't not be enamored by it. -- Yosemite National Park.
I was looking for pictures of Yosemite to insert here, and went down the rabbit hole of pretty pictures leading you to finding places to stay there and... So, I made it out alive, without spending a dime. It just took a little longer to get here. If you feel like doing so, you can thank three people for the wondrous Yosemite National Park: Mother Nature, John Muir and Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. Anyways, you might have read these somewhere else, already do them or heard about it from a buddy of yours. It doesn't matter. Reading it again isn't going to hurt you, it'll just reinforce what you already do/know. So without further ado, a few tips on taking care of the environment.
Close the water tap when not using it:
I know this seems like it doesn't do much, but it's a simple thing. Make no mistake, you can save gallons of water just by doing this sorcery! For example, say you're brushing your teeth: Some people open the tap, and then leave it that way until they're done! That's like a whole shower! I live in California. There's a huge drought here! You know what I could've done with that amount of water? I don't have any specifics right now... I'll have a detailed proposal for you later! But let me just say that any time I go to Florida (what does Florida have to do with this?), they just throw the fact that they have water all over your face. There's more water there than land! Look at all this water. Would you like some water? How about taking a little plunge in this puddle?! We have water to throw away and still won't run out, because it rains here! HO HO HO, we rule the w--I'm sorry... I got a little carried away there. I'm just a fan of water. Getting back to help saving the environment... So, what you can do is this:
- Open the tap to rinse your toothbrush and close it immediately.
- Brush your teeth.
- Open it again so you can rinse your toothbrush and mouth. Remember to close it every time you're not using the water!
- Boom. Ka-ching. The $$$ you'll be saving on your water bill! You can do this with everything: showers, doing the dishes, anything else that involves water!
Unplug any unused devices:
Any plugged device that's not being used emits Carbon Dioxide. An excess of Carbon Dioxide (CO2, for you chemistry fans out there) is one of the major influences that causes climate change --actually, it's the only one. So, if you want to pitch in even a little bit, we could start by unplugging them! Again, this will save you a few dollars on your energy bill. Unless you have solar, which in that case... Still unplug them, because you know, CO2 and all. I will congratulate you on the Solar, though. Well played, good sir/madam.
R-E-C-Y-C-L-E
Remember that song from "Rocko's Modern Life"? No? Well, now I have the song stuck in my head and you don't know what I'm talking about... So, please click here. There. That's better. Wasn't that wonderful? Recycle anything that's plastic, paper or glass. Rubber? I don't know if you can recycle rubber, but I put it in the recycle bin anyway. Are they mad that I do that? Maybe. This is one of those cases where I'd rather be safe than sorry --Or, say sorry than ask for permission. I used both of those sayings for the same example! I'm a genius! Remember plastic is made from carbon/oil/other stuff, paper from trees and glass from I don't even know... Yeah, yeah. Sand. I remembered once I wrote that down. I just left it there for documentation purposes. What am I documenting, you ask? My stupidity? The more we recycle, the less we have to cut down trees (huge fans of CO2, just not in excess), make more unnecessary plastic and leave beaches without sand --I think butt-cracks take most of the blame for that one.
Pick Trash You See on the Ground Up/Don't Litter
Now, you might say: "But I didn't leave that there! Why should I pick it up?" That's a good question to have. Am I going to answer it? Nope. Let's just all do our part. We're all in this together! If you don't litter, nobody else has to pick it up! If you pick up someone else's trash, then we don't have to pay someone to do it! Especially if you see it somewhere around Mother Nature's grounds. That's just wrong. Little animals can choke or get whatever from the trash. Haven't we done enough? I know. Guilt works wonders, doesn't it? It's not my style, though. So, let's all do it out of the bottom of our hearts. I promise you'll feel great when you do it. Mother Nature will thank us later with a beautiful melody from a bird, or you'll see some rare wildcat/bear/other dangerous but magnificent animal. Wouldn't that be awesomely dangerous, but awesome all at the same time? You know, from afar so they don't eat us.
Switch Lights Off When Not In Use
If you're not in a room but leave the lights on, you can switch it off! This is putting cash back in your pocket, baby! You've probably noticed by now, a lot of these tips save some cash while you help preserve the environment. Win-win. Isn't that nice? We're doing some good by putting some money in our pockets all at the same time. I bet you didn't think it'd be this fun, huh? If you have solar, you're not saving anything, but hey, you've got solar and don't pay for energy! Woot, woot!
Spend Time In Nature
This has nothing to do with preserving anything. Just spend time with Mother Nature. Appreciate the vast greatness. Go to a National Park, or the beach, or anywhere that has nature nearby. Do it once a week. It's God's anti-depressant/anti-stress/anti-everything. Look at the trees, water or whatever it is that's in your line of sight, and enjoy it. Relax and take it in. I wasn't too big into Mother Nature growing up. I wanted to preserve and help, but I never really went out and spent much time in her embrace. My dog taught me how to love it. I felt this deep connection to Mother Nature that I didn't have before, and now we're best buds. This will help raise your awareness and mindfulness of her. Then you'll get more ideas on how to help to protect, preserve and enrich her. She is our Mother after all, let's take care of her.
So that's it for now! If you have any more things you'd like to do, donate to a charity that supports the Environment and Mother Nature. Do some research and donate to the one that you feel aligns the best with your views/ideals. Do I sound like a hippie? Maybe. I promise you I'm not --not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm just really grateful to Mother Nature because she's provided so much for us throughout history, I think it's about time we did something for her. Every day should be Earth Day! Any ideas? Leave a comment below, my fellow tree huggers! Until next time. Preserve, Protect, Enrich.