Call Me a Tree Huggin' Flower Child . . . If You Want

No, I'm not a "tree hugger" or a "flower child" or anything like that. I just so happen to care about the planet that we live on. Don't worry, I'm not about to go burn my bra, start making my own clothes out of home-spun cotton, making my own food instead of taking short-cuts. And I'm definitely not about to start smoking pot like the hippies of the 60's. There was once a time when I littered and didn't really care about the environment, but now in my ripe old age (hahaha) I care. I want to make sure that there is place left to live in when my children are my age. I can get carried away sometimes when I talk about preserving nature and all that jazz, which is why Mark often shuts me up by saying, "There's a tree. Go hug it!" He's such a smart ass sometimes, but I love it. I can't do everything that I would like to do, like buy only organic foods and become a vegetarian. I'm a woman who loves steak, burgers and bacon, but I also love my veggies. I don't like the use of pesticides polluting the air that my family has to breathe. And if I don't want to breathe it, what makes you think I want to eat it? We have one of the poorest air qualities here in the valley. The valley acts like a giant suction cup refusing to release all things evil. Instead it holds them hostage, so that the surrounding areas aren't compromised. Oh, but then that leaves us; eh, who cares! Anyway, so, I like to do things like recycle things that can be recycled. After-all, we are provided with a recycle bin to throw those things into. We don't have to sort them, so that makes it all the more easy. We do recycle our own aluminum cans. We don't receive any paper bills. They are all sent electronically. I try to save paper. I don't use paper towels to clean things. Instead I use cleaning towels which I then wash in a full load of laundry. I use the auto-sensing setting on my dryer so it only runs until my clothes are dry. I make my kids turn off lights when they aren't in their rooms, and when they leave them on, I tell them that they are polluting the Earth. Harsh, isn't it? I don't think it is. Its not that I am trying to 'guilt-trip' them into being responsible people. Okay, so maybe a little. But in the end, I want them to realize that when they leave their lights on they are creating pollution. Pollution is bad for the air and for our planet, and if they don't help stop it, they are only assisting in the demise of our world. They get it. They recycle and sometimes even tell me that I forgot to turn a light off. They brush their teeth with the water off. We have auto-sensing night-lights and even have timers on our Christmas lights so they are only on at certain times and can't be forgotten to turn off. I run my dishwasher at night, we rarely use our heat, and in the summer we only use our ac at night. I recently just purchased the new arm & hammer cleaning solution. They sell you an empty bottle with a concentrated solution. You mix that into the bottle with water and wa-la, you have an all purpose cleaner. Not only is it cost effective, but it is also Eco friendly. You don't have to keep buying new big plastic bottles of cleaner. Instead you only have to purchase little 2 inch tall bottles of solution, and the best part of all is that the solution is plant based! I've started using Eco friendly dish detergent. I do quite a bit more than the things that I have listed here, but my point is that I CARE. You should care. Everyone should care. But most don't. I want to ensure that my kids will have a healthy and safe place to live and raise their children, just like my parents did. We recently watched the movie Wall-E and I think it is a great movie for kids. Sure it's based on environmentalist ideals, but hell, what a better way to get your kids thinking about pollution and the earth than by watching a kid's movie? If you haven't seen it, watch it. It may go to the extreme, but sometimes that's what it takes. Going to extreme measures may be the only way to get your point across. So, call me tree hugging flower child. I don't mind.