Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge

Celebrate Earth Day in Boho Style & Your Own Twist Link Up #19

April 16, 2020 / 39 Comments
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge

Wednesday, April 22, 2020, marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in the United States. The first Earth Day celebration happened on April 22, 1970, as a unified response of 20 million Americans to an environment in crisis. As environmentally conscious citizens were witnessing extensive destruction to our earth through smog, oil spills, and rivers that were so polluted that they were literally catching on fire, they united in protest to environmental ignorance and demanded a new way of living and respecting our planet. This very first Earth Day celebration is credited with igniting the modern environmental movement that is in full force these 50 years later. Earth Day is also recognized as the planet’s largest civic event.

While the celebration and honoring of our planet dates back to 50 years ago, the environmental destruction caused by humans has been recognized and discussed for much longer than that. Chief Seattle who lived between 1786 and 1866 is credited with a widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of Native American land rights. His exact words have been lost through translations and rewritings of his speech but one quote that I found from Chief Seattle says,

“We are all children of the Great Spirit, we all belong to Mother Earth. Our planet is in great trouble and if we keep carrying old grudges and do not work together, we will all die.” 

Chief Seattle
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, denim jacket
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, denim jacket
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, denim jacket
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, denim jacket
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, denim jacket

Earth Day is evidence that we have begun to work together in an attempt to right our wrongs. However, there is still question as to whether we are doing enough. Have we let go of old grudges? Have we made adequate changes? Are we doing enough to save our planet?

The inauguration of Earth Day celebrations served as a catalyst which launched a wave of government actions that were meant to change the way we interact with our natural environment. In response to this 20 million person protest held in 1970, the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts were created and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed. Soon after the United States implemented these environmental protection plans, many other countries followed suit.

The theme for the 50th celebration of Earth Day is climate action. Climate change is currently the most significant and most difficult environmental challenge that faces humanity today. The life support systems granted to us by our earthly environment are very much in danger and threaten the future of the human species as well as many other living species that inhabit this planet with us. If we don’t make the changes necessary to rebalance the ecosystem which supports life on Earth, human extinction becomes a very real possibility.

Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge

I don’t like to sound all doomy, but our planet is in crisis and so many people fail to recognize that. By minimizing our environmental footprints, we can allow the planet to heal and recover and return to a state of abundance rather this current place of reckless depletion. While I may not be the very best example of environmental awareness, I have been making small changes for many years and will continue to improve as a work in progress.

I remember attending my first Earth Day event when I was about 14 or 15 years old. I had become friends with a group of boho hippie folks who lived a very environmentally friendly lifestyle. These were the friends who made thrift shopping and wearing pre-loved clothing uber cool and it is where my thrift shop passion originated. They invited me to attend a local Earth Day celebration and I quickly found myself very much in my element. These were “my people”. Over the years, I fell away from this lifestyle only to discover that I was much happier being more in tune with the earth and I have been slowly making my way back.

This 50th Anniversary of Earth Day is a unique one, not just because it is such a milestone anniversary, but because of our current lockdown status worldwide. There will be no gatherings of people to celebrate our planet. There will be no festivals or protests or anything done publicly at all. But that does not mean that we can’t find other ways to celebrate Earth Day 2020.

Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, denim jacket
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge

We should still be getting outside for fresh air and exercise. During your walks around the neighborhood, bring a trash bag and gloves with you and pick up the litter that you spot. Make it a game with your children…who can fill their trash bag the quickest wins…it keeps the pace of the walk moving, too.

Other things that you can do in honor of Earth Day this year include…

  1. Plant something…a tree, a garden, flowers.
  2. Start that compost bin that you have been meaning to for the past 3 years.
  3. Resell or donate your unwanted clothing items.
  4. Buy pre-loved clothing items.
  5. Drive less, walk or bike more.
  6. Recycle, recycle, recycle. Literally everything that you can!
  7. Invest in a water filter to reduce plastic bottle usage.
  8. Bring your own shopping bags to the grocery store. On March 1, 2020, New York enacted The Bag Waste Reduction Law which basically prohibits the distribution of one time use plastic bags. The enforcement of this law has been postponed due to the social distancing regulations currently in effect. But for the few weeks it was in effect, I will admit that it is rather inconvenient, but so necessary. We adapted much quicker that I thought we would and it really makes me question why I was not doing this earlier on my own volition.
  9. For more ideas on how you can make small changes that lead to big differences, check out this article: 100 Easy Ways to be More Eco-Friendly.
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge
Ivory lace dress, hiking boots, boho style, Earth Day outfit, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge

So I encourage all of you to make a specific effort this Wednesday to do something special in honor of this planet that sustains us. Start to make the changes now so they become habits later. It will benefit all of us.

What ideas can you share for celebrating our Earth this year?

And now let’s get on with this link party! To honor Earth Day, Monica and I chose boho style as our theme. We are so happy to have my boho friend, Michelle of My Bijou Life, joining us this month as our co-host.

Your Own Twist is a monthly series hosted by Monica of Jersey Girl, Texan Heart and myself where we showcase our own interpretations of a chosen style theme. We share the theme with you ahead of time in case you are interested in joining us. You can see the upcoming themes below if you would like to create your own post around the theme and share it with us in the link party at the end of the post.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Shelbee on the Edge, my kids, my family

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.

Shop my look…

Outfit Details: Jacket-Thrifted (Old Navy) / Dress-Target (Very Old) / Sweater-Old Navy / Tights-Thrifted (new in package) / Boots-Torrid / Hat-So, So Old / Backpack-Charming Charlie / Necklace-Old / Earrings-Made by Me

I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.

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