Resist to purchase more than I need.

Changing all the bulbs in my house to LED

I had never heard of silvopasture. A major advantage is the shade provided to livestock. With global temperatures continuing to increase, adding trees to pastures or adding forage to wooded areas will be an important solution for improving the wellbeing of livestock. I was surprised and happy that one of the resources provided by Project Drawdown was an article on the Kerr Center's website. The Kerr Center is in Oklahoma and is one of the Zoo's partners in creating habitat for pollinators!

There are so many different choices I can make to reduce my carbon footprint. One change I recently made was replacing my old thermostat with a smart one. It allows me to be more energy-efficiency-minded with less effort.

I learned that steel, aluminum, glass and insulation materials can have a significant carbon footprint. I found some articles that can help me learn more about carbon footprints. One of them is dezzen.com has an article highlighting ten materials that store carbon, including bioplastic cladding and mycelium insulation. It provides solutions as well that I found interesting.

I think trying new mix-matching of clothes brings out new creativity in fashion. I have three daughters who are all adults now. On occasion when one of us needs a dress jacket or a cardigan, we ask each other if we have something that will work. Sometimes one of us has one that we don't really use much anyway to give to each other or simply borrow.

I have never thought about why certain countries eat more meat than others. I feel here in America we want choices and variety where when I've visitied other countries, they seem more content with eating similar meals more often. Maybe that is why we include various types of forms of meat in our diet, because we can and want the choices. Some countries literally eat rice and beans every day, that is rare in the states unless you have an economic reason to need to. Eating meat is bad for the planet due to how those animals take up space for their farms as well as methane when you speak about cows. I reduce red meat in my diet most of the time, but it's hard for me to give up chicken.

I focus on what I can do. These challenges are sometimes depressing to participate in because you feel like your contribution is too tiny to matter. But seeing the summaries of our collective efforts keeps me going.

My son got a free tree from his school to plant for Earth Day. We got a native tree that we put in our backyard but it is sooo small. A reminder of how much care and time each tree needs to become the big trees we respect and are in awe of helps you think differently about your paper/wood use. Digging in our Oklahoma clay was indeed something for my physical health, even if it was a small hole.