As living becomes more convenient, Amy Smart believes in reducing our environmental footprint and brainstorms small changes that can lead to big impact.
How did you first become active in campaigning for cleaner air?
As an environmentalist, I believe when you are standing up for the environment, you are collectively protecting the air, land, water and wildlife. I started volunteering with Heal The Bay in the 1990’s and learned about pollution in general. I became inspired by Ed Bedgley Jr. and his activism. He would ride his bike all over LA.
In what ways do you fight pollution in your everyday life?
I try to find solution-based actions to combat pollution. Some ways to do this include driving an energy efficient car, carpooling, composting, recycling, trying to reduce our waste by buying package free as much as possible, using eco-friendly cleaning products in your home and trying to buy locally and organically a much as possible. Using reusable water bottles and bags or planting a garden and learning about regenerative agriculture are also other ways to reduce individual impact. Kiss the Ground is a great non-profit geared toward living that way and teaching others.
How has becoming a mother changed your perspective on sustainability?
Becoming a mother has given me a great awareness on how to teach these values by example. I also care even more for the future of this planet because I want to see my daughter thrive and live a happy full life here. I’ve become more aware that what we throw away is never really going away, it just goes to a landfill and most of our “trash” takes thousands of years to decompose. We all collectively need to value the idea of living more sustainably and responsibly as a human race.
What can our readers do to help support this cause?
The city of Los Angeles is a car-based community and I applaud the city for trying to implement more communal forms of transportation. Carpooling, walking, biking, planting a garden, getting involved in any local environmental group that inspires you, volunteering, reducing your footprint by buying less in general, supporting local agriculture and eating less meat and dairy can increase environmental impact and awareness. Simply putting your bare feet on the ground and connecting back to nature is a great first step for caring for this planet.
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