5 Ways to Love Planet Earth Back

You’ve probably heard the quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”. It’s accredited to Mahatma Gandhi, though we’ve learned that actually isn’t true; however the sentiment is still very inspiring. Either way, it causes for us to become more aware of our role and responsibility to the issues of our planet and what we should be doing to preserve it today and for the generations to come. Having just celebrated Earth Day last week, its caused us to pause and think of all the ways we’re pursuing to love planet earth back. It gives us so much, so why wouldn’t we want to imaginarily hug it in any way we can?! We encourage everyone to do their part and have eco-conscious practices. These are some of our favorite ways to do just that.

1. Volunteer
Dive right in and get amongst it! In every community there are many ways to donate your time. Here in Hawaii there are a lot of coastline focused initiatives, like beach clean-ups. Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii makes it easy for you to get involved, and even how to initiate and organize a clean-up of your own. More info here!

2. Support
When you’re not donating your time, support planet earth loving organizations through financial contributions. There are so many people passionate about the preservation of both our land and our oceans, and one of our favorite groups is Save The Waves Coalition. Their annual Life Is A Wave Fundraiser in San Fransisco California is coming up and is always an epic way to support. Purchase your tickets here!

3. Go Green At Home
Turn off your lights when you’re not in that room, shut down your computer monitors [ sleeping it still uses energy ], unplug unused appliances, wash your clothes in cold water [ up to 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water ], take shorter showers, and make your own non-toxic cleaning products to save money, packaging, and increase air quality.

4. Start A Plastic Swear Jar
This Past Earth Day, Swell Voyage and Changing Tides Foundation challenged their followers to participate in 7 days without ‘single-use plastics’. With an estimated one refuse truck’s-worth of plastic is dumped into our oceans every minute, every one of us can do better at eliminating plastics from our routine, we’re sure of it. You can learn how to start a jar in your home, here!

5. Buy Local Organic Foods
Your eating habits use energy, too. With most food and produce being imported from an average of 1500 miles away, and even farther here in Hawaii, we love to support our local organic farmers and shop close to home whenever possible. Local farmers markets, co-ops or community supported agriculture is a delicious way to love planet earth in your hometown. And don’t forget to take along your reusable cloth bag or basket!