Are You Ready to be "The Environment Champion"?
By Priya Singh
20 years before Greta Thunberg took the world by a storm through her passionate clarion call, I was leading a school rally on the streets of my small town, distributing paper bags made by students of our school as part of their craft work, to grocery store owners urging them to minimize plastic bag usage. I felt like a champion! 20 years later, I am constantly finding fun and easy ways to motivate my friends, family, and neighbors to feel like champions too! I hope some of these DIY ideas will inspire you to try something new towards the conservation of our planet too!
The Russian Mammoth Sunflower proudly towering over me - our prized possession of 2020!
1. Grow a flower! Or a tree!
Browsing through the garden section of Walmart last year, I noticed these Russian Mammoth sunflower seed packets. I had never heard of mammoth sunflowers before so it definitely piqued my interest and I decided to buy them. We came home and my husband casually threw a few seeds in some dirt next to our porch and it was astounding to see those massive giant flowers just grow out of such a tiny seed, towering two times over me at full maturity! We not only treated it like a prized possession but it was also a fun conversation starter with our neighbors. Everyone stopped and looked at it :)
We hear much about growing veggies, but flowers and trees are no less important. They are food for the birds and help sustain a lot of wildlife. If vegetables and herbs seem like a lot of work to you, trying growing flowers or planting a tree. Marigolds, zinnias and sunflowers are some easy ones even for those with no green thumb and still give a vibrant look to your surroundings. If you live in the Triangle Area of North Carolina, We Plant it Forward also holds tree giveaways throughout the planting season. Contact We Plant it Forward to sign up to receive an email notification of the next tree giveaway
2. Reduce food waste
It's really sad and heartbreaking to see the amount of food that gets wasted in America on a daily basis. But you can help! Get creative with "supposed" scraps and leftovers. In my experience, our most delicious recipes have been the most innovative and creative ones where we don't stick to any rules. No throwing away cauliflower stems, or broccoli stocks, or carrot peels. We use it all!
Here is our veg-lasagna-out-of-scraps, which came out so good that we had to take leftovers for our friend to try and give their seal of approval! (Yes, we did get that approval :)
3. Reuse before recycling
As much as we love feeling good after recycling, it doesn't always work; the truth is much harsher. So, while the system works itself out, the best thing we can do is to reuse more than we recycle. I even reuse produce boxes and water jugs to grow my seedlings like this.
I reuse jars of dips and spreads to store my homemade sauces and dressings. Maggie at we Plant It Forward washes her zip lock bags and reuses them to store other items and makes her to-dos and grocery lists on one-sided printed papers.
4. One man's trash is another man's treasure
After doing all the above if you still have items left that you won’t be using, think about donating or gifting before throwing stuff away – applies to clothes as much as to pasta cooking water! One could be useful to the homeless, the other to your plants.
Discarding that decades old ripped bedsheet? Think about donating to a pet foster clinic.
Shredded paper? Gift it to a gardening enthusiast to use as mulch.
Moving boxes? Gift it to a neighbor in need of a storage solution.
Well-used backpack? Gift it to a foster kids home.
The ideas are endless! Just remember to check with your neighbors as well as donation places before adding to the landfill.
Some of the donation places in the Triangle Area of North Carolina that we like are listed below, but there are plenty others you can choose from. If you live in the Triangle Area, you can also subscribe to Activate Good’s monthly townhalls (a partner organization of We Plant it Forward) to hear from some of the local non-profits looking for all sorts of contributions.
Some Reuse programs
Prom Dress Donations
5. Minimize use of disposables
In my humble opinion, this era of faster and quicker customer convenience has given us arguably one of the most evil innovations of all times : single-use plastics. Think disposable water bottles, plastic cutlery, paper napkins, plastic cups etc. Any small steps you can take to minimize your consumption of disposables is a giant win for the environment. We keep 3-4 reusable water bottles in our car at all times. You'll be surprised how many plastic water bottles you'll save on during your shopping trips and hiking, even road trips; and save lots of $$$ for yourself! We do the same with a set of metal cutlery and multiple sets of plastic cutlery we get from takeouts (since not all restaurants let you opt out).
6. Think before buying
The easiest and number one thing anyone could do to be an environment champion is buying less and reducing consumerism. Think twice, think thrice! When you add stuff to the online shopping cart, give it a few days to mull over…do you really need it/want it? You’ll be surprised how quickly you will get over things that you impulsively buy just by leaving them in the cart for a few days.
I know some people shop when they are bored. Few easy substitutions for them could be going for a walk or calling a friend or watching a movie. Another tip is to let shopped items sit for a while. When I moved to our new house, I had a thousand ideas and I bought a lot of organization and decor pieces, but I let them stay for a few days. As I processed their utility more and more every day, I realized I didn't need most of the things I had bought. So I returned them. It's so convenient these days to return stuff too and that's the practice of “Customer is God” attitude I will not complain about ;)
7. Use your community
To lend, borrow, buy and sell. Why buy a heavy-duty power washer that you would only need it once a year? Maybe ask a neighbor and borrow theirs? You'll not only make a friend, but also save some cash along the way.
I am an avid user of NextDoor app and my neighborhood Buy Nothing facebook group. I regularly use Buy Nothing Carpenter, Cary/Morrisville, NC group to give and receive “gifts” from neighbors. Nextdoor is also great to connect with neighbors and borrow/buy/sell. I have not only received great furniture on these apps, but also all sorts of unique house plants and herbs! Here’s an interesting anecdote from Maggie at We Plant it Forward - “We went online to Nextdoor to borrow shovels for a tree planting when our source for tools had dried up. With the power of community, we were able to borrow 40 shovels from 6 neighbors. That day 95 volunteers planted 250 trees.”
8. This is said enough, but I’ll say it again
Get a reusable grocery bag and make a habit of using it. We keep a few cloth tote bags in the trunk of our car at all times to avoid forgetting to carry them or not having one when we need it.
There are a lot of designs and patterns available online as well as in stores (even Dollar Stores!), like this foldable one that fits right into your hand bag or purse or pocket! I have never had to buy one incidentally. I received them as gifts every now and then for subscribing to things here and there and I just kept reusing the same for my grocery hauls!
9. Lastly, make it a gradual process
Do not overhaul all your belongings, throw them in the trash and buy new "environment-friendly" stuff to get more environment-friendly. Make it a gradual process. The plastic sugar canister broke? Oh well, I guess you HAVE to buy a new one. Maybe get a glass or steel container now? Remember, buy only when you need to!
Additional reading:
Now that you know the basics of environment-friendly living, look for future posts from us for the Advanced Environment Champion where we discuss some other ideas listed below for a more sustainable lifestyle :
Walking
Biking
Composting
Minimalism
Incorporating plant based foods
Bulk shopping
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