Ideas that don't involve light switches for Earth Day

I have never been one for "Earth Day" or "Earth Hour". Mostly because changes need to happen every day and turning off the lights for an hour really isn't doing all that much.

That said, I feel like events such as Earth Day can be used to help promote awareness and maybe do something a bit more politically active. That political part of being a Greenie is often the hardest, for a whole variety of reasons.

Yesterday, while driving the 5 hour drive from Sydney Cape Breton to Halifax, I was listening to an account of the recent student protests in Montreal. These students have the courage to stand up and say "NON" to officials and the status quo.

We can use tomorrow as an opportunity to do the same.

Some ideas for Earth Day that DON'T involve turning off your lights or recycling:

1. Start your weekend with Free Earth Day Karma Yoga in the Park.

Today at 11am, Halifax YITP will be practicing by the ocean to re-centre and reconnect with Nature. Be flexible- maybe today will be better weather than tomorrow.
If you don't own a studio- approach the owner about supporting an impromptu YITP in your city for Earth Day.
Or take a second to do a google search of your city to see if one is already being hosted!

2. Look to see if there are community-type events in your city/town/neighbourhood. It's a great way to connect with others who are also concerned about the Planet.

3. Use this community event to try Greenie Networking. Seriously, most of the time it's pretty awkward to bring up things like resource/tool sharing in random conversations ("so... do you have any tools you'd like to share? I've got a hammer..."). But on Earth Day, with a little finagling, it's totally appropriate. Try something like: "I always wish that our neighbourhood had something like a tool sharing library.... it would be so easy to set up." And wait and see what happens :)

4. Find a protest/march going on in your city and join! For all you Montrealer readers, there will be an Earth Day Rally going on concurrently with the student march. If I lived in Montreal, that's where I'd be (after some serious, grounding, yoga).

5. Haligonians: Go check out the Tree Planting happening tomorrow! HRM will be helping to plant 200 trees, and all are welcome! Check out the HRM Planting Awesome page, or Planting Awesome's website for details.

Use Earth Day for an extra bit of Eco Activism!

article and photograph copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Today I focused on so much more than Earth Day

On this Earth Day I practiced Yin Yoga, and actually enjoyed it. I almost didn't write a post about Earth Day today. Honestly, I think there is way too much greenwashing ridiculousness going on with marketing (ahem, RW&Co's free 'biodegradable' water bottles that aren't actually 'biodegradable'). Sharon Astyk's rant on the topic basically fits my thought process. Also, her response is fantastic (specifically:
''...Greenwashing Isn't Just for Corporations
The central message of most Earth Day celebrations is that if we all do a little, we'll make the world a better place. But the fact is that that's not true, and as much as we like to hear such a friendly, fuzzy message, we can't make it factual just by wanting it to be true. The blunt reality is that unless we all do an awful lot, very fast, we're facing disaster...''  (Sharon Astyk, April 22nd 2010)

Please read both articles, Why I Hate Earth Day, and Why I Hate Earth Day II there is no bs-ing there... and she's right)

So my first reaction is to avoid the entire topic.

However, I did celebrate Earth Day today... I realized tonight that I did something differently than my usual days.

This morning, my sleep fogged brain was warmed by the beautiful sunlight through our windows. I spent a quiet moment being thankful that there were trees budding and Spring arriving. During my walk to meet my walk buddy, H., each flower budding seemed to pop, instilling that 'We are connected!' mantra I try to remember and often forget.

Tree leaf buds, flowers ready to burst open, completely invaded my perceptions on my walk home. My conversation with Andrew was continuously interrupted by my need to point out the tiny leaf buds about ready to unfurl on each tree, how some trees had delicate yellow flower-type buds. I quietly opened my heart and felt grateful for each small flower, green green grass and vibrant Life that enveloped us.

My Yin Yoga practice, usually so difficult, was strangely a perfect fit for my introspective day. Instead of filling it with consumerism, marketing or depressing contemplation on what I *should* be doing, I spent time reconnecting with *why* our Planet is so important to save in the first place.

Today, on Earth Day, I took time to notice and love the sunset on the water, the smell of the ocean in the air, the powerful and awe-inspiring Maritime Wind; as if the Goddess Herself was reminding us of Her presence.

Today I remember how fragile She really is, how precariously we sit on the balance of complete loss, and how very MUCH I need our Earth to survive Us.

Blessings and Happy Earth Day


article copyright (except quote from Sharon Astyk; Casaubon's Book) of EcoYogini at Ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Big Planet Picnic for Summer Solstice!

Happy Litha-Summer Solstice!

Today we're hanging out with the parental units (and parental unit in-laws for Andrew) so this is a quick post. I was wondering what to do for Litha and thought I'd pass along these few "earth" links. I especially like this idea of a Big Planet Picnic! I believe that these ancient, Earth-tied holidays are the perfect time to reconnect with our planet and re-new our commitment to a clean, healthy Earth. By celebrating tonight and tomorrow we continue a tradition of celebration by humans around the world that has been active for thousands of years. Check out Greenspell for excellent information on Litha-Summer Solstice :)

(Campfire fun last summer at my parent's cottage. Note Andrew's awesome batman shirt and excellent bunny ear picture pose...)

With a bonfire, smores, spider weiners and friends! Since we don't live close to a firepit (don't think the landlord people would like THAT much on our balcony!) I'm thinking roasting a few smores on our new tiny portable BBQ :) A celebratory set of Sun Salutations (perfect for a holiday that is strong with the energy of the Sun God) the following morning is the perfect finish.

On that note- check out other action-y type stuff coming up. This video posted by No Impact Man. Not quite sure exactly what it is, even after quickly checking out 350.org, or why they chose October 24th (day before my birthday!)... but whatever brings about change is good with me.

ps- the pea plants have sprouted FLOWERS!!!!! WOO!!

Whatever you chose to do, I hope you join me in a version of the Big Planet Picnic :)

Blessings!

Earth Hour: It's about Giant Pandas and Fire

Earth Hour... it was yesterday from 8:30-9:30pm. If you're not familiar with Earth Hour, it's a symbolic hour where people across the globe are encouraged to shut off their power/lights to raise awareness about global warming. This hour truly is symbolic in that shutting off power for one hour will not even make a tiny dent in the power company's profits, so the point is education. This year in many cities Earth Hour was a success, with an exception: Halifax.

The fiancé and I heard that Halifax was holding an event for Earth Hour in Parade Square with the World Wild Life Fund present. (Above picture is Halifax waterfront during Earth Hour... only a few buildings turned off their lights). We live about a 40 minute walk from down town Halifax and it was calling for -2 or -3 celcius, so walking was vetoed. Really, driving in our car to particpate in Earth Hour seemed a bit hypocritical so we checked out the public transit system. Unfortunately Halifax's transit system is so terrible that it would have been quicker for us to walk. So we drove hah! We tried to park as far away from Earth Hour to walk as much as we could, but it would seem everyone decided to each drive their nice carbon creating car and parking was impossible to find. So we parked next to Starbucks and got a horrible, non-fair traded, energy sucking lattes. 

Entering the square we were greeted by the beautiful flowing sounds of.... the Pussycat Dolls. Yep, "Don't you wish your gf" was blasting from the huge speakers surrounded by a plethora of battery operated candles, lighted buildings and tress and a ginormous projector lighting up the government building with a 60 second countdown. Hmmm. Something was definitely wrong with this picture. Tim Horton's had set up a counter and was serving free coffee... in regular non-recyclable coffee cups or these fantastic plastic, BPA ridden, reusable, non-recyclable Tim mugs. We stood there in awe of the hypocrisy (which we played our part).

There was music entertainment playing over the plugged in speaker system and when the countdown occured we stood expectantly wondering just how dark would it get. Two buildings and the tree lights were shut off. I could only see two stars. Truly the icing on the granola cake was when after five minutes without power, the emcee of this farce decided that she was going to turn the power back on for the microphone and the music. OMG. She announced the main act- a flame thrower. Ahem. I'm sure the flame thrower used fair-trade, organic gasoline in her act. This is when we left.

So- Haligonians celebrated Earth Hour, a symbolic opportunity to teach our society and children about the importance of our Earth, by drinking highly energy consuming coffee in plastic non-recyclable mugs, surrounded by street lights and chemical filled battery candles, listening to dance music being blasted over energy consuming speakers and watching a woman use gasoline and fire in her act as she shouted "Who turned off their lights??" to the crowd of people who drove their cars downtown to watch.

It was the most lame Earth Hour I have ever witnessed and I am sure the children who attended, if asked would have said that Earth Hour was about the huge Panda and a lady who throws fire. With our friends, we decided to do something for Earth Day (April 22nd) without Halifax's help. If it's warm enough we'll see about doing yoga in the park! Flame throwers are not part of the program. Neither are giant fake pandas.