Going Green?

"I've tried to be responsible.

I've thought pro-green thoughts and occasionally even done pro-green things. I've run the dishwasher and washer-dryer only with full loads. I've recycled, as ordered, though like every New Yorker I've ever met, I suspect the system does more good for our feelings than for the environment...

I've been too busy to do much more, though, and too confused and overwhelmed by all the eco hype out there, and too inflexible to seriously change my lifestyle."

This quote from The New York Times by Andrew Postman expresses my thoughts exactly. Being more "eco-friendly" has been on my mind lately, but it all seems so very overwhelming, thus I don't do anything. We, as a family, do waste a lot and we're awful about recycling (the trash company hasn't been too helpful either with their obnoxious and confusing schedule). We have changed out all of our light bulbs to the nifty spiral kind, but we have plenty of room for change.

Tonight, for FHE we had a lesson on respecting our environment, in honor of Earth Day which is tomorrow (and also to sign off some cub scout requirements). We talked about respect and ways that we disrespect our earth and ways we can do better at respecting it. The boys and I remembered a trip to Marineland in Canada where we were able to feed some bears. The poor bears were swimming in mucky, trashy water. I remember feeling sad that they were living in these conditions. Two years later, they boys still remembered this. Having left an impression on them, Tyler and Jared were quite insightful and came up with a list of things that we can do to better our own efforts:

• Don't smoke!
• Ride our bike or walk to the store (realistically, this isn't that far fetched--it is only around the corner)
• Bring water bottles to school instead of juice boxes
• Reuse plastic spoons for lunches
• Make cloth napkins
• Turn lights off if we're not in the room
• Don't throw gum or any trash on the street
  
• Take our recycle bins out to the curb
• Use both sides of paper
• Bring snacks in plasticware rather than plastic bags
• Take re-usable bags to the store for some of our groceries
• Grow fruits and vegetables in a garden
  

Pretty much, we came to the conclusion that we can always do better and we can always do more. And I'm very proud of the boys for actually caring! So, Rob in Japan, don't forget to turn the lights off when you leave!

If you have any other ideas, please pass them on! Happy Earth Day!