Being Good To The Earth. Only The Good Friday.

Was it thirty eight years ago already? Yes, it was! In fact, this year makes thirty-nine. On April 22, 1970, the modern environmental movement was born as the very first “Earth Day” was celebrated. The goal was a healthy and sustainable environment; and approximately 20 million Americans became involved. Are you ready to celebrate Earth Day next Wednesday?

Can I admit to you that I have not always been friendly to our environment? Oh, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to be, but it wasn’t convenient to recycle back in my younger years. I wear a size nine shoe, but I have left a much bigger carbon footprint. I had plenty of excuses in those days long ago:

• “Our city doesn’t have trash pickup and we have to burn our trash.”
• “I don’t have anywhere to keep all those aluminum cans, and we’ll get cockroaches! Ewww!”
• “It’s just paper towels! Everybody is using them.”
• “I don’t know how to diaper a baby with cloth diapers, and I don’t want to have to deal with washing them, and besides I hear that cloth diapers can give a baby a rash!”

I want to apologize to future generations of archaeologists. I have to disagree with my friend Thorne. She believes future archaeologists will find “lumps of glass fused in fires created by the methane gasses released during garbage decomposition, broken lamp fixtures and bent satellite dishes, tons of ceramic tile and other construction waste.”

I think they are going to find my children’s loaded diapers.

But, I’m changing my ways! That’s my “good” for today. Since last year, I have been discovering that by “going green” you can save some green — as in cash! Oh, I know that there are a lot of big changes that you can do to help the environment that cost a lot of money. Those are important to do if you can afford them. But, in our everyday activities we can find tiny changes we can make that are painless, affordable, and beneficial to the environment. I’m on a journey to redeem my past by being frugal and reducing my carbon footprint at the same time.

Quite frankly, Thorne is teaching me a lot about that. At Thorne’s World, she keeps featuring marvelous posts that get me excited about making art from things we consider trash. It has made me look at the world around me in a whole new way.

So, tell me your plans for Earth Day. Or, tell me what YOU think is “good” today.

OR, join us in spreading an “optimism virus” on the internet. Only The Good . Follow the link for instructions if you would like to join “the game.” I’ve discovered that if you practice looking for the good, it becomes much easier to find! Why don’t you test my theory? Come back tomorrow, and I’ll probably be snarky … but never on Friday.

If you are linking to OTGF, tell me your “category” for Only The Good Friday. That way, readers can see ALL of your OTGF posts ANY time they visit. You can even copy and paste this blogroll, if you are feeling generous with your links:

RV Poetry; Candid Karina; All My Great, or Not So Great Adventures; Inside Mo’s Mind; Thorne’s World; Down River Drivel; Duward Discussion; Ramblings of an Unstable Mind; Insightful Nana; Newbie Lifeline; Everyday Tarot; West of Mars; Life’s Journey; A Letter To Me; This Eclectic Life;

This week, the entries that linked back to this post include:

• Candid Karina added The Foot Edition
• Newbie Lifeline added Gratitude Quotes.
• Insightful Nana found 10 good reasons for snow in April!
• West of Mars contributed Book Stuff
• You are next.

Related posts:

1. Only The Good Friday — Little Things
2. Holy Cow-I Love It! Only The Good Friday.
3. Something To Crow About! Only The Good Friday
4. What Did We Do Before Paper Towels?
5. A Darned Good Feed Store. Only the Good Friday.

Tagged as: carbon footprint, Earth Day, ecological footprint, environment, frugal, going green, Only The Good Friday, recycle