TODAY, APRIL 22, marks Earth Day, a day to focus on our planet, the environment and ways we, individually and globally, can protect both.
This day gives me pause to reflect on an event which began in 1970, when I was nearing young adulthood. I remember the anti-litter campaigns, the energy shortage and even Earth Shoes. Fifty-two years later, the focus has shifted to clean energy, Zero Waste and climate change.
But, taking it down to a personal level, what am I doing to honor the spirit and intent of Earth Day on a daily basis? Some examples follow. What are you doing?
WHEN I WORE FEED SACKS
I recognize that some of what I do is rooted in my past, where reuse was popular long before it became hip. For example, as a child I wore clothing stitched from feed sacks. Not all clothes, of course, but enough that I remember. Clothing was handed down the line from oldest to youngest siblings and sometimes among cousins. Whenever I got new clothes in my youth, they were either from the sales rack or sewn by my godmother or, later as a teen, by me. When I had children, most of their clothing came from garage sales. To this day, I dislike clothes shopping and gravitate to the discount rack. And, yes, I still occasionally buy second-hand. My approach to apparel is, I figure, earth-friendly.
Likewise when it comes to laundry, I either line dry outdoors or on a rack inside. To me hanging laundry isn’t a chore. I love the methodical rhythm of clipping laundry to the line early in the morning, then pulling it off when the sun has dried the clothes, towels, sheets… In the process, I’ve saved energy by not using my electric dryer.
SAVE THE BOWS, PLEASE, & THE CARDS
I also save and reuse gift bags, tissue paper and ribbons/bows. Through the years, I’ve taken a lot of ribbing for that practice. But, frankly, I don’t care. Tossing those items seems wasteful to me. And I am simply following the example set by my mother who, Christmas to Christmas, saved and reused tissue, ribbons, bows and carefully-folded wrapping paper. (We didn’t get birthday gifts.) I don’t reuse paper. Mom’s reasons for reuse were not necessarily rooted in the environment, but rather in finances. Wrapping paper and all the embellishments cost money. She also saved Christmas cards, repurposing them as gift tags, something I also do.
BREAD BAGS & PEACH PAPER
I also follow Mom’s example of washing and reusing plastic food storage bags. I don’t save bread bags, though. While growing up, I slid bread bags over my feet before slipping into boots. The bags kept my feet dry and warm, especially if my rubber boots leaked.
Thankfully I don’t need to repurpose the tissue from individually-wrapped crated peaches as toilet paper in the outhouse. Yes, I grew up using an outhouse in the warm weather months and a pot on the porch in the winter because our old farmhouse didn’t have a bathroom. I am quite appreciative of the small solo bathroom in my current house.
OLD IS JUST FINE WITH ME
The one other area in which I’ve really focused on reuse is furniture. I just counted all the furniture pieces in the six rooms on our main level. Of the 20 pieces, we’ve purchased only five new—the sofa, recliner, entertainment center and my office desk and chair. The dining room table and chairs came from two auctions 40 years ago. Other furniture either came from garage sales or from family. Even our bedroom ensemble—hideous 1950s blonde—is used. Not the mattress or boxspring. In the two second floor bedrooms, all of the furniture is second-hand.
RECYCLED ART, OH, HOW I LOVE THEE
And then there’s art. I love art and own a stash of it thanks to thrift stores, garage sales, the local recycled art sale and my mom. My “newest” pieces are “Jesus, the Good Shepherd” and “Jesus Knocks,” wedding gifts to my parents in 1954. Budget-friendly sources of art have allowed me to curate pieces I love in an earth-friendly way.
Now, I’d like to hear from you. How do you honor the spirit and intent of Earth Day in your daily life? Let’s learn from one another about ways we can reuse, repurpose, recyle, upcycle, reduce waste…
© Copyright 2022 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Wonderful post in honor of this very important day. This is a huge part of my ongoing teaching of the kinder and in my fam as well. Respect and care for the earth is all important
Thank you for teaching those kinders, especially, to respect and care for the earth.
it’s my pleasure to do so –
Your take on laundry is interesting! Happy Earth Day! Always nice to see you’re saving energy by not using an electric dryer.
I really DO love hanging laundry on the line. I love the fresh scent, too, of sheets dried outdoors.
I’ll check in with washing and reusing plastic bags, but bread bags get the cat litter. Absolutely no stranger to second hand stores. Our church is the WA Cty Resource Ctr who runs a “shopping experience” store that I now donate to. Furniture? newest thing in this house is the computer. Anyone else still dry outside? Good for you! I have a neighbor that runs a line from house to patio fence for bedding. Heaven help our Earth, needs all our prayers.
I have a friend in Rochester who, like me, is adamant about drying laundry outdoors. She appreciates the act of hanging laundry, like I do.
Good for your church to serve as a resource center. Whenever I have something to get rid of, I either donate or set on the curb. Living along an arterial street nearly guarantees someone will take whatever I set out. On Sunday my nephew is dropping by with his family to see if they want a wardrobe unit and other items I no longer need. I’ve been in a purge and cleaning frenzy this past week. I don’t want to leave a bunch of “stuff” for my kids to sort through some day.
Great post. Consume less. Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle. I love thrift shopping too if it’s something that can be washed well. No fabric surfaces that are too big for the washing machine. I also hang dry as much laundry as possible
We are definitely on the same page. Thanks for doing your part and Happy Earth Day!
Loving your post today 🙂 It really got me thinking what I do. I reuse gift bags, tissue paper, cards, etc. We certainly recycle as much as we can from the household. We have updated the lighting, electric, windows, exterior doors, appliances, and HVAC to be more energy efficient. I do not like when an appliance goes down but we make sure the company takes the old one when the new one is delivered. We have donated some of the home reno items to the Habitat for Humanity store. We have people that pick up metal to scrap for monies. Doing a home renovation really makes you think about the waste and what is done with it. Here’s to doing our part to make our world a better and safer and cleaner place to live. Happy Earth Day – Happy Weekend – Enjoy!
Renee, thank you for all you are doing to recycle and protect this planet. I like, especially, that you donated to the Habitat for Humanity store during your renovations.
I take reusable shopping bags to the grocery store and for other shopping. It’s not a big thing but the more people who do it, the less plastic gets into the environment. Most stores in California charge for plastic bags now. Also so many plastic containers from lunch meat, etc. can be reused tens of times, instead of thrown away immediately. When we were growing up, we always tried to bake several items in the oven at the same time to save on gas or electricity. I still do that if I can. It’s all about being thoughtful, not wasteful. Thanks for getting us thinking!
You’re right, Bernadette. It’s about being thoughtful, not wasteful. Using reusable bags is one way to make a difference. Thank you for doing that.
Your memories of your mom saving and reusing holiday wrapping supplies reminded me of my own mom – we saved paper and ribbons from year to year, too, until they were too ratty to reuse. I don’t save the paper much anymore – I do save the ribbons and gift bags, though. For other ways of cutting back on waste, I take shopping bags to the grocery store – I have a nice stash of cloth bags – and I have a stash of silicon zip-lock bags I reuse over and over for food storage, along with reusable “shower cap” style bowl covers that replace plastic wrap. Several years ago, we swapped out all our lightbulbs for LEDs, which use far less energy than any other kind of bulb. And we’ve cut back on eating beef.
Kathleen, thank you for sharing those specific ways you are helping our earth. All great ideas. And it’s “nice” to hear that I’m not the only one who saves ribbons and gift bags.