Earth Day Project

22 April 2019
It is exactly 1 year since my last Everies Blog post -- and the topic is just as fitting for this combined Earth Day/Easter Monday as it was last year! Enjoy:

How would you like to use this year’s Earth Day to begin longer-term better habits for a healthier Earth?
If that sounds encouraging, here’s a project you can do within a week or so that will help now as well as preparing you for actions that might require bigger effort, such as significant changes to your lifestyle or dwelling.
 
Here are the ‘easy’ steps:
1. Read over the recycling calendar/pamphlet your local council sends you every year – if you don’t have one, contact your council & ask for one or view the information on their website.
2. Declutter your home* with special attention to such recyclables, setting them aside in their separate categories with a dated sticky-note on for when you’ll take them to their appropriate disposal drop-off point.
                *Do this to the level that is practical for your level of overall clutter. As a guide if either recycling or decluttering are not typical activities for you, limit yourself to a once-over, picking up whatever you see as you walk around your home spotting recyclable clutter. The idea is to get the hang of it and contribute something for the planet. Even a small range of individual items will get you started thinking in recycling types. The main thing is to practice what you read in the recycling calendar.
3. Place any routine recyclables in your recycling collection bin.
4. Diarise remaining disposals, staying realistic about when you can travel to each drop-off point or get someone to pick them up for you.
5. Stick to your diarised plans.
 
The harder steps, adapted from my Re-Vibe Checklist:
Do a little decluttering (to the best of your current organising skills) in each of these areas:
1. Material clutter

• E.g., any polluting ‘stuff’

2. Orderliness of activities, processes and flows

• E.g., clunky kitchen arrangements that make you tend to buy more processed food than necessary

3. Time management

• E.g., hectic shopping schedules that make it impossible to really read labels on purchases

4. General household harmony or discord

• E.g., anything at all in the house which provokes disagreements that get in the way of bigger thinking – might require some imagination ;-) but even gentle adjustments can make a big difference

5. Physical comfort inside or outside the home

• E.g., now that it’s getting cooler (here in WA), plan winter wardrobe updates that will keep you cosy enough without the heater on too often.

​I’ve given 1 example of decluttering in each area that would suit this Earth Day theme, but you can choose anything that fits your circumstances. 

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Whatever decluttering you do,
just remember to dispose of throwaways appropriately!