Earth Hour, Who Knew?

Boy, I completely missed it last Saturday. And so did a lot of others. No posts that I could find on Treehugger or Inhabitat, websites that normally give me a lot to think about. What was it? Earth Hour. Well, if you missed it too, the gist of it is that every year we are supposed to turn off all non-essential power for an hour. And while its been reported that many utilities do in fact register a small decrease in electricity usage during that period, many critics question something that is more or less a publicity stunt. Others point out that many people light up candles during that period and that's just as bad as any other source of light. Still others say that fluctuations in power delivery can also cause damage in its own right.

Regardless of the pros and cons it does bring to light (pun intended) that many things are within our control and that we do have an impact, whether for one hour or throughout our day. I don't know about you but I can get overwhelmed with all the things I see or read that tell me to make changes in my life, from losing weight, to better health through fiber, to buying organic. It can all become a blur and fade into the background as just some white noise.

So what do you do? How do you keep from being pulled into every little fad or feeling guilty for not doing enough? The easy answer is just to start something, doesn't have to be a big thing, just movement in the right direction. For me it was a simple as putting a couple bins in the garage for plastic bottles and paper. Do I compost? Not really, unless you count the banana peel I throw under the little Oak tree when I pull into the driveway every night. Do I wash out my Zip Lock bags and reuse them like my more dedicated friends? Not one bit. BUT... I do throw my plastic and paper in those bins everyday and take to the recycling center on my way to the grocery store and that's a start. Something. Anything to get you started, one step at a time. You'll see the difference and then maybe look around for something else you can do next. That's what sustainability is all about. Doing something, not doing everything.