Showin’ some love

Happy Earth Day to my favorite planet! (It used to be Pluto, but we know how THAT turned out, don’t we?)

After several days of activities with family, we’re having a quiet day here at our own tiny little chunk o’ earth. That included a good workout for each of us, because all of those days with family included plenty of food! In fact, we’re going easy on the food tonight and just having some BLTs. (Mmmm.)

There was a good article in Parade magazine included with today’s paper, about Earth Day and recycling and all that good stuff. It included a How Green Are You? quiz, and I took a couple of minutes to do that and see how I was doing. Pretty good, but I still need to work on some things. I’m “fluorescent green,” but just barely made it into that category. Our location hinders us in some ways, because our growing season is short, and we can only get locally grown stuff in the summer. And sorry, but if the speed limit is 65 mph, I go 65 mph (Okay, maybe a little more...I have a Mustang, after all!). But overall, we do pretty well.

Our big recycling bin is consistently full, because we recycle all cans, bottles, newspapers, magazines, and cardboard. Ken takes junk mail and work-related papers into the office to be shredded and recycled. Our garbage amounts to very little now. I just took it out, and it was maybe one-fourth of a tall kitchen garbage bag.

We’re far from perfect, and far from 100% sustainable, but we try to do our part. I also love supporting businesses that try to make a difference, and my favorite is Better World Books. I’ve written about them more than once, but they can never get enough attention as far as I’m concerned! They save used books, like ones that are being permanently removed from library shelves, from the landfill, and a significant portion of the profits they receive from the sales of these books goes towards literacy programs. They ship books for free in the continental U.S., and they tack on a few extra cents for carbon-offsetting. I think they’re a fine example of a company doing everything “right.” Also, if you’re like me and love vintage books, you can find some really good ones through them. I love a decades-old book. I’ve even gotten a few copies that were signed by the author! So the next time you want to order a book, please consider Better World. They are truly trying to make one!