It Starts With A Napkin

It starts with a napkin? Okay, let me explain. For years, my husband and I used paper napkins with every meal. Six paper napkins a day doesn't sound like much, but consider this. How does 2,190 paper napkins sound? 25 years worth? 53,750! (Give or take a napkin or two)

That's why we decided to take a small step and switch to cloth napkins. One little gesture and we've eliminated something from the world trash heap. And, if you're wondering, throwing a few small napkins in a weekly load of laundry adds nothing to our utility bills. We've also switched to select-a-size paper towels but use cloth towels for clean-up whenever possible.

We recycle our grass clippings around trees and shrubs instead of filling plastic bags for the town pick up. Much easier on us and it also saves a lot of plastic trash bags! Even better.

We still have a long way to go. It's not easy to give up on conveniences, but, like us, you can start with the small stuff.

What have you done for Earth Day? Earth Year?

Why not pull out the cloth napkins?

Earth Day Official Website


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Protect Our Oceans!

Click at the top to change the fish! Use your mouse to make it swim!
Above all, protect the environment and Earth!

Great News For Mother Earth!

A great weight lifted off my shoulders when I listened to the announcement that the United States has finally agreed to a change in direction on global climate agreements.

Born and raised in Germany comes with a completely different outlook on our environment. Growing up, I was taught in school not to litter. We actually had classes on the subject.

I immigrated from Germany to the United States back in 1991, and remember driving down an Interstate when suddenly, a trash-filled bag from a well known fast food chain, came flying out from the car in front of me. I grabbed pencil and paper and wrote down the license plate number. When I later proudly presented the evidence to a policeman I was laughed at. When you toss as much as a cigarette butt in the country I was raised in, you end up with a hefty fine.

Throughout the years I've made extra efforts to stop some abuse against Mother Earth. I remember a friend asking me to assist him changing the oil and filter on his automobile. When all was finished, my friend carried a plastic bowl with five quarts of used motor oil to his bathroom.

No way! I thought, as he was about to unload the substance into his toilet. I explained to him that one drop of oil renders a bathtub full of drinking water useless, and I volunteered to take the used oil to the local parts store for recycling. Do the math; if my education changed how this person recycled his used motor oil, I saved many bathtubs worth of drinking water.

I'm grateful for the new policy concerning our environment and for a new, more global geared administration. I must say however, an educational process must be in place along with the changes. I'm not sure how it's asked that we protect the earth, when it seems some people can't take care of their problems at home. Animals build soft nests, why can’t we!

Martin Bartloff

Earth Day, 2009

Look for Martin's book, Like A Snowflake In Summer
June, 2009 - Echelon Press

Martin's Blog

Martin's Website

Earth Week at Midland Middle School

Hi everyone!

My name is Valerie Smiser, and this is my very first blog. I am an 8th grader at Midland Middle School, and I’m here to tell you about what’s going on around here for Earth Day!

At school today, everyone wore green shirts. A lot of people rode their bikes to school, too, including me and my friend Ben. You might have heard of Ben, he’s the one who had that trouble last year, with that thing he found in his locker? If not, you can read about it in a book called LOCKER SHOCK! by Pam Ripling.

ANYWAY, after we got to school, we had a special assembly where they passed out energy saving kits. We were supposed to go home and check out our faucets for leaks, lightbulbs for wattage, and unplug things that draw energy when we aren’t using them. We have a water shortage in our area.

At lunchtime, some people came in and set up telescopes in our quad area, and some other groups set up “natural” crafts such as using the sun’s energy to burn your name into a piece of wood. I thought that was pretty dumb, though, because we were also celebrating Arbor Day, and here they were burning holes into tree branches. They did tell us that the trees were already dead, but, I’m just sayin’.

Now I’m at home, and I did find out that the shower in my mom’s room drips. Mom says I’m pretty good with my hands, for a girl (can you imagine a mom saying that?) and she let me tighten up the shower head with a wrench. It seems okay now. Since my dad isn’t around anymore, I pretty much take care of a lot of stuff now.

Our city gave free bus transportation all day. They want people to start riding the bus more and driving their cars less. Since I already ride my bike every day, I’m like doing Earth Day all the time.

Gotta go – time to do my homework!

Valerie,
(as told to author Pam Ripling)

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK!

Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle!

Visit Pam at Beacon Street Books.

Earth Day - A Worm's-Eye View

Happy Earth Day, everyone! Wendel Wordsworth here.

Are you part of the Green Generation? I’ve been a member since the day I was born. You guessed it, because I’m a green worm!

Oh, but I’m part of the Green Generation in other ways, too. I conserve energy and recycle. Plant trees and pick up litter. I bet you do whatever you can to keep our beautiful world healthy, too.

And how fun to have a special day set aside to remind us of all we can do to “green up” America. Every little thing makes a BIG difference.

The website EarthDay.net has a lot of “green” tips for students like you and me. Here are just a few things we can all do at school:

Flip the Switch!
• Make signs or stickers as reminders to turn off lights in classrooms or other spaces when they are not in use.
• Request that energy saving light bulbs be used.

The Hot & Cold of It!
• Ask that room doors be closed to trap heat during winter months.
• Report windows that leak air.

Monitor Monitors!
• Check that computers are turned off at the end of each day.
• When not in use, set computers to “sleep mode.”

Recycle!
• Start a school recycling program.
• Conserve paper by using both sides.

Won’t you write in and tell us what special things you did on Earth Day? Do you have a “green” idea not mentioned here? Let us know!

It’s really not hard being “green!”

Wendel Wordsworth
www.WendelWordsworth.com

Celebrating Earth Week

Cynthia's Attic is celebrating something dear to Cynthia and me (Gus). Earth Week. And, we're real excited that so many schools are getting into the Green Scene!


From recycling, getting rid of junk mail (we'd all like to do that, right?), planting a tree, or something as simple as unplugging our cell phone charger when we're not using it, we can all do something.

Just one little something!

Let's all help green the planet!

Also, throughout the week, we'll have other really cool characters giving their views.

Wednesday: A cute little Green (how appropriate!) worm named, Wendel, will be here to share his "up close and personal" views on Earth Day.

Stay tuned! And RECYCLE!

Welcome to the Green Generation!


Mary Cunningham Books

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