Being eco-friendly is hard, and that is why we are in the situation that we’re in right now. Most people don’t feel like going through the simple actions that will save the planet. Our home is slowly weakening. Every plastic bag, every landfill, every tree cut down, every forest lost, they all make a difference. This sounds corny, but it’s true. 

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.

           – Robert Swan

This is a very strong string of words. Every kid thinks to themself, at least once in their childhood, “What can I do? I’m just a kid.” The adults in our lives have proved to us that we are the generation that has to fix this. The responsibility is on us now. We have no one else to lay the troubles on before it’s too late. This is all very serious sounding, but it is the most impactful way to spark change.

Here are some ways to be more sustainable:

• Cut back on single-use plastics
• Turn off the lights when you leave the room
• Turn off the faucet when you aren’t actively using it
• Eat more meatless meals
• Recycle the right way
  • Wash and dry dirty containers
  • Don’t recycle food
• Say no to plastic bags at the supermarket and bring your own reusable one 
• Take shorter showers, working on that one 😉
• Think before you put something in the recycling. One item that isn’t recyclable means that the entire bin is contaminated and won’t be recycled. 
• Switch some things that you would usually do on paper to digital

This isn’t just our home. It is home to thousands of other organisms. One tree cut down means one bird’s nest is lost or one squirrel’s food source is gone. When you look at the human species as a whole, we are pretty amazing. We’ve gone to the moon! But if you look deeper, what was used to make the rocket, and what was used to make its fuel? 

I hope this didn’t bring anyone’s mood down; we need to stay positive for the future. Mindset is half the battle. I love our Mother Earth and I want her to stay just the way she is (or better) for as long as she can. What can you do to help our home?

My family and I recently went to India, and it definitely was an experience to remember. If you’ve ever been to another country, you’ll know that visiting somewhere that is unlike home can be quite a shock. Personally, I love traveling because getting to see and experience new things can be so exhilarating. It was no different here. First, we went to Delhi, the capital of India. A bustling city with so much life can be overwhelming but also so beautiful. We spent about a day in Delhi and went to a shopping market called Connaught Place. If you are ever planning on traveling to Delhi, put this on your list. There are so many stores ranging from places you might see here in the U.S.A. to shops selling things like spices or Lakshmi coins, named after the goddess of wealth in Hindu culture. The coins are used in ceremonies or rituals called pujas. For the next five days, we visited family in different towns called Etawah and Farrukhabad. In Farrukhabad, we spread my grandmother’s ashes in the Ganga (Ganges) River, which is a traditional Hindu ritual as an act of letting go of their spirit.

Next, we went to Agra to visit one of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum that King Shah Jahan built for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is made completely of white marble and semi-precious stones. 

After Agra, we went to Jaipur, known to some as the Pink City for its pink sandstone buildings. One of those pink sandstone buildings was the Hawa Mahal, a stunning structure originally built so that women of the court could watch the streets and celebrations without being hassled.

 When we were staying in Jaipur, we got to stay in a hotel that was actually a converted battle fort. Another fort that we visited was the gorgeous Amber Fort with its castle-like architecture and was really cool seeing the comparison between a converted battle fort and a non-converted battle fort. Yet another sight to see in Jaipur is the Jal Mahal, which is a gorgeous palace that used to be King Sawai Pratap Singh’s hunting lodge. In a huge flood, four out of the five floors were drowned. On the bank of the Man Sagar Lake, the lake that it is drowned in, there is a large market full of shoes, jewelry, toys, and smells. Our final destination was back to Delhi where we stayed in the Akshardham Temple for two days. We got to go inside the temple and learn all about its history, which was an awesome experience. Have you ever tried to learn about other cultures and places?

Here are a few photos