Whether it registers on your radar or is a note on your calendar, Earth Day is happening this month.  Earth Day is April 22nd and it’s been a movement since 1970.  This date also happens to coincide with the year the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came to exist.  As the story goes, Senator Nelson of Wisconsin was triggered by the 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara. He decided action was needed to address air and water pollution.  Organizers started at the college and university level and things took off from there.  The Cal Bears at UC Berkeley were in the mix (you know I’m shouting out my alma mater everywhere). In addition, thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment in the early ‘70s.

Through the rallies, protests, activism and surprisingly, political collaboration, a number of environmental laws passed.  The Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.  I hesitate to consider how different the California State Parks, or the coastline, the wildlife and even the health of Californians would be if we didn’t have those protections in place.

Doing Your Part

You might be thinking, ok, I’m just visiting for a hot minute, or I’m one person living here, I can’t do much to affect change.  You can do your part. If you use reusable grocery bags and decline that plastic bag when you run into Vons/Stater Bros/Albertsons that’s one less plastic bag out there.  When you refill your travel water bottle at the water stations at LAX or SFO instead of buying a plastic bottle of water, that’s less plastic out there.  When you eat out and turn down the plastic drinking straw or they give you the bamboo/plant based/paper straw instead, you’re doing your part.  If you hop on BART to get to downtown San Francisco or use Muni instead of driving, that counts!

Earth Day Small Acts

You might be surprised about the different ways you can contribute in making your neighborhood or community more environmentally friendly.  Try a plant based meal, use recyclable utensils when eating lunch at work, compost, plant a butterfly or honey bee friendly garden.  Small acts can add up to big change if we all participate.

And in case you’re wondering, yes, I keep a stash of recyclable shopping bags in my car, so I don’t have the excuse that I “forgot them at home”.  I also have a couple of travel water bottles that I never leave home without.  Some airports I’ve used so much I can almost map out the bottle filling stations in my head!  I also carry stainless steel straws with me but when I think about it, many California restaurants that I go to have the plant based alternatives.  I will say I’m a work in progress when it comes to public transportation, but I HATE traffic, sooooooo…

Happy Earth Day everyone!  We’ve only got one, so let’s do our part to make it last.

Until next time,

May the road rise to meet you and the wind be at your back.