The Making of a Rabidly Green Earthgirl by Heather Michet
“Hey Karen?!” asks my 85-year-old friend Ralph.
“Yes, pop,” she replies.
“Do you suppose Heather was a hippie?”
Karen smiles broadly, answering “Dad…Heather IS a hippie!!”
I don’t know what qualified me as a hippie in Ralph’s eyes, but it may have been how closely and mindfully I live on the earth.
Living through the California drought in the ‘70s, the energy crises of the same decade, and the first Earth Day absolutely shaped the way I choose to live my life. But these weren’t the first influencers to bring my awareness to an earth-loving way of life.
Becoming an earthgirl, aka hippie, began at a young age when I was in my grandparents’ garden, bringing in the hay on the farm, crafting forts in the woods with my cousins, riding my bike and so much more. Through all of these joys and pleasures, I was in direct contact with the earth, grounding as we call it today, surrounded by the multitude of wonders in plants, animals, and the elements.
The magic I witnessed in Nature fascinated me, and instilled a passion for lifelong learning, curiosity, and being outside every chance I could to not miss a whisper of that magic!
Through the years, I’ve gained an ever-deepening love and respect for this place we all call Home. Since we tend and care for what we love, I want to be part of the solution anytime issues threaten our beloved planet.
And as new “crises” come to light, each with their own challenges to our Home’s health (including our own), the opportunities to be part of the solution keep adding up.
So What Exactly Do I Do To Live Lightly on the Earth?
A few of the practices I follow are:
Water:
* I use the same “color coded toilet flushing” rule I learned in the California drought: If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.
* Dish rinsing water goes on outdoor plants in the warm/dry weather and flushes toilets in the winter
* Short showers and not showering every day
* I use a Multipure water filter: no bottled water for this earthgirl! The process of making bottled water wastes an enormous amount of water and the resulting water is laden with health damaging toxins. Both the earth and I are healthier for this practice.
Forests:
* I use cloth towels and napkins. I haven’t purchased paper towels in over 30 years.
* All paper that comes into the house (very little as I have virtually no junk mail) is used for scratch or printer paper: use those blank sides! If the paper is decorative, it gets used for art projects. All other papers are recycled. (See Robin Weaver’s fabulous post An Unexpected Way to Save Trees for the steps you can take to make a huge impact by eliminating your junk mail.)
* When the Covid TP crisis hit (eyeball roll), I was motivated to enact something I’d wanted to do for a long while: I made washable cloth [butt] wipes. If this practice creeps you out or makes you cringe, dear reader, 1) you were never exposed to cloth diapers and diaper pails, and 2) you’ve not driven by zillions of acres of clearcut forests, a lot of whose tree fibers go to make toilet paper to wipe your bottom. Approximately 27,000 trees are cut down every day just to make toilet paper.
Plastic:
* No plastic water bottles. This bears repeating.
* Cloth and crocheted bags for all shopping, not just groceries.
* I purchase food in bulk whenever possible, using my own containers
Too Much?
When hearing about some of my practices a few years ago, someone snarkily remarked: “Don’t you think that’s a bit much? Isn’t that going too far?” I replied: Did the Earth provide us with air and food then declare that we were on our own for water? No, she provides us with everything. She’s our home, grocery store, and pharmacy. Why wouldn’t you want to do all you can to take care of your lifeline?
After this interaction and reviewing all of the earth-loving steps I take, I dubbed myself a rabidly green earthgirl!
What Do You Think?
How are you contributing to the solution?
What else might you be able to do?
“It’s not about perfection. It’s about making better choices.” ~ Kathryn Kellogg
“Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what’s the use of seeing?” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
I really hope this rabidly green earthgirl has infected and inspired you with some new perspectives and tips for living mindfully and sustainably on our dear Mother Earth.
Suggested resources: Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
Waste Not: Make a Big Difference by Throwing Away Less by Erin Rhoads
101 Ways to go Zero Waste by Kathryn Kellogg
Listen to her music on YouTube
Read about her Ceremonial Songstressing at Purple Crow Sings
Learn about her wellness tools and services rooted in nature at Iris Healing Arts
8 comments:
Heather, thank you for sharing how to become or at least move in the direction of an Earthgirl hippie. I'm not as conscientious as you are. I do have trash pickup every 4 - 5 months instead of once a month much less every two weeks. I've heard of a company, Ridley(?), and want to check them out. 99% of my trash is plastic lids/film. I reuse the plastic bags from dry cleaners in my in-house recycling bin or the plastic wrap around toilet paper...yes, I do use it instead of butt wipes.
Having said that, I do believe that we are all responsible for seeing our home, our mother earth through these times, nurturing her back to health.
Great blog post! Enjoyed reading about your solutions to pollution.
Great tips, Heather! I have been using cloth napkins for years. I avoid plastic water bottles and take-out coffee containers whenever I can. I bring my own beg when shopping. We compost food waste. I've started using the in-bulk store, beginning with oatmeal, quinoa, and rice, and I'm adding more things to my routine.
I agree that we can all do something. And if it feels more conformable to start small and add better habits as you go, that's okay, too. Whatever it takes to help the planet, and ourselves.
Thank you for all the tips, Heather! Here are my tips for conserving water and paper. When I need to give my pets fresh water, I water my houseplants with their stale water. I cut up worn-out cotton clothes that are too bad to donate into rags that I use instead of paper towels for housecleaning. They work great! I also use a mop that has washable terry cloth covers instead of disposable pads. I wash the covers with the rags.
Dear Judith - Thank you for reading and commenting, but mostly for inviting me to be a guest writer on RtG!! There are no admonishments or comparisons for anyone taking steps to live a more conscious and earth-loving life...as you are. I love that you have reduced your landfill waste to where you have pickup only 2 times(ish :)) per year!!
The company you are thinking of is Ridwell. I highly recommend looking into a subscription with them and doing so with one or two nearby neighbors. Dear friends of mine have done just that and they are THRILLED with the services Ridwell offers.
I applaud you for your awareness, the responsibility that you take and ALL of the steps you've already enacted.
Bless you for your gift of presence here on our dear Mother Earth.
Thank you, Diana, for reading my post and for your kind words about it. I'm glad you found it helpful/useful.
Dear Lynn - You are a responsible recycling and moving-to-zero-waste Rockstar!! Thank you for sharing so many of the steps you are actively doing, but most of all, DOing them.
You are spot on that each of us needs to start where we can in adopting aware earth-care actions. Sustainable change is the only thing that works, and that starts with not biting off more than we can do at one time.
As you said: Whatever it takes...
Thank you so much for reading and commenting on my post.
Healthful blessings to you and your beloveds.
Hi Sarah! Your water and paper conserving tips are brilliant. (I, too, use my cats' stale drinking water for houseplants and thirsty outdoor ones.) I so appreciate you sharing them with everyone here on the blog.
Together, we all effect great change when we do what we can to live lightly and mindfully on our dear planet. By doing so, we model, teach and inspire others who witness our ways of living.
Thank you for reading my post and for telling us about your great resource conserving actions here in the comments.
Healthfully yours.
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