Earth Day - Gotta Love It!

You gotta love Earth Day. I remember back in the 70's, maybe early 80's that I first became aware of conserving energy and wanting to be part of this mission to save the planet for our children. Of course, living in California, we were so far ahead of the rest of this planet in our lofty goals. In my parent's home the saying was "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down". And, we were encouraged to share a shower! Because to do otherwise was wasting water. Then there was the Christmas that all of our twinkling lights were banned. This of course is a joke today, with blow up thingys and gazillions of lights that are beyond tacky. Somewhere along the way we forgot that we wanted to save the planet for our children.

And, then along comes Al Gore reminding us of how wasteful and spoiled we are, encouraging us to buy carbon offsets to ease our guilt. So, since it is Earth Day I decided I would find out how many carbon offsets I would have to purchase for my family (3 adults) living in a modest 4 bedroom in Illinois. The total came to $2,160. Well, I don't know about you, but with today's economy, there's gotta be a better way. My big question with these so-called carbon offsets, is how do we know what's really being done with this money. Who's getting paid and how much to keep track of this? I can't help but feel this is somewhat of a scam. So what do I do?

I keep doing the things that I know help conserve energy and help the planet. I have less grass than anyone on my block or subdivision. I drive less and plan ahead when I do have to run errands or go somewhere in the car. I don't put up Christmas lights outside, just on my tree inside. I do some recycling and know I could do more. The point I'm trying to make here is why should paying some company or organization for carbon offsets make it alright to leave all your lights on, mow the lawn, drive your car, go on a trip in an airplane, whatever! We're being scammed into paying off our guilt to save the planet. If you really think this is the answer, then by all means pay up.

So now I'll come off my soapbox and just enjoy this day, which is a beautiful Earth Day!

If you want to know how to calculate your carbon offsets go to this link:

http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

To celebrate Earth Day and the warm days ahead why not wear this adorable lady bug bracelet (available in red and green). My price: $13.99 at www.whateveraccessories.com