It’s 2021, we made it guys!!! Happy New Year! Let’s hope this year has happiness, health, and wealth in store for us all. It can only go up from here. Right about now, you’re all probably in resolution mode, which is great time to manifest. However, it’s also a time to think about simple changes we can make to help the planet. I don’t know about you, but last year I became obsessed with a little girl named Greta, a fighter for climate change. This is a real problem. I know that if we all do a little bit every day, we can make big changes in the environment. The effects of climate change are detrimental not only to us as humans, but to animals, the forests, and oceans as well. The list, as unfortunate as it is, goes on.

I’ve always been a nature lover and animal lover. I always think about the planet and how we can help save it. I’ve participated in beach cleanups, helped clean trash off highways (not by court appointment, lol), and have boycotted places like Sea World and Zoos (I’ve maybe even protested a few times).

For some reason, call it “pandemic brain”, last year I went a bit nuts about this. It was around last spring that I decided to do a total sweep of my house — right at the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak. I saw people hoarding cases and cases of bottles of water, that there was actually a global shortage of plastic water bottles! I thought, “why are people doing this?” I took immediate action. I called every single person I knew and explained a very simple solution to this massive hoarding and panic. I was livid. These bottles were going to end up in the oceans and in landfills and would ruin the planet. I called a local company called Tahoe Springs, and I ordered a water cooler for my home and offices (we already had two in the Beauty Kitchen and Marianna Naturals factories). I also went to Amazon and ordered 30 glass, water bottles. It’s really pretty simple, fill and reuse. Not to mention the fact that you ditch the risk of getting carcinogens in your body by drinking out of plastic. Win-win. Once I told everyone I knew about this, it was like a weight had been lifted off my water-bottle, Costco hoarding, friends’ shoulders. What a novel idea, lol. If we all made this simple switch, think about how many bottles we can eliminate! Millions. The water company delivers five-gallon jugs, right to your location, and it’s no muss no fuss. It saves my back from carrying cases of water, and also makes a small dent in saving the planet! I take my empty ones to the storage area of the Beauty Kitchen Boutique and they are picked up weekly by Tahoe Springs when they deliver the new jugs!

The third thing I did was convert all of my plastic, food storage containers to glass containers. Again, an easy Amazon buy. Let’s face it, these plastic containers are bought by the hundreds, per family, per year. The lids get warped and lost, the containers stretch, and it’s a mess of plastic we can avoid. Glass is so much better. They don’t warp or stain, and the lids click right on. I love them.

Another simple thing you can easily incorporate into your life is to buy reusable shopping bags and ditch the disposable plastic ones. Unfortunately for the time, due to the pandemic, they aren’t allowing these now at most groceries, but the day will come when things start to normalize, and we can use them again. FYI, sometimes even now you can just say, “please” and they will let you use your own (a tip goes a long way)! I buy the insulated ones from Erewhon Market and Whole Foods because they work double duty as beach bags and meal prep bags, just add ice and you’re all set!

Listen guys you don’t have to go crazy and clean and throw everything away like I did. But, you can make small changes that will really help over the course of your life. Here are some things that are very doable, daily, even monthly or weekly, that will make you a part of the movement.

Heather’s Guide to Saving the Planet — It starts with You!

-Replace disposable water bottle cases with re-fillable and reusable glass water bottles. Use a water cooler or water filter for your home or office.

-As your plastic storage containers wear out, recycle them and replace them with glass.

-When buying yogurt, buy one large container as opposed to the smaller, multi-pack plastic containers, or buy the individual glass containers (you can use those containers for other things like succulents).

-Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Save money, save energy.

-Organize a beach cleanup, or litter cleanup in your area. There’s no better time than now, just stay 6- feet apart!

-Carpool, or work from home a few days a week if you’re able. I do, and I love it!

-Only buy products you need, same with groceries.

-Get rid of grass, install fake grass! I have it and its amazing!

-Eat food from good sources. Know what you’re eating and funding.

-Call your State Representatives and push for better legislature.

-Boycott animal parks like Sea World and Zoos.

-Meal prep and eat out less. It’s healthier, there is less waste, and you also save money!

Finally, if you want to save the planet, remember that first and foremost it starts with you. If we all do a few things, we can make a huge difference. Who’s with me?! Please, please tag me @askheathermariannablog in your posts while you do your part in saving the planet. You never know, I just may send you a huge Beauty Kitchen / Marianna Naturals’ box!