Shot by Corinna Lander
So I am a few days late for an Earth Day post, but truly, every day is Earth Day. This place is our home 365 days a year, so perhaps it would be wise to live here with awareness, respect, and intentionality as much as possible.
We are stewards of this land. I think we forget sometimes our inextricable link to this home we call Earth. We forget that our health and wellness as a species is entirely dependent on Her health and wellness. The stewardship of the Earth is not any one nation’s problem or issue, it is a human issue.
With that, I have listed below 7 Easy Ways to Honor Mother Earth:
1. Avoid massive amounts of packaging.
Skip the supermarket and try shopping at your local farmer’s market. Not only will you reduce waste from packaging, but you will be able to enjoy fresh, ripe, local, and seasonal foods.
You can either buy glass jars like these Ball Jars on Amazon (Made in USA) or just save the glass jars from honey, nut butter, coconut oil etc. and repurpose them to hold bulk food items.
Find a local Co-Op or health food store with a bulk section and purchase items like rice, granola, cacao, flour, nuts, tea etc. there. That way you can avoid using packaged goods and you can buy just the amount you are going to use to avoid food waste.
2. Reduce Needless Waste.
Bring your own reusable shopping bags or use paper bags as trash bags and recycling bags. These African-made baskets are my favorite!
Bring your own produce bags like these ones (Made in USA).
3. Create a little Earth-friendly travel kit to put in your car or bag.
What to put in your travel kit:
travel mug for hot beverages (Life Factory)
reusable water bottle/jar glass or stainless steel (Glass: Love Bottle (Made in USA) Life Factory (Mostly Made in USA))
4. Save Water.
Put a jar in your sink and in your shower to collect gray water and use this to water your plants.
Don’t flush the toilet unless you have to...ain’t nothin’ wrong with a little pee!
5. Say a little prayer.
Give thanks and say a little prayer before you eat to acknowledge the bounty in front of you and honor the hard work of the many individuals who helped bring it to your plate.
6. Compost.
First, grab yourself a kitchen compost container like this eco recycled plastic one. If you have a garden buy a compost bin or make your own (for tips and further information head here). If you live in the city without a garden find a local Co-op garden to bring your compost to!
7. Keep your hood clean!
Organize a beach, neighborhood, or park clean up or just clean up trash as you go about your day! Check out the amazing work that Surfrider does keeping our beaches clean and healthy!
The Great Mother
The creator and the destroyer. She wields the power to give life and the power to take it away. She sustains me and devours me.
I explore her curves and crevasses. I caress her soft spots and dance around her jagged edges.
She is nurturing and violent. The home to my body vessel in life and in death.
Humbled as I am, I love her unconditionally for she gives of herself without any expectation of return, but return we must.
We must respect her, see her in all her beauty and horror, care for her sacred soul, protect her natural movement toward harmony and wholeness, her innate desire to heal and repair.
The way we have raped, exploited, and ravaged her, mirrors back to me how we relate to the wild feminine in ALL beings. We wish to control, repress, and degrade the raw power that she holds rather than surrendering to the awe she inspires, bowing down in humility to kiss her sweet skin.
I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.