Thinking about our Children's Children

Today is Blog Action Day! Bloggers around the web are uniting to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. The aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future. So I figured I'd join in and give just a few of my thoughts.

I frequently think about and worry about the environment. Just watch the news for 5 minutes and you'll inevitably find a news story about a huge weather disaster that can be directly linked to global warming. I get so concerned about what kind of earth we are going to leave for our children but feel helpless that I can do anything about it.

After all, I'm no Al Gore - who the Nobel committee singled out as "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted". If you haven't seen his documentary, I HIGHLY suggest it, but it will scare the buhjezzus out of you. None of us are Al Gore. But if every person in the world daily did just a little, it would make a huge difference in turning this ship around for our precious generations to come.

The web is full of tips on how to 'go green' and ways to reduce your personal and families use. I'm just going to give a few obvious tips that don't cost anything and take very little effort.

• Turn off the water when you're brushing your teeth. (Why is it running anyway!)

• Turn OFF your automatic sprinklers! It's just as easy to keep an eye on your lawn every few days and turn the sprinklers on only water when the lawn needs it. (Water deeply and infrequently, many areas can handle less than once per week!) Many people water more on their lawns than it rains in the rain forest!! That is completely insane to me!

• Don't throw that water bottle or soda can in the garbage. Our society is so incredibly wasteful and it absolutely kills me watching someone drink a measly 16 ounces of water and chuck the plastic in the garbage can. Pleeeease recycle it. Aluminum cans take 200-500 years to decompose and plastic water bottles take 80 years! Yet if recycled they can be back on the shelf in less than 90 days!

• Plant a tree. I'm not trying to go granola on you, but it's very simple science that if every single person in the world planted just one additional tree, we could completely reverse global warming altogether.

• Bring your own bags to the grocery store - even a few help! Albertsons has awesome ones for only .99 cents and when you reuse them at some stores, you get .05 cents off per bag you reuse.
  

• When you're on a shopping spree at the mall, it's ok to have Victoria's Secret put your purchase into the huge Nordstrom bag only carrying your new pair of sexy boots.

So be kind to the earth today. Let's leave some fresh air and clean water for our precious children's children. Make one small change at a time to reduce the amount of impact you make on the environment and be concious about it. And together, it will all add up and we will make a difference.

What small change can you make?

PS. Here is a link to a fabulous article with additional ways to help save the planet from my very favorite magazine - Real Simple.