Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
It’s Earth Day again; a time to reflect on our actions

It’s Earth Day again; a time to reflect on our actions

Last updated on: April 25, 2021 at 1:05 am by Ann Trip

It’s Earth Day again; a time to reflect on our actions 2021-04-25T01:05:20+00:00 Ann Trip

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Earth Day

Once again, the world acknowledges Mother Earth for one whole day, on Thursday, April 22. Every year I wonder and think, “Why one day, there are 365 days in a year?” Every day is Earth Day in my opinion.

As Pagans, we are always recognizing and celebrating HER, we do not need one specific day. We do so with the changes of the seasons, as Mother Nature grows, dies, and cycles round. Eight sabbats, about six weeks apart, each one pertaining to a different phase, honoring these cycles throughout the year.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, NJ celebrates Earth Day. PHOTO BY ANN TRIP

At the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, New Jersey, where I attend, we usually honor the day with some planting of flowers and spring-cleaning inside and out. This will be our second year where we did not due to the pandemic.

Furthermore, many towns and cities have halted their Earth Day celebrations as well. Maybe we should take this time to reevaluate where we are, what we are doing on a daily basis to help keep Her healthy. Sometimes even as Pagans, we forget to do our part.

Last year, as we celebrated 50 years of Earth Day, most of us, if not all, were in government-enforced shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photographs from space then confirmed that the ozone layer was repairing itself and pollution was subsiding. How quickly we all forgot that as local governments lifted restrictions. We need to keep moving forwards not backwards.

Lucky for me, I live in a township that collects all plastic recycling from one through seven. Included in that are milk and juice cartons, boxed soup and shelf stable milk and wine. They accept most paper products such as stationary, magazines, phone books, cereal boxes and unsoiled pizza boxes and cardboard. In addition, shredded papers placed in clear plastic bags.

I do my part and I make sure others do too. Then I drive around town and notice that my house usually has the most recycling. Either we, as a family of three, use more products that are recyclable or people are still too lazy to rinse out that yogurt cup, ice cream carton or take-out container.

I know in a Pagan blog, I am probably preaching to the choir. You are probably nodding along and thinking compost is coming. Yes, one huge heaping pile.

We garden, enjoy the bounty, compost, and repeat. The benefit is revealed in what we receive from our gardens. We know this is important and is second nature to most of us. The question is though, how do we spread this health. We need to plant seeds in the heads of those who do not recycle. Let them know it is rather easy, very little effort and rewarding in the end. We need to break the conspiracy that a compost pile will attract critters and that it smells. The regular trash smells worse than my compost.

Some of us store compostable items all winter in a bin or continue to dig it into the garden area until the ground either freezes or is snow covered. I usually store mine in a used gallon zipper bag until it fills. It takes me less than five minutes to get the shovel, dig, dump the compost and cover it each week.

Tell those who do not yet compost that it is not all that challenging and that these small steps make a difference. Remind them that not only does it cut trash by half; it is not adding to the landfills, and most important it is free fertilizer for gardens. If you are reading this and you are not composting, please start. Either make or purchase a compost bin or do as I do just dig a hole each time. In the spring and summer I separate coffee grinds from the rest of the compost, they are especially great for tomato plants.

Some communities actually have a compost pick-up service where you fill a bucket they provide and drop it off, or if you can get several neighbors to join, they will do local pick up. My township supplies a 32-gallon bucket specifically for vegetative waste. Usually around Earth Day, we can collect a few bags of free compost they supply from the winter leaves collected.

If you know someone who composts, offer your kitchen scraps and/or grass clippings to them. You may ‘earn’ some of their homegrown food or flowers.

We all need to do our part. This includes picking up litter. I was so disappointed last year when I heard people were disposing their personal protective equipment in parking lots, sidewalks and parks. Twice I found a disposable mask on my property. I do not know how people can be so careless. If something accidently falls out of my pocket, I grab it. I do not believe these were accidently dropped but haphazardly tossed out without a care and that just does not register to me. Kids and animals are getting ahold of this potentially contaminated litter.

Animals end up eating trash and sometimes they are unable to digest it; in particularly turtles and seabirds. Scientists discovered inside animals’ stomachs all the debris we carelessly toss out such as bottle caps, paper clips and straws. Pretty much all our little ends up in their bellies.

We need to be mindful of our actions and say something when we see someone litter. Let us do our part and pick up trash when we find it.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair

Previous Post

April 17, 2021

CUUPS at the Virtual UUA General Assembly 2021

Next Post

April 30, 2021 Wheel of the Year: Beltane (May Day)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Current Events CUUPS Press Release Interfaith liturgy Media Review podcast Religious Education Seasonal Reflection Spiritual Practice Summary Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz