Sustainability: The Little Things

Garbage, garbage, garbage garbage, garbage everywhere. There’s garbage on the streets and garbage in your hair. Garbage, garbage, garbage garbage, now what shall we do? Just throw it away, throw it away, throw it away...and have a nice day!

I have faint memories of my elementary school days, but I distinctly remember being in a musical on the environment. In this musical, I was one of the townspeople singing those lyrics. I don’t remember the rest of the song or even what the musical was, but those lyrics and the melody have latched on to my memory decades after the play ended.

I remember being fascinated about how trees take bad air and make it healthy air. The memory of the images of trees swallowing up dense fog implanted in my mind.

As a child I always loved nature and learning how nature can help make the environment better, long before I understood what sustainability was. As the years went by however, the importance remained in my mind, but my day to day habits were a reflection of the townsperson I played in my elementary school musical.

I never set a true intention, creating sustainability actions within my day to day was a passing forethought. If the resources and tools were available then I would use them, if not then I did not seek them out or create them.

My love of nature and aesthetics that I had as a child has reemerged. As a child, I used to watch bees and birds, insects and animals as they went about their day. I took great care to just observe how they interacted with the environment. I would walk around my grandmother's garden and soak up knowledge that I never learned in school.

Now many years later, with the intent of being aware of how I use the products of my environment, I have started to make consistent changes that help both nature but also focus on sustainability of the environment as a whole.

Like starting a diet, it began with awareness of what I was currently doing and why I was doing it. Once I became more aware, I found little things that I could begin to do to further my goals. I continue to learn and find new methods to create change in protecting the environment.

My road to the little things...
Learning to compost
Using my recycling bin
Creating a separate space in the kitchen/home for recycling
Being conscious about the vehicle I drive
Modifying my energy use
Gardening

I challenge you to look at your surroundings and think of the little things that you do to make a change to the world. If none come to mind, I welcome you to follow me through my journey, to hopefully inspire you to create your own list of “little things.”