Happy Earth Day!  Today we celebrate this gorgeous planet that we live on.  Mother Earth nurtures us with invaluable life giving gifts of food, water, air, and abundant beauty.  Taking a moment from our busy schedules to take in the breathtaking beauty of nature is calming, healing, and nurturing to our souls.

Watching a sunrise or sunset is uniquely stunning each time.  The colorful blossoms each spring, and outstanding autumn leaves bring so much vibrant energy to our lives.  The beige, black, and red sand beaches provide so much peace to our bodies.  Green filled mountainscapes free our spirits, while open meadows and valleys share the unlimited space with our sky to remind us that there are no boundaries or limitations in our lives while we are living on earth.

When our life is challenging us with unrelenting circumstances, it’s nature that balances us.

The planet needs detoxing just as our bodies do.  When we take care of our bodies for the long run, we are healthy and can enjoy life.  When we have the philosophy of "we only live once it doesn't matter" therefore take ill care of our bodies, we usually pay for it down the line.  On the other hand when we nurture our mental, emotional, and physical bodies, we feel in alignment with life, and naturally the same goes for the planet. Here are some ideas on how we can take better care of our environment.

1.  Vote Eco-Friendly Daily with Your Money

Whether you believe in the power of voting politically or not, we actually vote with how we spend our money every day.  Since our world has decided that money is a prime dictator, we can advocate what we feel is most important based on what we spend our money on daily.  Buying organic, sustainable, fair trade, and eco-friendly products and services will create more of a demand for those items and more large companies and corporations will follow suit.  

I believe that large corporations make changes based on what is lucrative for them.  If we don’t support corporations that violate people through sweatshops, use animals testing, and abuse the planets resources, they’ll have to change their practices to continue to profit. How you spend your money can have a great influence.

2.  Support Local Organic Farmers

The food industry is massive simply because as a collective we no longer grow our own food.  In many cases we have no idea who grows the food we eat every day.  We just buy food from our grocery stores.  The people that we come in contact with when we buy our food may have stocked the food on the shelves, yet had no hand in actually growing the food we eat.

If you shop at local farmer's markets, you can meet some of the people who work on the farms and/or work closely with those people who grow the food you eat.  You can then support the organic local farmers in your area.  Purchasing organic food at farmer's markets is much more economical anyway.  

If shopping at farmer's markets don't work for your schedule, search for organic produce delivery services in your area, and shop organic at your local grocery stores.  It’s vital to your health to eat organic food not only because of pesticides, but to avoid genetically modified foods which is literally eating unknown toxic substances.  Read more about GMO foods.

3.  Shop Less but also Consignment, Thrift, Fair Trade & Organic

Shopping is time consuming.  When I used to shop recreationally, I was actually wasting time and my creative energy.  I also wasn't aware that the things that I was purchasing were only temporary joys cluttering my home.

When I began my minimalist lifestyle journey the winter of 2009, I became more aware of my unhealthy shopping habits.  I began downsizing my possessions and therefore not even desiring to shop recreationally.  I also began putting more energy into creating content for this site and creating DIY beauty recipes products.  My former shopping time and energy was refocused into a creative and sharing website.  We all have unique gifts to share with the world!

I do enjoy shopping consignment and thrift stores because I know that shopping this way has the lowest carbon footprint on the planet, and the lowest financial imprint on my wallet.  I enjoy purchasing fair trade and organic products that support small businesses and communities who need it.  I now shop in a very conscious way, and not in excess.

4.  Reuse, Recycle & Avoid Excessive Plastic Packaging/Bags

Recycling has become easier to do, yet I like to purchase items in containers that can be reused as well.  Many of the glass jars from coconut oil become the containers to store my organic herbs and other natural ingredients.  I also use these glass jars as a water bottle in a pinch.

Avoiding excessive plastic packaging is actually easier to do when you buy fresh organic food.  The less processed foods you buy, the less plastic packaging you’ll have.  You can use reuseable produce bags like these ones for small produce items.  You can also use cute reusable and expandable grocery bags everywhere you shop.  I keep reusable shopping bags in my car at all times.  I’m still human though and if I forget, I forgive myself and move on.  Keeping a small expandable bag in my purse really does make it easier not forget though.

5.  Stop Using Chemicals in Personal Care & Cleaning Products

One of the reasons I stopped using even "natural" hair conditioners is because I realized that although some of the ingredients in these products weren’t toxic, they were in fact polluting our water supply.  There really is no such thing as "new" water.  The water that we drink, bath, and feel on our skin when it rains is the same water than our ancestors drank, bathed in, and felt on their skin in the rain.  The difference is that now we must use special machines, filters, etc. to purify the water the best that we can to make it safe to drink and bath in.

Water is precious and it’s what makes our planet is unique. Everything that we use in personal care and cleaning products return into the ecosystem and into our water.  I’ve shared DIY recipes for personal care products (skin, hair, and body) as well as for the home.  This DIY multipurpose household cleaner recipe is easy to make and extremely affordable.

Learn to read ingredients in products. Don’t be swayed by the front label of a product stating that it’s organic or natural but may include lab created unpronoucable and questionable ingredients.  For example I've seen many "natural" household cleaners that still contain synthetic detergents.

We can choose to protect ourselvers and our earth with the choices that we make daily. How will you share your love for life and the planet today?

Image by Dawn Michelle