How little I knew then

It's Earth Day.  I believe the 45th Earth Day to be exact.

For it's first two decades Earth Day was something that happened in the background of my life.  I have always been an outdoors person, so I love nature; I just didn't love it in a proactive way.

On the 20th Earth Day I was home recovering from surgery.  A local television station was reporting on Earth Day activities.  As part of the coverage, commentators reported that residents of the small city in which I lived at the time recycled enough materials for fill the large university stadium seven times. Wow, I thought.  That's a lot of recycling.

Until then, I hadn't recycled.  Since I eat mainly fresh fruits and vegetables and very few packaged or canned goods, I had never thought that I would have much to recycle.  The news story grabbed my attention.  So that day, I dug out the recycling bin.  I thought that even if it took weeks to fill, at least I'd be doing my part.  It seemed like the least I could do.

Much to my surprise, when trash day came the next week, the recycling bin was full.  The next week, full again.  When the third week ended, the bin was full again.  My imagination was captured.  I wondered what else I might do that would help.

My shift to consciousness about sustainability has been a slow one, more characterized by paying attention, mostly to small things.  After recycling, I started reusing paper grocery bags.  I discovered that I could use the same ones over and over and over again.  They just kept on functioning.  Once I was curious so when I got a new bag, I wrote the date on the bottom.  That bag lasted 50 weeks.  Before I was paying attention, I probably would have gone through at least 100 bags in that time.

Then I read how negatively meat production  impacted the environment.  Gradually, I became more conscious of what I ate and how it was produced.  First, meatless Mondays.  Then meatless a lot of other days.  Sometimes months without meat.  I didn't miss it, and I genuinely think I felt better most of the time.

As I read more about sustainability, I learned how living in a multistory building conserved more resources.  I moved to a city, near a Metro line, and I only occasionally drove my car on weekends. Then I got rid of the car.  I walked, took the Metro, or cycled around the city.  I felt better physically, and I felt really good that  I was doing my part.

Over the last 25 years, I've probably learned as much about intentionality from my gradually evolving commitment to sustainability as anything I've done in my life. Now I carry empty plastic bottles home so that I can recycle them. One decision at a time I've chosen to show how much I love our beautiful planet.