Last week we celebrated another wonderful Earth day. People were picking up trash and planting trees, which is great and definitely needs to be done. But why does it only have to happen on one day? Why can't it happen every day? Why can't people be more aware of the trash around them every day?

I love the Earth. I personally believe that this world was created by God, and not something that just happened because the conditions were just right. I believe that we are part of this earth as much as the earth is a part of us. We affect the earth as much as the earth affects us. Humans are not the top of the food chain, but we have the most impact on the environment around us than any other animal in this world. Since we have this ability to affect our environment so much, why are we not doing more to protect it? There is so much natural beauty in this world, but I've also seen the ugliest parts of the world, which are dead and toxic wastelands. These toxic wastelands are our landfills, contaminated water sources, and cities blanketed with smog.

I think people forget that everything we own, desire, and need have to come from somewhere. Those things come from the resources on this earth. But there is a limited number of resources available to us. I read this book about a Maya healer and he said that the earth is like a bank; you can't just take out however much you want all the time, you have to put something back in. If you don't put back something, one, you run out of that resource, and two, everything becomes out of balance. When the earth is out of balance, our lives are also out of balance.

So even though people have done great things on Earth day, continue to do those things every day. You don't have to plant a tree every day, but pick up the trash you see on the ground. Recycle as much as you can. Try shopping ethically. Decrease your meat and dairy intake. Just be conscientious of your actions and what effect it has on a global scale. This is the only place that we live on. As many people say, there is no planet B.