Today is a big day, it's World Environment Day! To be honest I had no idea and no plan to celebrate it. In the morning when I opened my Twitter feed, my crafter friends were already tweeting about it, that's how I found out.
World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated on 5 June every year, and is the United Nations' principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of the environment. First held in 1974, it has been a flagship campaign for raising awareness on environmental issues emerging from marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. World Environment Day has grown to become a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually. source
At the beginning of the year as a resolution I said starting from this year I have to make everything in my power to protect nature, stop waste, recycle, reuse, repurpose as much a I can.
Things were going well, I was carrying my own canvas bags shopping to be able to refuse plastic bags, was even able to find a place where I could drop off the recyclable waste as there were no containers in the city. Then all hell broke lose, covid-19 has changed everything. From protecting nature, our focus shifted and protecting our life became the main focus.
Don't get me wrong, I still did what i could but as our freedom being restricted severely, I could no longer take the recyclable waste to the supermarket, where I found the bins I could use. Many times instead of using my own canvas bags and wash them after, i preferred the easy way and took plastic bags and throw them away after. I know, shame on me and believe me, I don't feel good.
However, things have changed since then. Now that we can move freely, no affidavit is needed to go somewhere, I can do a lot more for myself, my environment and the planet. Since then I discovered a place in my neighborhood where there's a bin for plastic and another for paper and I'm collecting these again and taking what I have there.
Those of you who are following my blog know that I'm making bags out of old jeans and shirts, basically upcycling them, giving them a new life. It's a hobby that can be turned into something more in time. It's a hobby that helps me stop waste, reuse and repurpose different fabrics that are not in use anymore. It's fun but also useful as well.
As I said in the beginning of my post, I'm following a few crafters on Twitter as their work is motivating me. I'm amazed how many things you can do and how little it takes to do the right thing. There's a British woman who's making bags out of cot offs she gets from a carpenter. These cot offs were thrown away to the garbage before she stepped in to reuse them. Now she's repurposing them and many people are happy to use those bags. Wait, this is not all. She's using recycled wrapping to send the bags to the buyer and she's offering recycled, handmade gift wraps as well.
During the lockdown celebrating birthdays was out of the question. The only way to get someone a gift and hand it over was to order something that is delivered. Her idea of offering gift wraps to buyers came in handy for sure.
She's not the only good example you can find out there. There are plenty who are doing the right thing, you just have to pay attention.
There are so many things we can do to make our lives better and leave a clean and healthy environment to the next generation. A little time and attention, that's all you need to contribute. My plan is to continue what I've started and try to do even more if possible and also raise awareness and help others do the right thing.
What about you? What are you doing to save the planet?
