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Writer's pictureNoe Heivanui

Tips for Earth Day

Updated: Jun 17, 2020




Earth Day - today is the 50th year that we celebrate it.

The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. The enormous challenge — but also the vast opportunities — of action on climate change have distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary.

Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable.


That is one thing I am really proud of about Maui. You divide your recyclables at home, you put it on the curb and it gets picked up just like your trash gets picked up. When I came here to New York, I was shocked to see that those services didn't exist. There are recycling centers but most people don't recycle - their life is so busy they don't have the energy to recycle then drive to the nearest recycling center and dispose of their recyclables.


But really there are a few ways to honor our Earth such as adopting a more sustainable lifestyle, upcycling, banning the use of plastic like they do in San Francisco, replanting trees that otherwise get chopped up into barren plots of lands that could use some trees, composting, Working in real estate, I see so many trees getting chopped up to make room for new mansions and luxury homes. Why not uproot those trees and replant them somewhere else where trees are needed? Because it costs more than just destroying the trees. And then we parade around celebrating Earth Day - isn't completely hypocritical of us? Mind you I am just as guilty.


I am guilty of not doing my part - I get lazy sometimes and don't recycle. I don't upcycle all the time either, and I don't compost anymore. And yet I know I should; I love this planet, I adore Mother Earth, but don't show it all the time. I look to EarthDay.org to see how I can contribute better with daily small actions. If you are interested, they feature Daily Actions to participate in the efforts to honor Earth Day and more.


I would love to read your thoughts on that? What do you do to contribute to our Earth's wellbeing? Many speculate that Covid-19 is Gaia's way of telling us to treat her better. Do you agree that our mistreatment of her contributed to the global pandemic we are facing right now?


I would like to conclude this entry by sharing with you the following poem by Joy Harjo, which describes how I am feeling about Earth Day today - April 23, 2020:



“Remember”


Remember the sky that you were born under,

Know each of the star’s stories.

Remember the moon, know who she is.

Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the strongest point of time.

Remember sundown and the giving away to night.

Remember your birth, how your mother struggled

To give you form and breath. You are evidence of Her life, and her mother’s, and hers.

Remember your father.

He is your life, also.

Remember the earth whose skin you are:

Red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth,

Brown earth, we are earth.

Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too.

Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems.

Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the origin of this universe.

Remember you are all people and all people are you.

Remember you are this universe and this universe is you.

Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.

Remember language comes from this.

Remember the dance language is, that life is.

Remember."


HAPPY EARTH DAY 2020🌈🌎🌳🌻☀️🌏



*Photo Credit@richardmarksphoto

 

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