Despite Sunday’s snow, spring is in full force, and many of us are excited to get outdoors and shake off our cabin fever. But as we step out into the sunshine, we need to take the time to appreciate the nature around us and do our part to protect it.

Monday, April 22 is Earth Day and I think we should all take the time to celebrate our planet and do our best to keep it healthy this Earth Day.

For some reason, “eco-friendly” seems to be seen — especially in smaller towns — as a passing trend rather than something we all need to be if we want to see our planet continue to thrive for generations to come.

Currently, our waterways, air supply and other natural habitats are polluted by waste. Worldwide, we use single-use plastics and other disposable items at an unprecedented rate — many of which are not-biodegradable and will be in our landfills and oceans for decades, even centuries to come. And all of this is only getting worse.

Though that may seem grim, there is plenty we can all do to fight back against this and be good stewards of the earth.

Instead of taking the car, go for a bike ride now and then. Get an electronic receipt for your lunch instead of a paper one. Take your morning coffee in a reusable cup rather than the disposable one offered to you at the coffee shop counter. Take a free Saturday or two to plant trees or shrubs in your yard to help add oxygen into the air and fight erosion. You can even go a step further and volunteer with a local organization to clean up a local park.

I understand it is not easy, and I personally struggle with making eco-friendly choices. I often forget my reusable shopping bags at home and end up taking plastic back from the grocery store. I come home from long days at work and decide that it is easier to get take out — with its disposable containers and utensils — than to cook for myself. I love to shop online despite the environmental impact that it carries with it.

But even though it is hard and we will often fail, that doesn’t mean we should stop trying.

I’m not advocating for the extreme minimalism we can often see portrayed in documentaries or on social media. Thing like cars, disposable diapers, disposable feminine products and clean, bottled water are some of the greatest inventions of the modern world and have saved lives. And there is nothing wrong with other disposable products that are designed merely to provide comfort or convenience.

With that said, we need to be recycling what we can of those products, using less of what we don’t need and making sure that our waste ends up where it belongs instead of in our waterways or littering our public spaces.

Next Monday, we can all do our small part to take care of the planet. But let’s not leave it there. We all can, and need to, make a conscious effort year-round to protect our environment.

SARAH CULTON, is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7712 or by email at sarah.culton@leaderpub.com