When I was a kid we learned about recycling and how great it is for the environment. We now know that, while it is important to recycle necessary materials, recycling should not be a go to or a fix for the environment but a very absolute last resort for materials that we absolutely cannot reuse or repurpose!! Recycling is not as affective as we think as most materials can only be broken down a couple of times and the process of recycling itself emits pollution and recycling trucks create pollution!! As we are learning, not the most effecting solution!
As we live our day to day lives it is important to think about our personal footprint on our planet and how our decisions affect our environment. While you may not feel you can make a difference, as a consumer your biggest personal power is the choices you make with your money. Supporting eco and fair trade inspires more companies to supply eco and fair trade. While using reusable bags and water bottles and composting and eating less meat and cooking at home does individually add up to a lot at the end of the year, the biggest power behind our eco choices is influence. The influence you have on friends, family, and community. The, influence, as a result, on companies and suppliers to choose products with eco packaging or fair trade labels.
Our choices really are important!! However, if you are like me, you have been doing more online shopping this year and starting to feel guilty about excess waste!! First if all, be easy on yourself, this has been a rough year for all of us!! We will come out stronger and do better next year!! For those of you with kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, neighbors, etc I found this awesome book from Lonely Planet to reuse hardboard boxes and turn them into forts, aquariums, cars, pizza ovens, so much more!! You honestly do not need a book though if you have an imagination!! The possibilities are endless! 🍕 ⛺️ 🚗 I am so exited to work on this with the kids over winter break!! I will let you know how they turn out and post some pics!! So before you recycle your boxes, maybe think first if there is something awesome you can do with them first and let’s start making recycling a last resort!! 📦 And hold off tossing that Christmas Tree… we will talk about that next 🎄❤️♻️
Carlene Haavig Yoga 