​Spring is here and with that comes the annual celebration of our beautiful Earth. At this time of year, I notice all the brave little flowers poking up their heads through the snow or green and brown grass. Crocuses and coltsfoot are among the first. Mixed in with these flowers along the side of the road is also garbage that was buried under the snow and is now revealed. I become tempted to start picking up these items and throwing them into a garbage bag. 

It is a natural, beautiful time of year to make some gestures of good will towards the Earth who supports us in all we need for life. We all know how much the Earth needs our help right now. Taking action for the Earth doesn’t need to be costly. Here are some budget-friendly actions to consider on this beautiful day of celebration:

1) Picking up roadside or beach garbage- Invite a friend or family member, grab some garbage bags and rubber gloves, and head down to your nearest road or beach. Think of it as being like an extended Easter Egg Hunt, only you are not hunting for eggs but for trash! Check out Scotian Shores community beach clean up events for volunteers.

2) Shopping at the local farmer’s market- Not everything at the farmer’s market is expensive! Vegetables and fruits are often a comparable price to grocery store items. Save your shopping for the market and be rewarded with many pleasant interactions with neighbors, friends, and local farmers. Buy food in season and with less packaging and waste. Support a resilient local food economy.

3) Buying in bulk- There are several stores and services out there that enable us to buy food, dish washing liquid, and other things in bulk. It saves money and packaging. Search for the nearest Bulkbarn, health food store, or even drugstore (Teasdale’s Apothecary in Antigonish allows bulk buying and refillable containers). Speerville Flour Mill is an Atlantic Canada company that provides organic and bulk food at very reasonable prices. You can do group ordering to reduce the cost of shipping.

4) Writing a letter- This action costs only your time. Do you have an environmental issue that needs to be addressed? It could be anything ranging from clear-cutting of our forests to saving a park from golf development. Consider it to be a great service you can do for both the public and the planet. For ideas of campaigns to support in Nova Scotia visit Ecology Action Centre.

5) Attend an Earth Day Parade- Who said environmental activism can’t be fun? On Saturday April 22nd at 2pm a People’s Parade will be happening in Halifax. It will be a great show of creativity and love for the Earth and its people. There will be drumming, puppets, and costumes. Consider joining if you live nearby or make your own Earth Day parade by going on a walk in nature with a friend or two dressed in your favorite colourful attire!

6) Take your bicycle for a ride- Cycling is one of the most holistically healthy transportation methods that I can think of. You get exercise, you can see beautiful nature up close, and you get fresh air (as long as you’re not stuck behind a diesel truck). You power your own way to your destination, without the use of fossil fuels. Learn how to tune up your bike online or find a friendly person who can do it for you and get on the seat again!

7) Sign a petition- One of my favorite organisations for global environmental activism is Avaaz. They take on big campaigns like the next big extinction and octopus farming. Consider donating or simply signing a petition in support of one of their many great causes. It reminds us that we are not alone in our concerns and that when many people act together we can be a great force of change!

8) Eating less meat- There are many good reasons to reduce the amount of meat in our diets. Processed meats have been declared carcinogenic by the WHO and red meat as probably carcinogenic. Cattle are major emitters of greenhouse gases and the land and water needed to support their development is massive. There is also the animal rights concern. Think about the scale of factory farming of chicken or pigs needed to support enough meat to feed 8 billion plus people on the planet. Eating more vegetarian meals can save us money, reduce our environmental footprint, and help us live healthier lives.

9) Increase your home’s energy efficiency- This one takes a little investment but it can save you money in the long run! Efficiency Nova Scotia will come to your home and do an energy audit for $200. You can learn about rebates and interest-free loans that will help you to reduce heat loss. There is a Home Warming program for people with low-medium income, but you must own the home.

10) Give sustainability coaching a try- Do you struggle with climate anxiety or eco-grief? Do you have a hard time sticking to your environmental commitments? Sustainability coaching may be able to help you. A coach can help you to overcome obstacles to reaching your sustainable goals. They can guide you in creating a vision for your ideal life and help you to take small action steps in the right direction. You can learn how to live within your values. There is a free demo of sustainability coaching here.

I hope some of these actions resonated for you! I encourage you to pick one action, either on this list or from your own creative brainstorming, and to commit to doing it for Earth Day. If you want support with taking action on the eco-crisis, you know how to reach me.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this list and any Earth Day actions that you want to share. Consider liking Eco Connects on Facebook and send me a message.

All the best with your sustainable initiatives.
Happy Earth Day!

​I am an aspiring environmentalist who tries to live a lifestyle that one would consider “green”. But how green is this lifestyle really? I would like to take some time to reflect on my lifestyle and see if there are some areas with room for improvement.

The motivation for writing this article came after I drafted a description for a new crowd-funding campaign on GoFundMe that I am launching to support free sustainability coaching. It was called “Support May’s Green Dream”. But after I re-read the description, I asked myself, can I really call my dream “green”?

“Green” is a term used to reference anything remotely eco-friendly. For example, a “green” laundry detergent that is scent free. There has been a lot of green-washing in recent years, which means labeling products as green or eco-friendly without there being solid, factual reasons for calling it so.

When we are aiming to live an eco-friendly lifestyle, we need to be careful of green-washing. 

What does it mean, to be living an eco-friendly lifestyle? In my view, it is making a conscious effort to reduce one’s impact on the planet. It can include reducing plastic waste, shopping organic, shopping local, reducing driving time, reducing flights, saving water use, and so much more.

It is very difficult to live a truly eco-friendly lifestyle while living in a capitalist, western-centric society. It means making many personal sacrifices, including with relationships, time, and energy. Many privileged people expect to have all the luxuries, like hot water, varied meals, vacations, and single-family homes. Choosing to live eco-friendly is often going against the grain of what one’s peers are doing.

Many people living on a low income are forced to live more eco-friendly. For example, not being able to go on vacations or needing to grow their own food. 

I am currently a person with low income but with privileges as a European-descendant woman. My fiancé Miguel and I are living with my elderly Uncle. It works quite well for us. We do a lot of cooking, some cleaning, as well as grocery shopping, in exchange for a beautiful place to live and use of a vehicle. 

By putting off renting or buying our own place and car, we are saving many extra materials and greenhouse gases. However, is it sustainable in the long-term? Probably not. We will want our own place and car eventually.

We want to have a family some day, with one or two kids. We want to have a piece of land, a small home with some solar panels, gardens and chickens. We will need a small used vehicle. That is our dream. Is it “green”?

Miguel and I are getting married this spring! We will be having a small, simple wedding in Nova Scotia. I will be wearing a second-hand dress and our guests will all be traveling within Nova Scotia. Then, we will be going on a honeymoon and having a second wedding celebration in Colombia. It will be a chance for Miguel to visit his family and connect with his roots. I will also get to practice my Spanish!

Can you see my dilemma? Am I able to call our dream “green”, without it being green-washing? The reality is that while we are living a fairly eco-friendly lifestyle at this moment, we have dreams that involve some travel, some building, and some transportation.

My philosophy with eco-friendly living is that we are all works-in-progress. We have a baseline from which we aim to add more eco-friendly activities. We all have non-negotiable activities that are important to us, like occasional vacations or living in a single-family home. What activities can we do along WITH those non-negotiable activities to green our lifestyle?

After some more reflection, I think staying at my Uncle’s place for as long as possible is one way we can make a positive contribution to the environment. We are good companions for each other, and we share a home and vehicle. 

We could buy more food at the Farmer’s market, and choose produce that have less plastic wrapping. We could buy staples like rice or flour in bulk from Speerville or at a Bulkbarn (provided it’s not an extra trip). We could use bicycles in the spring, summer and fall for short trips to town. 

We can continue to do multi-purpose trips into town, instead of single purpose trips. We can continue to buy organic products, especially when they are %50 off. I can continue to reduce my meat consumption.

I will avoid calling my dreams “green” because I have to admit that there are some aspects of the lifestyle I want that aren’t so green, like taking a trip every few years to Colombia with my fiancé. What I can say is that I aspire to living more eco-friendly. I want to challenge myself to use less packaging, eat less meat, and drive less. 

Having a low income can be a blessing when it comes to living more eco-friendly, but it is also a great burden for many people. I hope that in the coming weeks and months I can help people find ways to make green-living more affordable, and even generate some extra savings.