Art by @brennadoodles
As a company whose fundamental purpose is based on environmental sustainability, how should we recognize Earth Day? Promoting sustainable consumption habits and restoring our environment are our mission every day of the year. What's different about today?
I think about the environment, and humans' effect on it, all the time. My emotions go back and forth depending on the day. More often than not, I feel sad and overwhelmed about the damage being done to our earth and the massive undertaking needed to turn things around. I despair at the human greed, obstinance, ignorance. and selfishness that prevents meaningful action. I become cynical. It feels hopeless, like a lost cause.
But other times, I feel absolute joy and wonder about the beauty and resilience of our planet. This happens at the macro and micro levels. At the most macro level of all, we still don't even know how our world came to be. Life is a gorgeous, utter mystery. I admit that I usually don't even dwell at this level for very long, because it's so hard to wrap my head around. On a smaller scale, I appreciate the beauty of our planet in the here and now. The slowed-down pace of the pandemic has allowed me to do so even more. I've been in the same physical place for over a year. I've seen it change, go through its natural cycles. Right now, the middle of spring, is my favorite time of the year. The trees on my street are flowering. The sun is warming my skin in a way I haven't felt in months. Birds are chirping; frogs in the pond behind my house are singing. The world is reawakening.
So many of the posts about Earth Day take the tone of my more prominent emotions: urgency, anger, despair. But today, I'm choosing to focus on the other ones: appreciation and wonder. Recognition of the beauty around me. The small pleasures of nature. The resiliency of our planet. And the efforts of millions to make it better.
So many of us are actively working to improve our world. They feel the same urgency and sadness and use them as fuel to take action. And there are so many places where you can create positive environmental change. Our focus area --resale and sustainable consumption -- is just one of many. The options are limitless. Renewable energy, wildlife conservation, sustainable finance, environmental justice, progressive policy, local and organic food, electric vehicles, innovative packaging, next-generation materials, art, and education, just to name a few. Even if we don't always realize or acknowledge it, so many of us are working together to save our planet. And today, we appreciate it all.