Recycle, Reuse, do your part to save the Earth. We’ve all heard it and maybe we’re trying to pitch in, but how are we really doing?

I was struck recently at how I am adamant about using cloth bags at the grocery and other places but how I fail to recycle the loads of junk mail I get every week. (I am outing myself and vowing to do better.)

You have to know, the whole bag thing was a big step for me. For months, I felt guilty about taking a Harris Teeter bag into Trader Joes, or a World Market bag into Target. Then one day, in my frenzy to take the right cloth bag into the right store, I said, “Screw it. I don’t care if it has the name of another store on it, I’m taking it in and dare the clerk to raise even an eyebrow at me.” Of course, no one cared or even noticed. But it was a huge step for me. I felt bold. I felt empowered. I felt like a rebel. OK, I’m overstating it, but still.

Big or small (or however it seems to you) I am convinced that everyone doing just a few minor things could collectively really make a major difference. When I was in 2nd grade, we sang this song in music class that still comes back to me every once in a while. The chorus goes, “ There’s no life on the moon, there’s no life up on Mars, so let’s take care of the lovely world of ours…” So in honor of Earth Day, what will you do to make a small, but important difference?