To be honest, I do not watch much television. However, I would have to have been living under a rock not to have seen or heard about the horrific images of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. And I have to admit the mix of emotions that I have been feeling about it are to say in the least, overwhelming. I think the emotion that I was feeling for the longest at first was disbelief. With today’s technology it is hard to believe that such a disaster could happen. Once the feeling of disbelief wore off, I felt frustrated, powerless and unsure of how I could make a difference. Now, to be honest I just feel anger and sadness that this massive environmental disaster has occurred. Do you feel this way?
So, what can we do?
If you live in the gulf area, you can volunteer your time and energy to one of several organizations that need volunteers. Of course, you can do this if you don’t live in the local area too. You can help organizations such as the Audubon Society. They need volunteers to seek out birds that need to be cleansed and rehabilitated.
Or you can find a great list of organizations to volunteer with here. (Just make sure the organization that you choose is BBB certified.) Personally, I will still be donating to The Nature Conservancy – with my monies being allocated to the Gulf. If you would like to help me, you can donate here, together we can make a difference.
If you are unable to volunteer or donate money, you can still help. There are several things that you can do at home that you can do to help get us off of an oil dependent lifestyle. Read on to six ways you can make a difference today.
1: Switch to Clean Energy
Fort Collins, Colorado has a Green Energy Program where you can purchase clean, renewable energy for an additional 1.9 cents per kilowatt-hour, which guarantees my electricity comes from the cleanest source available.
2: Switch to a Vegetarian Lifestyle
Even if you are not ready to switch to a vegetarian lifestyle, you can make a difference by drastically reducing the amount of meats that you consume. A great start would be to start a meatless Monday’s tradition and only serve vegetarian meals on that day.
3: Drive Less. Walk and Bike More.
This one is simple – when you can walk or bike instead of driving. You can also utilize ride sharing, grabbing the bus or car sharing.
4: Eliminate Unnecessary Buying
The best idea is if you don’t need it, don’t buy it. Take a few extra seconds to consider each purchase that you and your family makes. By reducing your unnecessary buying, you reduce your family’s overall impact on the environment considerably.
5: Add Your Signature
Sign the call to ban offshore drilling that will be delivered to our president and congress via 350.org.
6: Join In
Join an organization that wants to make a difference such 1,000,000 Strong Against Offshore Drilling.
Can you think of other ways that we can make an impact together?
Are there things that Sweet Greens’ readers can do as a group to make a difference?
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