As I took my garbage out this morning, I thought about the concept of “living lightly upon the Earth.” I know that it goes beyond me having a low flow shower head, recycling and driving a Toyota Prius. I own a unit in an over-55 mobile home park which I rent out and it\u2019s under some nice big oak trees. Every fall, the leaves cover the ground and the neighbors get on my tenant for not raking them. They want her to do what they do: rake all the leaves up and put them in a plastic bag and put the bag out to the curb for the garbage pickup. What?? Why not just leave them where they fall to do the job of mulch and nourishment as nature intended? I just can\u2019t sanction putting them in plastic bags, and since it\u2019s not a homeowners\u2019 association rule, we just don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n
I was walking in a small strip shopping center today, and passed by a bar. Littering the sidewalk and parking lot was a mosaic of cigarette butts. I have friends even now who smoke and think nothing of tossing a butt out the window, or on the ground, anywhere. To me it\u2019s no different than throwing down a used tissue or crumbled piece of paper. It\u2019s trash and belongs in the trash. So one way I have of walking lightly upon the Earth is I don\u2019t litter.<\/p>\n
I try not to do anything that would make someone else have to pick up after me. I don\u2019t like causing unnecessary work for anyone, and that extends to being mindful when I listen, so I don\u2019t need to ask anyone to repeat themselves.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t purchase too many things that have a lot of packaging. I can go to the grocery and buy a week\u2019s worth of produce and fish and bread and end up with less trash from packaging than I\u2019d have if I drove through Wendy\u2019s and got a salad, a drink and a baked potato. I just can\u2019t justify buying something that has so much packaging. I\u2019m not an activist, but that\u2019s another way I have of walking lightly upon the Earth: not creating excessive waste.<\/p>\n
I separate trash from garbage, I shred paper trash.<\/p>\n
I try to be mindful of people\u2019s space and privacy, so I don\u2019t blare my music with the windows down at a stoplight, or at home. Well, ok sometimes, but rarely.<\/p>\n
There are a lot of things I can do to live a little more lightly on the Earth, to help make things flow a little more smoothly for everyone. I look forward to discovering more of them.<\/p>\n
And you know what they say about Mother Nature: when Mama\u2019s happy, everyone\u2019s happy.<\/p>\n
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