This month, our focus is on why we all should strive to lead a more sustainable life—the need to live now without jeopardizing the potential for people in the future to meet their needs. April 22 is Earth Day, with a four-year countdown to the environmental campaign’s 50th anniversary. By that time, we will have planted 7.8 billion more trees, or one for every person on the planet. This will greatly help to reduce our carbon footprint (one agreed-upon goal is to have a neutral, zero-carbon footprint by the end of the century). We’ve listed several locations in and around Hudson County where you can celebrate this momentous day and perhaps plant a tree!

Along with Earth Day, consider the importance of being kind to our planet. Living sustainably is about living within the means of our natural systems (environment) and ensuring that our lifestyle doesn’t harm other people (society and culture). It’s about where our food, clothes, energy and other products come from and deciding whether we should buy and consume these things. There’s a spectrum where each of us falls, but I think it is important that we try to build sustainable habits one step at a time. In “Everyday Sustainability,” you will find workable ideas on how to get started and build more sustainable habits.

The impact of climate change cannot be ignored, and the time to take action is right now. Dr. Louis Steinberg, a passionate environmentalist who practices whole-body dentistry in West New York, has written a thought-provoking article on the state of our planet. Increasingly, our lifestyle is placing more and more pressure on natural systems that means we cannot continue to live this way or the consequences will be dire. A wonderful thing to see is how the younger generations are putting Earth first in “A Greener Shade of Youth.” Their efforts toward preserving our planet are becoming a way of life.

Yes, the problem is a big one—perhaps the biggest ever—but there are many of us. If we act together, we can do anything. I think the key is to align ourselves mentally without getting burned out and giving up (I am so small). Now is the time for each of us to make a commitment to ourselves and the planet to do the best we can to make a difference, because it will take all of us working together to preserve our planet. A wise man said the only thing we can really change is ourselves. I know we can do it.

In health and happiness, 

Claire Byers, Publisher