Earth Day

*This is a lot longer than I ever thought that it would be.

Just a couple of weeks ago I read an article “10 things to teach your kids this earth day.” By Jacqueline Bodnar the first part of the article said: “Here are 10 things you can teach your kids about earth day that will help make a difference.” Ok, I was intrigued. There is something to be said about making a difference. I think we all want to make a difference, someway somehow.
I believe it is our responsibility to take care of the planet. That being said, I don’t buy into fanatical thought or action one way or the other.

Here is the 10
1. Avoid Plastic Bags – I really didn’t think very much about plastic bags until last year. I always recycled them, and that seemed good enough. I stocked up until I had way too many and then I took them over to Wal-Mart. Alan and I had a week where the cub scouts had to learn about taking care of the earth and recycling, I learned the statics, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) estimated that it takes 1,000 years for a plastic bag to decompose. I bought reusable bags. I'm getting better at using them. I just need to remember to carry them into the store.
2. Reduce – “Look at things and decide if they are really needed.” In the book Born on a blue day by Daniel Talmet, he is able to calculate what he and his partner will eat and buys no more. a example would be 1 Orange each day for 2 people equal 14 oranges for the week. I really like this concept. Often times I’ll clean out the fridge and throw out things we never touched. It was such a big waste of money.
3. Recycle – Finally, one I have a system for. When I was first married I had boxed in the garage. Tin, paper, aluminum, glass, card board. I was newly married and this was the hip thing,(At least I thought it was.)) I loved the concept, but it was too hard. My community didn’t facilitate and drop off points. I had boxes full of stuff and no place close to drop it off. It was frustrating. It didn’t last more than a year. Thankfully the city has implemented a recycling plan and all I have to do it put out the recycle container twice a month with the trash. YEA.
4. Save water . . . Do I need to say more on this?
5. Keep it clean- Putting our trash where it belongs just makes sense. Once I traveled to a third world country with friends. In some of the remote areas, it was acceptable to throw things on the ground. It bothered me, the importance of properly disposing of whatever you have used or consumed has always stuck with me.
6. Shop ‘used’ – I'm a little too good at this, if you know what I mean. I spend more money than I should at thrift stores. If I find something that I want/need at a thrift store that normally costs $10.00 but I buy it for $1.00. Does that mean I have another $9.00 I can spend? Last year I bought all of my mom’s Christmas present for the grandkids at thrift stores. All new merchandise. I'm not finding quite as much this year for mom, but pleanty still makes it home with me. I must admit Mason has some really cool toys that we probably would not have bought otherwise.
7. Donate ‘old’ – The only way this would be better, is if the good will store would issue a merchandise credit equal to the amount of your donation. That would save me a lot of money.
8. Plant a Garden- I’ll have some more pictures to come on this. I know I’m blogging a lot about this right now . . . it just that is really what is going on in my life. This year the garden will be a much larger scale than ever before. The boxes are assembled and we will mix dirt tomorrow. We are doing square foot gardening.
9. Everyone counts- You make a difference and so do I. I love the starfish story. A boy is walking on the beach covered with starfish that has been washed ashore, He continues to pick one up and throw it into the ocean. Someone approaches, watches him for awhile and tell him the effort is in vain he will never be able to clear the beach the boy throw another starfish into the ocean and says It made a difference to that one. (OR something like that.)
10. Live Green – “Caring for the planet is something that we should do everyday.”
I can do a better job of it. We live in a beautiful world. I feel blessed.I have seen many beautiful things! I have some great memories. I want to see more of our beautiful planet. I want the beauty of it to be around for a long time.