Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day to all! I don't understand the people who don't believe in Global Warming or that our landfills could essentially kill the planet. Are you absolutely insane? Or can you just not read?

People need to start realizing that the actions we are taking can and will either kill or maintain the Earth. We've only got one planet to live on...so far...but we seem to take for granted what we have at our fingertips. I hear too many people say, "Well, I won't be around when the Earth dies." Wow, what great humanitarian ideals you have. It shows maturity and care for your kids, nieces, etc.

I tweeted some easy green tips today. That EVERYONE can do:
1. Recycle your plastic bottles/aluminum cans!
2. Turn off the lights if you're not in the room!
3. Don't leave the water running when you're brushing!

Sadly, I got the inspiration to tweet this today, because 3 of my best friends DO these things, and it drives me absolutely insane. I have never and will never tell them to change what they do, but it doesn't mean that it's not any less important. Everyone making small steps can make a huge difference. I watched Oprah this morning and couldn't believe some of the things I heard.

One family left lights on from 6am-11pm, even when they weren't home. The air conditioning was set on 68 with the windows open at the same time. Oh, and the external temp was colder than the A/C setting. This family also had 3 garbage cans of trash but no recycling. Oprah ended up doing her version of a green "Wife Swap" with a family from Oregon, and that eco-friendly Portland mom taught the new family to recycle, turn off lights and don't waste what you don't need at the time (i.e. electricity). All these things are easy to do and can conserve valuable energy.

Another part of the show this morning dealt with the huge aquatic landfills we've made of the oceans. There is plastic and garbage so sever that it can be as much as 90 feet deep. This debris is killing and contaminating our aquatic wildlife.

My parents have raised my brother and I do be aware of the little things we can personally control. My mom has a green thumb, and I remember having mini-compost bins at our house. The upkeep became overwhelming, and it ended up only lasting a couple of years. But I remember my mom saving our veggie and fruit "scraps" to feed the bin to create fertilizer.

Recycling was never a thought in our family--it was natural for us. My dad installed a pop can crusher in our garage right next to our recycling bins. And I remember my brother and I having a jumping war when we would crush the gallon milk jugs before tossing them into recycling. The sound they made as we both crashed our feet into the plastic was s0 loud. Back in the day before pop cans came in convenient sleeves, they came in 6-pack plastic rings. When we had finished a full ring, we would cut the rings because my dad would say we didn't want a seagull to get caught and die.

I just want everyone to care. Which is sometimes too much to ask. My brother says that people will live in the way they want and is most convenient for them. It just sucks we're killing mother nature doing so.