Earth Day: An Important Message

As you all may have figured, a day like today has me feeling like a 6 year-old on Christmas Day; I feel like a teenager going on my first date; I feel like... you get the idea! HAPPY AWESOME EARTH DAY!!! 
The earth is the place where we live, where we get our food, where we get to enjoy the wonderful pleasures of life, memories (good & bad), and best of all, it provides the right atmosphere for us to even breathe (the most essential part of our survival). However, so much has gone wrong - over-consumption, affluenza (living above one's means), waste, cosmetic/materialistic desires, and abuse of our space - and we each look for a scapegoat to blame for all that is happening.
I sat in a class recently with a professor that I have great admiration for and she asked a very important question: Is unplugging a phone charger enough (i.e. enough to save energy, etc)? Initially, I answered "yes" and tried to argue my point. We did some experiments to prove (or disprove) my hypothesis. Turns out, the phone charger uses so little energy that you'd save on average CAD $0.03 (<--- That's CENTS) per month for unplugging your charger. Wow, I thought. I was more disappointed than embarrassed for so passionately arguing my point.
So what can we do to sustain our planet? So many solutions exist, but most of them include a significant change in lifestyle. For example, limiting consumption of... well... everything, is a great start. Secondly, practice using resources sustainably (turn off lights, drink tap water instead of bottled water - the plastic often winds up where it shouldn't - and use a reusable mug/cup, etc). 
Unfortunately, various forms of the technology we have use rare earth minerals that can only be found in ONE place on earth. Due to our consumption patterns, certain cell phones and TVs will increasingly become more desirable, thus depleting the resource. To make matters worse, some of these minerals are non-recyclable. So my suggestion is: Manage the use of your devices so you don't wind up with a new one every 6 months. 
Finally, follow the 5 R's:  
Refuse - Refuse to purchase harmful, unsustainable products;
Reduce -Reduce packaging and other wasteful materials in products;
Reuse - Reuse products and purchase items that are either returnable or recyclable;
Recycle - Recycle products (and bear in mind that fruit skins and compost is a great natural fertilizer);
Rethink - Rethink the way waste is dealt with and rethink the ways in which products are used.***
Happy Earth Day, Everyone! Celebrate your planet, celebrate your home! ~JGIC



Jodi-Ann is an Environmental Studies major in Nova Scotia, Canada.
***Notes adapted from class activities, (Wiacek, A., 2014)
I do not own these photos. Photos acquired from external sources.