Happy Earth Day!
April 22, 2024
Earth Day and Earth Week are here! This day and week have been part of a movement going since 1970. This year’s theme is “Planet vs Plastics”. There are a lot of organizations posting about Earth Day and asking what it means to you and to share your photos or memories. I wanted today’s blog to ask you those questions, but to also provide some resources and a few easy things you can do to help contribute positively to Earth Day, Earth Week, and every day of the year! I also wanted to take a little deeper dive into what this day actually means and how we, as individuals, can keep the movement going for more than just the month of April. I hope you’ll read on and take action!
If you are interested in reading more about how Earth Day got started and the direction it’s heading now…you may want to read Outside Magazine’s take on it. You can view the article here. The article highlights the strong origins of this day and how it has turned into a marketing event for a lot of large companies that know exactly what to say to us as consumers, but have no intention of backing up their words with actions that actually benefit us or our planet.
Outside Magazine has additional articles about Earth Day that are worth reading, and you can find all of them here. Outside Magazine also compiled a quick list of 5 mistakes you may be making when recycling and how you can make simple changes to make it easier. The top 5 mistakes people make when recycling are:
1- Recycling film plastic - this includes plastic bags, Amazon package envelopes, zip-lock type bags, bubble wrap, etc. The easiest way to do better is to NOT put these items in your recycling, whether its curbside or at a community bin. Unfortunately, I see A LOT of people who think they are doing the right thing by taking recycling to a community bin, but they just throw their plastic trash bag of recycling into the bin. You should empty the trash bag contents and then recycle or throw away the trash bag. There are a couple other solutions too- you can take your soft plastics to many grocery/department store drop-offs. Locally to Colorado I know King Soopers, Walmart, and Target all take these items. Next time you want to recycle, be mindful of keeping your soft plastics OUT of the bin.
2 - Unrinsed containers - this simple step is a huge help for recycling plants and workers. Keep in mind, dirty containers clog up machinery, pose health risks to workers (think spoiled food items, mold, bacteria, and smells), plus, food draws in unwanted guests like mice, rats, ants, and other insects that are also a risk to workers. Always rinse your recyclables!
3 - Rigid plastics - make sure you are putting the right kinds of plastics in your recycling. You can do your part to quickly research what is recyclable in your area by putting your address in on the Carton Council website to find out what you can put in your bin. Remember, things like storage bins, footwear, pens, sunglasses, toys, etc. are not appropriate to put in your recycling. Instead, think about donating items or trashing them.
4 - Scrap metal - keep your recycling bin safe by only putting food & drink metals in it. Things like razor blades, silverware, wire hangers, bottle caps, and metal jar lids are sharp and hazardous to workers. They can also get caught up in recycling equipment and cause extensive damage.
5 - Batteries - these should never go in the trash or recycling! Batteries can leak and cause environmental damage, or worse, explode and cause fires or severe damage to people and facilities. Instead, you can save up old batteries and do a store drop-off, or you can use a service like Ridwell, which takes hard to recycle items (like soft plastic, rigid plastic, batteries, light bulbs, and more!), plus Ridwell is giving you a free month of service in honor of Earth Day. I use Ridwell and am so grateful they have helped me recycle more items that I didn’t want to put in my trash bin. I highly recommend them!
These 5 things are easy to fix and can have a lasting impact on our future and our ability to recycle. Please consider taking a look at your recycling practices and update them if needed to make recycling better for our planet! I know I learned a couple things and I will put them into practice with this week’s recycling, and beyond.
Now, my blog wouldn’t be complete without some advocacy for our wildlife friends too. This is such a large topic and one that is hard to put into a quick blog, but I do hope you will be mindful of your actions as well as which candidates & companies you support. A little research can go a long way in helping you make an informed decision about where your money ends up. We the people still have power, so let’s use it!
For this Earth Day, I want to advocate for my bird friends (I know, you didn’t see that one coming, haha). Seriously, though, birds are really important. If you do a quick Google search, you can easily find information about why they are so important:
One of the biggest issues our birds face right now, during migration, is building collisions. Audubon Society estimates over 1 billion birds could die due to colliding with a building. There has been significant research and advocacy done to make more buildings bird friendly, especially in big cities, so that migrating birds don’t have to meet their untimely death with these collisions. There is a great resource article on the Audubon Website about making buildings more friendly and keeping lights off to aid birds that are migrating at night. I highly recommend reading it and thinking about your own actions at home in making sure your windows are bird friendly (keep blinds closed and putting stickers on windows, along with turning lights off at night if they aren’t needed).
I also enjoyed spending time at 4Noses Brewery over the weekend in support of Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance. As you may remember, Don and I attended a presentation they gave at the Denver Audubon Kingery Nature Center in March. I would encourage you to go back to that blog to learn about how you can help our local wildlife, especially if they get into trouble, and how you can support this great local cause as part of Earth Day, and every day. You can read the blog here. See a photo of their special American Kestrel animal ambassador below!
American Kestrel, ambassador for Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance - at 4Noses Brewery on April 20, 2024
There are many more issues that could be talked about for today, but I’ll leave you instead with this peaceful encounter I had yesterday of a cow moose and her yearling calf grazing in Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park - it’s MOOSE MONDAY after all…. :-)
Cow moose catching up with her yearling, in Sprague Lake - at Rocky Moutain National Park, April 2024
I hope you’ll think about Earth Day and take action for our planet. If you have ideas you’d like to share with my other readers, send me a message and I’d be happy to compile ideas into another blog in the future. The more we spread awareness, the better our planet will be.