Happy Earth Day...

Some people think that they shouldn't bother recycling, upcycling or the like, because what is the point when there are so many places on this earth that just keep piling on to the situation,

but it makes a difference people!

Trust me, the Earth will benefit from every little bit of effort that we put in,

and by us committing to saving our Earth we will inadvertently spread this wisdom to those around us and it will also educate our children,

so that they can make the biggest impact of all.

I would also like to add that recycling is not the only way you can make an impact.

Here are just a few ideas that can help you do more for our beautiful Earth,

so that it,

0in turn can continue to gift us with LIFE and all that it entails.

- Recycle

- Start a compost heap

- Stay away from plastic bags.

- Try and buy products with less packaging or packaging that is easily recycled.

- Consider what will happen to the things you buy once you get rid of them, thinking like this will hopefully make you think twice before buying things like plastic toys and also hopefully make you reconsider buying unnecessary things in the first place.

- Walk, cycle or catch public transport as often as you can and on weekends and during holidays consider taking advantage of local attractions instead of travelling far for activities.

- Like wise when booking holidays, consider staying more local and cutting down on travelling.

- Turn off lights, and try to minimise use of electrical appliances, such as hanging clothes instead of tumble drying them and rinsing your dishes after use instead of filling a dishwasher. Appliances that generate any sort of heat tend to use the most electricity, so keep this in mind.

- Always try and give things away when you don't want them anymore instead of just throwing them in the tip.

- Like wise, try and borrow bigger things like lawnmowers and tools instead of each person having their own. Neighbors could share these items.

Now some of these things may seem like huge sacrifices or impossible to achieve for some people,

but if you just allow yourself to be more aware of the impact you have in everything that you do,

you'll be amazed at what a difference you could make even by adopting just a couple of these things,

and hopefully that will bloom into a fierce love for the environment.

I started out with just some conscious thought and that has turned into a habit that simply allows me to consider what role the earth plays in everything I choose to do,

and by simply pulling back in some places and making effort in others, the impact is huge.

My personal efforts have developed over the last year and one good choice just seemed to snowball into another.

It's up to you how far you want to take it.

I myself am very interested in turning my spinning bike into a washing machine hybrid at the moment :D and as you might have read elsewhere in my blog I just stopped buying products all together.

I also don't clothes shop very often and when I do, I always manage to get a couple of items that reinvent my whole wardrobe for the season,

and these items usually come from thrift shops.

For gifts and birthdays etc I tend to go with hamper style presents where you can personalise gifts and possibly even DIY most of them.

For instance, for my mother in law I would make soap, bath bombs, candles, chocolate, treats, dried fruit, jewellery, art, the list goes on.

The nice thing is that most of the ingredients you would need are bought in a batch, maybe, once a year, and will be good for a number of gifts throughout the year.

We also like to camp, so we do that a few times a year, and we stay in the UK because there are endless beautiful places to explore.

We have started to borrow and share things when we need them instead of just rushing out to the shops to buy things,

and likewise offering what we have to anyone.

Remember that retailers are trying to push everyone to have their 'own' of everything to line their pockets,

but nobody is thinking about where it all ends up and whether or not it even makes sense to each have one of a particular thing...for more about this, see my post or just read the book Moneyless Manifesto by Mark Boyle,

the way he talks makes it all seem so obvious, you'll genuinely ask yourself why you never thought of the blatant logic before.

Its so difficult to cover every single change I've made, because there are so many little things, that they string together into a way of life so that nothing else makes sense anymore.

So pick a point and get started...your life will flourish in ways that you could never have imagined.