Happy Earth Day - 2007

Happy Earth Day, everyone! And thank you Oprah, for airing Friday's "going green 101" show. If there's anyone who can influence the masses to make positive changes, it's Oprah. If you missed the show, they covered a lot of the basics: switching to reusable shopping bags, changing to CFL lightbulbs, stopping junk mail, recycling, conserving energy, using non-toxic cleaning products, buying local and organic food, cutting down on paper waste (napkins, etc.). Her goal was to inspire each viewer to make one small change. That goal is a lot like ours. Take baby steps. Make positive changes. They do add up. And you'll feel good about it.

One positive change I'm working on is making sure paper is used on both sides before it is recycled. My kids love to do artwork. This is the "earth day" card my 5-year-old made for me. Consequently, I am setting up an filing area in our playroom so we have a keeping place for scrap paper, we can find it when an artistic urge strikes (and I don't overzealously throw it into the recycle bin before we've used it on both sides). I have a weakness regarding clutter. If things look too messy, I tend to want to pitch it and just be rid of it. But alas, I've recently toured recycling facilities and the dump. And I'm amping up my efforts to reduce/reuse these days.

What about you? Did Oprah, your GreenGroup or EnviroMom inspire you to make a small green change? If so, what is it? We'd love to hear about it. Happy Earth Day everyone!