Lover/Fighter: The Earth Day conversation we are avoiding.
Kristin Shaw, LEED AP
Award winning author + urban planning professional, connecting people to planet with equity, empathy and good design.
Happy Earth Day? I am struggling with this, and the many times I have said it, typed it, worn it and lived it, Earth Day is challenging me to feel "happy." But it is Earth Day, so let's talk about it.
I suppose I am happy that there is a day-long acknowledgement that our Home is beautifully chaotic, special, loved, broken-in and endangered, but I am not so ready to feel happiness given our outlook. I am even *less happy* considering that it is an accelerated and more dangerous version of the outlook we have been hearing about since before that polar bear photo made it's big break.
Earth Day was established on April 22, 1970 following an effort to build awareness for air and water pollution, using the anti-war momentum as fuel. Over 20 million Americans participated in the initial event, demonstrating against the impacts of the century of industrial consequences that rapidly were becoming recognized as human health impacts. According to EarthDay.org, "?Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders." When it was established, Earth Day belonged to every American.
"?Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders."
Fast forward to 1990, where Earth Day makes it onto the global stage, across 141 countries, with over 200 million people working in some way to "celebrate" this important day. It is now, 31 years later and somehow the single thing that we share with every other human being in our known-existence, has now become optional to defend.
I will not pretend I am a perfect environmentalist. I tried that, and it took me down a deep tunnel of guilt for every decision and thought I made. It required a lot of unlearning, and ended up getting me in a bit of a health scare (turns out iron/ iodine are pretty important, and things don't go well if you cold-turkey quit the supplements.) Every single-use piece of something I have touched has not been diverted from a landfill, and sometimes I even forget my water bottle when I am on the road, and do the unthinkable - buy a bottled water. I could be better when I rinse my recyclables, and I still don't drive an electric vehicle. I eat red meat, I order things online, and I love taking notes in notebook.
None of these things make me inherently bad, but they do remind me that I can be better. About eight years ago, I begrudgingly started to work on a plastic bottle reduction strategy and marketing campaign for Wayne State University, and it led me to the one thing that haunts me still, awareness of just how damning human existence is. I spent six months working on how to make tap water "cool" and how to finance refill stations across campus. I learned about greenwashing, and began to understand the gravity that comes with the sentence, "it's okay, I am going to recycle it." By the time our plastics get to a MRF, the damage has already been done. The next best thing, is to make sure that the environmental costs associated with that single-use plastic, is to give it another life, and hopefully, maybe - one more after that.
...understand the gravity that comes with the sentence: "it's okay, I am going to recycle it."
I would spend everyday from then until today, 2022 Earth Day -- learning, reading, researching, seeing, asking, talking (lots of this) and convincing people to be better. I have nagged any time I saw plastic in a compost bin, a single-use plastic bottle on a podium event, and have turned my nose up at the thought of shopping fast fashion. I have dedicated my time to the fight, working alongside policy-makers, sobbing during the 2016 election, and getting goosebumps from the paralyzing feeling every single time I would see the headlines.
Our planet could not beg any louder for us to change. Somehow through the fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes - the devastation, destruction and the death - humans have managed to compartmentalize climate change and our climate crisis. They have actually figured out a way to convince people that it is not real, because it is not real in their backyard, and they have been successful. Those same people, and the people I am lucky to work with in this fight, are the first to post their vacation photos on this very day, "I love the planet" they say, because it's the day they feel it is most important to talk about it.
I am fortunate to have the means to have this knowledge, to write this article and to have the resources I need to make more sustainable lifestyle possible. I understand and recognize the privilege that comes with this, and though you may not care to hear me preach, the one thing I can share freely, is the knowledge I have and the love for a better world, that belongs to every global citizen, and to the rest of the living things that played no real part in this damage.
I have been spending a lot of time recently thinking about how I label myself an "advocate" an "environmentalist" and when I am feeling fun, a "treehugger." It is especially on this Earth Day, that all of those feel completely weightless in their impact. It is not enough to care, to label or to love. It is only enough to unlearn and undo, and to manage that quickly enough to matter. It is only enough to love, and to fight. We have made it "cute" and "trendy" to be eco-friendly, and given people the illusion that plastic is better than Styrofoam, that climate change won't hurt them in their lifetime, or that we can recycle our way out of it. I wish any of these were the silver bullet. I wish I knew what that silver bullet was.
It is only enough to love, and to fight.
From where I stand, the "magic wand" that I can waive in hopes it might matter, is an invitation to you, to be both, a lover and a fighter - for the home we share, Earth. We need a culture shift, one person is able to change the world, even in some small way. Be that person. Find the things in your life you do have control over changing for good, and if you don't know what that might be - just ask.
If we do not fight this good fight, we will have nothing left to love.
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Below is a list of 10 things you can reconsider in your daily life for a healthier planet:
1) Eat less meat (or at least understand the impact of the food you eat).
2) Say "no" to convenience when you can. Single use plastics and soft plastics are especially helpful during the health crisis we are exiting. I am certain you can find one place in your life where you can opt out of a bag, a bottle or a trial size something.
3) Shop local. Not only are you supporting your local economy, the food uses less and harms less in it's journey to your table. Where possible - grow your own food.
4) Reconsider how you get around. You do not have to drive everywhere alone. Walk, ride, scoot, skate, and literally use any and every other mode of transportation than a vehicle. Transportation is the largest leading factor that hurts our planet. Think about the impact of every trip you take.
5) Volunteer and give. There are so many amazing organizations that are doing the legwork because it is the right thing to do. Help them. It may seem small, but it is contagious.
6) Read something. Learning is something that we should spend more time doing anyways, and there is an endless number of resources out there. Find the thing you love the most, and then learn about how it impacts the environment.
7) Ditch bottled water, forever. This one feels basic, but if you have access to clean drinking water, you do not need bottled water. If you are drinking bottled water, you are spending money on the single most expensive item to be marked up for retail. Imagine paying a 4000% markup on literally anything else.
8) Watch your energy consumption. Upgrade your home appliances as a starting point. There are programs that can help offset these costs, use them! Energy is the second largest in line to contributing to climate change. Use less energy, use more efficient items, and check on your usage regularly. Ask your utility how you can view and track usage. Reach out to a local energy efficiency company to see where you can reduce costs and usage over time.
9) Slow down when you throw things away. Out of sight, out of mind. Try to divert as much as you can from going to landfill. Understand how to recycle in your community, and compost food waste at home. (I have worms, they do my dirty work)
10) Learn your carbon footprint, then reduce it. There are lots of resources to track this information, see how you stack up. Pick a thing, improve it. It's okay to start a New Year's Resolution four months in.
Here's a list of some resources, please take the time to learn more:
If you have an extra $20, consider donating it here: