This summer I’ve had the opportunity to become a Wild Keeper with the brand Let’s Keep It Wild. As a Wild Keeper, our goal is to pick up trash and post about it on “Impact Days” throughout the summer to hopefully inspire others to pick up after themselves and work together to nurture our nature. It’s a group of humans that want the world to be better and everyone is truly inspiring. You can see the posts from myself and other wild keeper on Instagram by searching any of these hashtags: #impactday, #wildkeepers, #letskeepitwild. It's been an amazing project so far and has made me so much more aware of garbage and micro-plastics that are scattered throughout our parks, ditches, beaches and almost everywhere else we go.
Along with becoming a Wild Keeper, I’ve also started listening to some podcasts (who am I becoming??). The ones I’m interested in include Wild Ideas Worth Living, She Explores and Women on the Road. They’ve been incredibly inspiring and I’m learning a lot. One thing that has consistently come up is the effect we as humans have on this planet and the gnarly impact our garbage – particularly plastic – is leaving. Hearing this over and over really started pulling on my heart. So, one day in June, as I was browsing through Instagram, I saw the hashtag #plasticfreejuly and decided now was as good a time as any to try to make a difference.
After reading into the amount of garbage each humans leaves, the effects it has on the earth and especially the oceans, I’ve decided to make my first attempt of #plasticfreejuly. This month I’m attempting to cut out single-use plastic bags, straws and plastic water bottles.
I started out strong, proudly carrying a couple bags into Aldi to go grocery shopping, but then was nearly ruined immediately after when I went to Walmart and absent mindedly went to grab the plastic bag the cashier had placed my items in. Luckily, I caught it and quickly recovered by grabbing my three items out of the bag and headed home.
The next challenges I ran into came on the Fourth of July. After pondering what to do, my boyfriend and I decided to grill out. We headed to HyVee to grab some food to make and as we were checking out, my boyfriend saved the day by telling the cashier we didn’t need a bag. After minor protest and much confusion from the cashier, we went on our way. Later that evening, we went out to grab a bite with friends and it happened. We all asked for waters and it wasn’t until after we ordered our food that I realized I’d been drinking out of a straw. Bummed, I made a mental note to be sure to ask for no straw in the future when ordering my drinks.
So yeah, set-backs happen. Challenges are supposed to challenge you. I realize that this isn’t going to be a simple task, it’s going to take some serious conscious efforts. I’m excited to hopefully turn some of the efforts from being a Wild Keeper and reducing my plastic use into habits moving forward and begin to make my tiny impact on the world.
Do you do anything to try to make a difference in the world or do you have any tips how I can reduce my footprint in the world? I’d love to hear about it either by email or on social media!
Live big.