...earth day!!

I love Earth Day! It is one day where I sit back and appreciate how beautiful this planet really is. I grew up in an outdoorsy family. We love to hike, camp, fish, backpack, etc. My parents instilled in me a love for wildlife and wilderness. When I was in second grade, I went on a SAVE THE PLANET rampage, driving my parents and family crazy with all my green-ness. I ordered my dad to recycle the soda cans and demanded that my mother stop throwing away the newspaper. I only used recycled notebook paper and even made my own Save The Planet pop up book that I read to my class for show-n-tell. I am not as passionate as my 8-year-old self once was, but I still have a deep love for this planet and want to do all that I can to help out. I love that being green is "trendy" right now. What a fabulous trend!!

Here are some things I currently do to help our planet: (Cause every little thing helps!)

• I use reusable shopping bags. I only have a couple, so when I have to use plastic shopping bags, I make sure to reuse them and not just throw them away. I plan on making or buying more reusable shopping bags soon.
• I was once a HUGE bottled water consumer, but for my birthday last November, I received this beauty. Not only does it keep me from using unnecessary plastic bottles, but it also makes your water taste fabulous and looks cute to boot! Yes, they are a little pricey, but think of all the money you will be saving in the long run by not purchasing those $1-2 bottles every other day!
• I bought a new cell phone made of and packaged in recycled materials. It is adorable, too! Did you know 426,000 cell phones are decommissioned EVERY DAY in the USA alone!?!?!? That is a sad truth.
• I am not fabulous at this now, but I am going to try to be better about turning off the lights and not using as much energy. A goal for 2008.
• My mom and I are going to plant a tree and a garden this week. This will give me wonderful fresh produce, and it will save in the emissions costs of shipping the "fresh" produce all over the world.
  

My sister-in-law made a fabulous list of things we can do to go green. You should all go check it out! (Not only because the list has some great ideas, but also cause Hilary is adorable and you should all read her blog...)