1 Million Women

Climbing Pigeon House Mountain this January, South Coast, NSW

I’m not a greeny, I’m not a tree hugging hippie, I’m not at all perfect when it comes to caring for our environment (good on you if you are any/all of the above)... but, I do care!

I care about our environment, climate change and our impact that we humans have on our vulnerable earth.

The earth was made (however or by whomever) to look after itself; to rejuvenate, restore itself and change by way of weather patterns, tides, seasons, ecosystems, time and evolution. But we humans have made this a hard feat by introducing our inventions, productions, waste, ways of life and interfering with ecosystems and natural habitats.

Holiday in Mollymook this Janauary, South Coast, NSW

Yes, we have to live, that’s what we’re here to do. We too are evolving, changing, living and learning. We have become SO smart in so many ways, yet ignorant in others I think when it comes to our environment and how we’ve taken it for granted in many ways for many years.

I have full respect for everyone’s opinions; life would be strange if everyone agreed on everything right?! I just really believe that it is our responsibility to care for our earth in whatever ways we know how, whether its by using ‘green bags/eco friendly bags’ for shopping to reduce the use of plastic bags or by growing some fresh produce in your own garden to help reduce any amount of production it takes to get a piece of produce into your home. Buying local food, recycling, composting, switching off lights and appliances when possible, washing your clothes in cold water, minimising the use of a dryer, carpooling, catching water in tanks, planting native trees, putting a cat bell on our feline friends so native birds can hear them coming, and helping injured native animals are just some more simple ways of helping the environment.

Sunrise at Ayers Rock, NT when my parents road-tripped there in 2008

Our earth can only do so much to restore itself against all of our ways of life, production, pollution and mistreatment. We’re the SMART species right? We’re the ones that should take full responsibility in helping our land, animals and climate in being able to continue to rejuvenate and live! We’re the species who build our towns over 1000 different species’ habits, and we think THEY’RE the pests!! Now that’s not fair! It’s not their fault that we bulldoze their towns to make ours. It’s not the Great Barrier Reef’s fault that our pollution and tourism causes harm to our vulnerable coral reefs and the many species that call it home. It’s not our beaches’ fault that some have been damaged/are eroding from shipwrecks and oil spills. So, we should help them in whatever way we know how...

1 Million Women is an awesome Australian Campaign getting women involved in climate change and helping our environment in so many ways. I’m a part of 1 Million Women, trying to reduce my household’s impact on our environment by setting goals on the website/on my profile and re-visiting those goals every now and then and updating my progress. As I said above, I’m in no way perfect when it comes to turning off every appliance when they’re not in use, or by not letting ANY of our food go to waste. But... being a part of 1 Million Women is definitely making me think about all of these things more often and I am improving in many ways.

We grow some of our own vegies, we’re patiently waiting for our fruit trees to grow, I only wash clothes in cold water, I no longer FILL the kitchen sink to do the dishes, I try harder to plan meals throughout the week to avoid food going off, we recycle well, we compost our food scraps, we don’t own therefore don’t use a dryer, we brought a small water tank to water our gardens instead of using tap water, we have a whole section in our yard of native trees and love watching the native birds play and forage. We always use eco-friendly bags for groceries, markets and shopping, we use eco toilet paper (recycled middle layer) and use eco-friendly bathroom cleaners (brands: Planet Ark, Earth) Plus, I’m a member of our local Native Wildlife organisation, NATF (WIRES equivalent for this area of NSW) and have completed a simple training course in order to help in bushfire/disaster relief and simple knowledge on what to do with an injured native animal. There‘s a lot more I could do... but I think what I do now helps in many ways!

Have a looksi through the 1 Million Women site, join or don’t join, whatever floats your boat, but just think about maybe even one way you could help out our environment and implement it into your lifestyle. It’ll make you feel good! If you’re not from Australia, I’m positive there will be similar sites/ways you can get involved around your local area.

Lastly, I love this song by Gotye ‘Eyes Wide Open’ about the environment, “we walk the plank with our eyes wide open.” We can see the danger and the risks that we’re taking in harming our earth, but we’re doing in anyway...

Tell me what you think...I’d love to hear your thoughts

Karlee ☮