The Future Is Now

In my latest F Word Friday, F Words That Inspire #48, I talked about how the future can be brought into the now.  One second from now is the future.  What we do now affects our future, and thus our now.

I recently read Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard, the Founder of Patagonia.  He recently donated his $3 billion company to fight climate change. This book was life changing for me.  It really hit home how we humans MUST make changes to save our planet, and thus our civilization, NOW.

I didn’t realize that it takes 140 gallons of water to make ONE T-shirt, that the dyes in our clothes contain toxic chemicals that are killing us and our planet. I know this is not a popular topic, but it is of utmost importance! Each and everyone of us must take responsibility for our future and our earth.

Take a moment to think about what changes you can make, today, to alleviate global warming. We will all certainly need to make huge changes. It’s important to start somewhere, so start with something small, today.  Here are some simple suggestions, that if we ALL do, it will make a difference:

Hang your clothes out to dry.  We put a clothesline in our garage a few years ago.  It cut our utility bill substantially before we had solar.

• Don’t waste water
• Plant a garden
• Eat less meat

Buy clothes from Companies that do NOT use toxic chemicals or dyes (Patagonia is one!)

Start switching to soaps, detergents and toothpaste that don’t come in plastic containers - Amazon has tons of products: soaps, reusable bags, toothpaste tablets, bamboo straws, etc.  
Combine your purchases into one order to reduce carbon emissions. Yes, these products are more expensive, but is there any price too high to save our planet?

Google “zero waste swaps”

Take a few minutes to think about how you eat, dress, commute, and consume.  Decide to be conscious of the footprint you create, make the necessary changes.
Think about eating foods that are GMO.  Pesticides are put INTO THE seeds. What is it doing to your body?  The following countries have banned GMO’s: France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Poland, Denmark, Malta, Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia. Stop supporting GMO products.

Bigger goals:

• Get solar on your home
• Buy an electric car
• Reduce the number of cars in your household, do you really need 3 or 5?

Donate to organizations that are making a difference. Yesterday I wrote checks to Earth Justice and  The Trust for Public Land.  If you donate by the end of the year, your donation will be matched to make an even bigger difference.

Other trusted organizations: 

• Xerces Society
• Friends of the Earth

Think about what kind of world you want to leave your children and grandchildren.  Or if you are still young, what kind of world do you want to live in the future, 40 years from now?  The future is NOW.

It’s my sincere desire that the tone you hear in this post comes across as my passion to save our planet.  I’m not promoting criticism, only change!

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