Happy Earth Day!
Today we celebrate the beautiful planet we call home! All over the world, Earth Day celebrations are planned, concerts being held, and donations being made. Disney is releasing Earth,the first movie in its nature series today. I can’t wait to go see that one! The trailers for that are gorgeous, and it looks so interesting ! Since you’ve probably already seen that, though, I’ll share this look at the Earth from the international Space Station, courtesy of NASA.
Around our house, I’m going to do some talking with the kids about why our family makes some of the choices we do. Walking to school is normal for us. We always use tap water instead of bottled water. The thermostat is completely off, and we’re trying to acclimate ourselves to a broader range of temperatures in the house. Alabama has moody springtimes, so this has been a bit of a struggle lately. I’ve been compromising by only running the fan when it gets stuffy, unless we have company.
There is so much room for improvement, though. Today will also be a good time to make a few changes. My family hasn’t been recycling lately, and that bugs my conscience to no end. I finally found out the hours for the local facility, and we’re going to remedy that situation immediately. We’ve already spent some extra time outdoors enjoying the gorgeous spring weather, but I’m planning a bit more. We’ll go walking later on, armed with trash bags and focusing on cleaning up the paths as we go along. It will be a fun, simple way to share some constructive time with the kids.
Are you doing anything in celebration?
One other thing you might want to consider is asking your power company about their renewable energy program. For instance, I pay for two ‘blocks’ of renewable energy every month on top of my standard bill. It’s an extra eight bucks a month (I think) but it promotes the development of a viable renewable energy market in the state. If I’m not mistaken Alabama Power burns switchgrass, which grows really easily here, to power turbines for their renewable energy program. However, on the two occasions I tried to get them to start me on that program they never got back in touch with me. Luckily my current power company was more helpful.