GO GREEN!!!

Tomorrow is Earth Day which is simply fabulous. I have been looking forward to this day for weeks. Every day this month has included little signals that say, "hey Carrie, you could really do a lot more for our mother earth here. Oh--and you are so lazy:)"

Looking through my old high school scrapbook, I found a newspaper article when I was President of the environmental club. That means that I was officially the coolest Senior ever, in my view:) We had made recycled ornaments for our school Christmas tree and they really were pretty neat. But beyond that remembrance, I feel such a spiritual pull like never before to start doing my part. I am going to quote my husband who will now be so embarrassed that I made his tough and gruff appearance look like a softy. When asked if he understood why I feel so passionate about this and if he would support me he said, "yes, I realize that one person really can make a difference." This did come after, of course, I won a trade (I say trade because we were both winners by each recieving something we wanted) and now I get to buy this amazing compost kit!!

In honor of this day our family has made a list of things we are going to do to Go Green:

1. Actually recycle. 2 bins will now be outside our door to include paper, plastic, and cans and then taken only a few hundred yards away to our outdoor recycling bins for pickup.

2. Turn off the computer and unplug kitchen appliances when not in use.

3. Buy and use cloth napkins instead of paper.

4. Use the fabulous compost-done-easy-kit (as seen above).

5. No bottled water, only filtered.

6. Turn off the lights!

7. Eat leftovers the next day so you don't end up throwing it away in a week due to forgetting about it in the back of the fridge.

8. Use CSA farms and local farmers markets (this one is really important to me!). We love the Carpinito Brothers in Kent and go there for all our produce during the harvesting seasons. What is so wonderful about using local is that you will eat what is in season, therefore reducing rediculous transportation costs and waste. It is so wasteful in every sense to get that peach up here from Georgia when it is out of season in Washington. By buying a uhmm....kumquat instead of that peach from Ga, you are supporting our local farmers AND buying organic which is so much better for you anyway. It is a win for the energy conservation, win for the local farmers, win for organic healthier you!! YEAH!!

9. Curb tv/movie time by setting up a family schedule with a time allowance for each person.

10. Switch to compact flourescent bulbs. They last 10 times as long and use 1/4 the energy.

11. Buy all the kids clothes for summer second hand (not hard since I love consignment and goodwill).

12. Conserve water by turning it off when brushing teeth.

Here's some amazing facts and ideas for your reading pleasure:

*If every household installed 1 flourescent bulb, the combined reduction in carbon emissions would be equal to taking 800,000 cars off the road.

*Use green energy. Through your local utility, buy electricity from small providers who generate wind, solar, or hydroelectric power. Sometimes it's only $12 extra a month --less than the cost of a large pizza -- and a small price to pay to save the planet.

*Reduce junk mail. Americans receive 4 million tons of unsolicited mail each year. Write the Direct Marketing Association and ask to be removed from mass-market lists, or go to catalogchoice.org.

*Amazing info for every aspect of your life: http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

Okay--so I could go on and on about this but I have to get to work. There are a bazillion other resources out there especially this month...so if my enthusiasm doesn't convince you, I hope my always eccentric plea does. God gave us this amazing world and gosh-darn-it if I'm not going to do my part to help take care of it! I would love....no....adore it if you wanted to join me by making any effort to GO GREEN. One person really can make a difference:)