Feelin' Earthy

Earth Day is like a birthday- sad if we only take one day out of 365 to celebrate, but it's a start. I think we should celebrate unbirthdays for people, too. Imagine if we were all showered with cards and phone calls and gifts at the 6 month mark between birthdays. It would be one more day to feel loved, without the pressure of having a new age to contend with. But I digress...

Every day is Earth Day around here. We recycle like mad (I am known as the recycling Nazi by several), eat largely FLOSS (fresh, local, organic, seasonal, sustainable), reuse/donate/ repurpose, use stainless steel reuseable water bottles, use compact fluorescent light bulbs, reuseable shopping bags, biodegradeable/earth friendly detergents/shampoo, we have been slowly ridding our house of plastic... But every day I feel consumed with all I'm NOT doing.

We eat bananas, which, although organic, can hardly be considered local (unless you happen to live in South America). Disposable baby wipes and diapers. I color my hair. We use a ton of plastic. Saran wrap. We don't compost! The list is endless...

My sister has 2 kids, a job, and is super active in her community, yet still manages to make ten times the effort of most people when it comes to living green. Both of her kids never used a disposable diaper, never used disposable baby wipes. They walk or bike almost everywhere, they recycle like nobody's business, are vegetarian... Honestly, she is truly inspiring.

My lifelong friend of 35 years started a blog recently about her quest to move from greener to greenest. Check it out: crazygreenmom.blogspot.com . She is taking on challenges that we should really all be doing. People can get turned off by this, but I hope it inspires you as it does me. I tell myself all the time, I'm doing my best, and while sometimes its true, very often that is just something we tell ourselves to avoid doing the necessary work. I don't know a single person who can't do even a tiny bit more to leave less of a dent in the environment.