wow!

Why is it that sometimes I go days without posting while other days it seems like I am bombarded with cool things to share? I attribute it to the fact that I do not have internet at home... if I did I think I could contribute more often.

Anyways, I have more to share.

First!!

In honor of Earth Day Crafty Chica and Phoenix local Kathy Cano Murillo is creating 24 earth friendly crafts over the next 24 hours. she already has a TON of great projects so check it out!
http://thecraftychica.blogspot.com/

Second!

So I have been working with my lovely cousin Carissa in implementing ways to green up our workplace. So, In light of Earth Day I sent out this email and thought I'd share it with you!


Happy Earth Day!!!

In honor of Earth Day I thought I would provide some quick ideas for things we can do today to help the planet! Here they are:

Eat organic/local- Our food often travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to table and sometimes ever further (especially when we insist on having kiwi in the dead of winter!) Most grocery stores have a small area of locally grown produce. Organic options help to cut back the amounts of pesticides and herbicides deposited into the soil and ground water, cutting back on money and energy put into purification efforts.

Reduce, Recycle and Reuse- Recycling is an easy way to make a difference. But remember to do it smartly. Often times water bottles will be sent to the trash if their lids (which are unrecyclable) are left on. Also, buy second hand. Its startling how many nearly unused things can be found at second hand stores. Savers gets truckloads of items from Target and they still have the tags on!

Skip that fast food lunch- Fast food is great and easy and it’s sometimes nice to get a break from work midday. But fast foods are highly processed and require a lot of extraneous packaging.

Drive the speed limit- Driving the speed limit can help your gas mileage meaning more time between fill-ups! More time between fill-ups means we are less dependent on oil.

Turn the light off in your office when you head to lunch- If each one of us would turn off our lights for the ½ hour to hour of lunch we could save significant amounts of energy!

Unplug things when not in use- Did you know that even when not in use a plugged in phone charger can drain energy. Be mindful to unplug small appliances when you aren’t using them.

Cut back on meat- Did you know that cows produce 200 to 400 quarts of methane gas per day, or 50 million metric tons per year? Methane is one of the leading causes of green house gas emissions, second only to carbon dioxide. Even one additional meatless meal per week cause dramatically cut the emissions of methane.

Be mindful- No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. We often think that one little thing like recycling that paper towel isn’t enough to make a difference. But it is the little things that count and one tiny change can have a BIG effect on the planet.

Third!

Here are some lovely earthy quotes to share on this day!

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.... people think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it’s always trying to please us back." ~ The Color Purple, Alice Walker

“Now if you attend to a baobab too late, you can never get rid of it again. It overgrows the whole planet. Its roots pierce right through. And if the planet is too small, and if there are too many boababs, they make it burst into pieces.
‘It‘s a question of discipline,’ the little prince told me later on. ‘When you’ve finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tent your planet. You must be sure you pull us the boababs regularly, as soon as you can tell them apart from the rosebushes, which they closely resemble when they’re very young. It’s very tedious work, but very easy.’”
-The Little Prince, Antione De Saint-Exupery

"There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet."~ Brooke Medicine Eagle