love your mother

i used to be a science teacher and in the month of april, science teachers are supposed to do something with their students to draw positive attention to earth day and the impact that we have on our planet. it also used to serve as a friendly reminder to yours truly to step back and take stock in how i am impacting the environment.

as a teenager, i was pretty interested and involved in this kind of living. i recycled in my home, i became pretty active in seeking out eco-friendly products and even was a member of greenpeace. as an adult, i am not doing so well. my biggest environmentally sound contribution has been curb-side recycling, and if i'm totally honest, i don't recycle as often as i could. i tend to let convenience have an impact on my recycling habits.

this whole topic has been on my mind for a while and yet i haven't done anything about it. every time i go through the grocery store i become slightly ill with the number of products that are designed with consumer convenience in mind, while having a blatant negative impact on the environment. i keep thinking about my girls and what problems we are creating for their generation to deal with. it makes me sad to think that my convenience is going to be their hassle and their challenge to solve.

i decided that i needed to do something about this and found myself being a little overwhelmed with where to start. i mean, i am only one person, running a household of only four people. how much can our little efforts help? not much, but maybe if i start doing something and then tell you, and then you start doing something... you see where i am going here. and so my challenge to you is this: find one thing that you and your household can do to contribute to a healthier planet. kudos to you if you are already doing things in this area. keep doing them, but consider my challenge, do one more:) and then talk about it. not in a toot your own horn, look how great i am kind of way, but in a way that might inspire the next guy to make positive changes as well.

(if your interested, i bought a canvas bag. my first step at reclaiming the planet is to use as few plastic bags as possible. i read up on them and found them to be a pretty nasty contributor to environmental chaos- they negatively impact wildlife, soil, air and are almost impossible to effectively recycle.)


happy earth day!