I love, love, LOVE that everything is green again. I think the whole point of winter is to make me appreciate spring and summer.
I imagine that’s what peace activist John McConnell was thinking in 1969. He probably said something like, ‘This green world is pretty groovy. We gotta stop mucking up the environment.?
Enter Earth Day.
Unofficially founded in ?69 by McConnell, the first governmental recognition of Earth Day was in San Francisco on the spring equinox in 1970. Now, it’s celebrated every April 22 in the US.
In celebration of Earth Day and its namesake, I’ve gathered up some activities that we can all do to keep it looking groovy. They’re free and pretty easily accomplished.
– Pay bills online instead of through the mail. Banks offer the service free of charge, as do most of the companies you’re trying to pay. (They make it as easy as possible to take your money!)
– Pick up litter. My mom used to come home from her jog every morning with random pieces of plastic and other garbage littering the side of the road. I know we all see that empty fast food bag floating around the park, threatening to fly into Paint Creek, someone just needs to go grab it.
– Stop using those flimsy plastic bags at the grocery store. Clerks really, really overuse them. My gallon of milk with a handle on it doesn’t need to go in a bag with another handle. Starting taking your own reusable bags, or at the very least ask for paper ones.
– Line dry your laundry. Ask anyone who dries their sheets outside in the summer and they’re tell you (for about 20 minutes straight) why line-drying is amazing. While you’re at it, use cold water to wash your clothes. (Except sheets and towels, of course. Get all those germs out!)

– Collect rain water to water house plants. It’s way better for them than city water anyway.
– Slow down.’Driving 70 mph in a 60-zone is like adding nearly $.50 to the price of a gallon of gas, since higher speed equals more guzzling.

And these ‘green? ideas will save the green in your checking account, too.
Just be careful about falling head over heels in love with all things ‘green.?
I’ve been doing research on renewable energy and hybrid vehicles ? both really popular in media these days ? and the risks associated might outweigh the benefits. (And, no, I’m not talking about sticky gas pedals.)
Rare earth minerals are used in hybrid cars and big magnets inside wind turbines. But mining for those minerals, which are ample in rural China, is ruining villages and killing animals and people.
‘It doesn’t look very green,? said Lindsey Hilsum on a PBS show last December. ‘Rare earth processing in China is a messy, dangerous, polluting business. It uses toxic chemicals, acids, sulfates, ammonia. The workers have little or no protection.?
On the same show, Wang Cun Guang said, ‘The Baotou Environmental Protection Bureau tested our water [near a rare earth mine], and they concluded that it wasn’t fit for people or animals to drink or for irrigation.?
I’ve also read that the process in making green cleaning products is scary, polluting business, too. Now I’m a little more careful about what I buy.
On a happier note, Earth Day is also my younger brother’s birthday. If you happen to be up north and come across a Tyler Hess, give him a big green hug.