According to Wikipedia, Earth Day is a name used for two different observances, both held annually during spring in the northern hemisphere, and autumn in thesouthern hemisphere. These are intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment.
Last week, our school district set out to encourage families to walk to school with their kids or to get together with neighbors and take turns walking the kids to school. We happen to live in a district without buses – so “technically’ we are all within walking distance to the school – the main issue is whether you live in a neighborhood with actual sidewalks or whether you have to cross the big main street that runs through town (where you dodge the gas-guzzling Escalades, Expeditions and Suburbans racing to get through town). I was embarassed to realize how little I now walk and how dependent on driving “up the hill” I have become. I chalk it up to to scheduling issues trying to drop the big boys off and get to preschool and then get to work or get back to take a 9am conference call etc. But in reality, I have become lazy! Really lazy! So, we did it! We got back into walking last week. It gave me time to actually talk to the kids on the way home and it gave me an opportunity to see more of the neighbors during the week. The kids loved it and we are now pledging to do it at least three times a week. Some days it is just not possible as work schedules do get in the way. The school also implemented a “no-idle” zone for those families that need to drive for drop off or pick up. Did you know that idling for more than 30 seconds uses more gas than to re-start the engine and taxes its fuel efficiency!
We also vowed as a family to stop our use and purchase of those individual bottles of water. It sickens me to not only waste the money on half used bottles, but also to think of the waste of precious land fill. We re-invested in a new Water filter and got all the kids their own water bottle in a special color. I got one too! Now, I will not only get my 8 glasses a day, but I will not be adding to more plastic.
We do the usual – we’ve replaced all our bulbs with those energy efficient ones (I admit, I hate the light they emit – or rather, don’t emit). We try not to run the water during our teeth brushing. And, I have become addicted to www.Freecycle.org – have you freecycled this week?
I know these are only small steps. We’d love to have a “green” heating and cooling efficient house and we plan to purchase a hybrid as soon as we are ready for a new car. But for now, we will continue to it all “one step at a time”. What are you doing for the Earth? Would love to hear your stories!
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8 comments:
LOVE the morning walk time. it is my time with the girlies and i wouldn't trade it in for anything! kudos to you for jumping on the bandwagon!
i recently heard of freecycle though i have not freecycled yet!
finally, i am working with my co. to create some new green initiatives in our business.
at home we are (well i am) thinking about composting - thanks huddtoo! - but haven't implemented it.
we use our green bags at the store, are giving up more and more water bottles. we don't use paper plates any more. though i'm not sure about that water tradeoff...
that's a few for us anyway ...
happy earth day!
Hi A - so good to "see' you - love the compost idea - hmmm. maybe I need to consider that one. Don't you just hate those plastic grocery bags?! Funny story, one time the check out clerk said "paper or plastic" - I said "paper" and they proceeded to put the paper bag into a plastic. I was like "whoa - no, no, no plastic at all". When you coming on the blog-wagon??
you need to see my post to v on your post about scrabulous.
btw, i have now introduced mom and roni and they are hooked. we lost my mom to scrabulous for 2 hours yesterday afternoon! you rock!
Ok, gotta chime in on the paper vs. plastic. While paper bags will decompose so much faster than the crummy plastic ones..did you know that it takes like twice as much energy to manufacture the paper bag? Needless to say... I keep buying cloth "earth" bags for my groceries. And you can fit a ton more stuff in them!! So I have less bags to haul into the house. :)
I'm still working on the composting thing. I got a book, I've read online. Pros, Cons, etc. I'm starting to think my grandmother's method was the easiest, just throw everything in a pile in the corner of your property..considering you have "land" to do that one. The tumblers are so nice and easy, but you have to turn them every day. Gosh, I'm lazy too, C! LOL
We are still planning our "green" house (as green as we can anyway)..let's hope we can do as much as we want!
The walk time with the kids sounds fantastic, C. (Just don't get hit by one of those Suburbans!)
I know what you mean about those lightbulbs. There are actually two types -- one emits a good, bright light and one has kind of a greenish glow. I hate the greenish ones, but the others are good -- I'll check ours and see which is which and let you know.)
What do we do? Cloth napkins every day is one of my favorites. They just feel good. Oh and another new favorite: ever since my kids LOVED Earth Hour (thank you, Amy!) we've done a weekly No Power Hour. Sunday nights from 8:00-9:00 is lights out, tv, radio and CD player off. Computer off. DS off. We hang out in the semi-dark with flashlights and candles and we talk and play games together. It's quickly becoming my favorite hour of the week and a great way to wind down after the weekend.
I've had trouble getting into composting but maybe if you and H bug me enough about it... ;)
Nice to see you post!
That walk time sounds perfect! We live too far to take advantage of it, but on weekends we walk to lunch or dinner at the local restaurant. We've moved to cloth napkins and wash only in cold water (Jen - I think I got that from you?) We're working on switching all our bulbs as they wear out. I carry a green bag for groceries (but am not willing to give up my J Crew bags - bad, huh?) and ask for no tissue when stores wrap my purchases.
I need to break up with my Propel. Ack.
I'm on the recycling committee for Montessori and just joined the sustainability committee at work. (We removed all styrofoam from our offices - woot!)
Thanks for all the great ideas. Hudd - Thanks for reminding me about the paper bags. I actually don't really go grocery shopping - but I do now bring my cloth bag to Trader Joe's. J - Love the cloth napkin idea - do my kids sleeves count? V - yep, using cold water here too - trying to see if it really makes a difference. A - blogging yet?
What a fun topic! :)
I need to do cloth napkins. We have some..somewhere. Probably in storage. LOL C would love that idea. I could teach her napkin folding at our next Earth Hour! ;)
We recycle everything we possibly can. I've always done my wash in cold, so I can't tell you if that saves much on energy. I will use warm for sheets if I feel I need more than cold. I wish I had a front loading washer that uses way less water, but we are waiting to just get them with the new house. When we won't be on city water...so no water bill. Bad timing there! We were SO dumb to include the set we had with our old house.
I got my bike back from a tuneup this past weekend. I'll start riding my bike to/from work starting next week.
C - get a compost tumbler. ;) You'll have great mulch, and less trash! You'd be amazed at what you can put in one of those things!
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