Things to do to save your soul and help the planet

Remember all those things you could do to save the planet?  Did we do them?  Did they work?  Given the dire forecasts for the years ahead, like this post from Guy McPherson, I think I'll just try to stay sane.  Here are some old and maybe new ideas in no particular order.

1. Drink water from free water systems, not plastic bottles.


2. Quit driving. Walk, ride a bike, or don’t go.  Or bum a ride.

3. Watch sunrises.

4. Grow food.

5. Replace lawns with gardens or wild vegetation.

6. Plant trees, even though you may not see the fruit.

7. Compost your shit. For heaven’s sake, stop dumping it in drinking water!

8. Catch rainwater.

9. Re-use grey water from your washer, shower, or kitchen.

10. Generate no waste.

11. Quit using the word “waste”, because then you will see things as resources.

12. Turn off the damn lights when you leave the room! Didn’t your mother teach you that?

13. Tell someone they’re beautiful.

14. Raise an animal, butcher it and eat it.

15. Buy from locally-owned businesses.

16. Use a local currency.

17. Shop at farmers’ markets.

18. Plan a ‘green burial’.

19. Darn a holey sock.

20. Hug someone you love.

21. Go for a walk with your children.

22. Decorate a plain surface with found or repurposed objects.

23. Learn to identify ten new plants.

24. Offer gratitude before each meal.

25. Make music, either alone or with others.

26. Recycle your television (and don’t just watch TV online).

27. Define “enough” for yourself, and then get there.

28. Get rid of ten things you haven’t used in two years.

29. Eat some wild food.

30. Cook dinner from scratch.

31. Know that you are good enough just the way you are.

32. Plant flowers that honeybees and other pollinators like.

33. Acknowledge the inherent rights of other organisms and act accordingly.

34. Include water, air, soil and rocks in the above.

35. Take some food to your neighbors.

36. Plant flowers.

37. Take a day off from work. Repeat regularly.

38. Give a handmade present.

39. Give a gift of your time.

40. Obtain something through barter.

41. Invest in relationships.

42. Help a neighbor with a project.

43. Invest in a new independent business start-up.

44. Join and help out at a CSA farm.

45. Take a class or read about permaculture.

46. Try a cotton “pee rag” instead of toilet paper. Wash it when you’re done.

47. Talk to a plant and listen for a reply. (You’ll hear it in your heart.)

48. Designate one day a week in which you buy NOTHING AT ALL; a shopping Sabbath.

49. Use a hand tool in place of a power tool on your next project.  (Hammers don't count!)

50. Post this list where you will see it regularly. See if you can check off these things in a year.