When we’re feeling overwhelmed or filled with despair about the state of the world and our earth, what do we do? Pour our lives into whatever it means to be as close to the earth as possible, suggests Lydia Wylie-Kellermann. Here are some ideas… do one. Do them all. Write your own list. Change a few things. Change everything.
- Research where your trash goes. Visit if you can.
- Bike.
- Dig up your lawn and plant native plants.
- Use grey water to flush your toilet.
- Harvest wild edibles along your walks.
- Write a love letter to your favorite body of water.
- Hang a bird feeder.
- Find a tree to share your secrets with.
- Carry a stone in your pocket.
- Learn beekeeping.
- Buy a farm share.
- Buy local.
- Learn some more names of your neighbors.
- Throw a funeral for a fallen sparrow.
- Stop shopping on Amazon.
- Put your phone away.
- Ask to borrow a couple of eggs from a neighbor.
- Slow down.
- Work less.
- Squander time outside.
- Join mutual aid projects.
- Learn the principles of environmental justice.
- Make plans for your own death.
- Host a clothing swap party.
- Join Freecycle. Find a free store.
- Write poetry.
- Show up when young people call for protests.
- Gather wildflowers for your kitchen.
- Compost.
- Mend clothes.
- Host potlucks.
- Use the library.
- Learn from Indigenous organizing in your area.
- Read the newspaper.
- Follow the lead of children.
- Eat less meat. Eat no meat.
- Stop buying bottled water.
- Repair your toaster.
- Learn your ancestry.
- Hang laundry.
- Make homemade gifts.
- Quit your job and find a way to do what you love.
- Save seeds from your vegetable garden.
- Write 10 things you are grateful for each day.
- Say you are sorry to the blue whale and the snow leopard and the red panda.
- Take a nap.