Live Earth - Answer the Call!

So did any of you guys watch this? I did – I was pretty impressed, actually. Al Gore created and facilitated this project with all the passion I wish he had exhibited during the 2000 elections!! Watching him organize this event in the wake of his wildly popular environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth has been really inspiring for me – he didn’t let the loss of that farce of an election get him down, and he used his energy and passion for something really productive. To me, I think that shows he would have run our country with a great deal of love, energy, and compassion, but since he couldn’t, I’m glad that he shared those qualities to make our country and planet better in another sense. And the music? Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Police, John Mayer, Lenny Kravitz, Foo Fighters, and Linkin Park? Loved it! But did anyone else think Cameron Diaz seemed wasted, or is she really just that vapid? Anyway, on the whole, I thought it was an awesome event!

There’s been a lot of criticism about an event costing so much and using so many resources to produce, but honestly, I think it was absolutely worth it to increase global awareness of conserving resources. Have you ever thought about how you can reduce the environmental impact you have on earth? There are so many SMALL CHANGES that every single one of us can make to reduce our carbon footprint. Obviously, if every individual on earth made some small changes, the payoff would be huge. So friends and family (and the occasional stranger that reads my blog), I’m asking you to consider making some of these changes, so that our kids and their kids can live on a healthier planet! Will you consider it? Here’s some of the small changes you can make in your house, office, and habits to make a huge collective difference:

• Turn off your monitor when you’re not using it; power down your machine
• Bring your own bags to the supermarket or recycle your grocery bags
• Buy local products that don’t require shipping and cut out middle men to get products to our stores’ shelves
• Changing a couple light fixtures in your house to fluorescent bulbs
• Turning off lights when you leave a room
• Shop for energy efficient appliances and use energy efficient cycles
• Ride public transit or carpool to work if you have the opportunity (I LOVE the Coaster here in SD!)
• Recycle at home AND work; if you can create a paperless office, do it!
  
• GO here to find out how to eliminate paper junk mail: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm
• Buy your CDs on iTunes or Napster instead of buying CDs
• Read your news online instead of newspapers
• Inflate your car tires to 32 lbs each to maximize fuel usage
• Eat and drink from reusable glassware; individual bottled waters are really bad offenders. Using a water filter and filling up reusable containers is a great alternative!
• Walk, bike, carpool as much as you can. At least try to be efficient with your errand-running - do them all at the same time and think about your route!
  
• Unplug your appliances, cell phone chargers, and electronics when you’re not using them
• Use cold water to wash clothes instead of warm or hot
• Turn off water while shaving and brushing your teeth

There’s millions of changes we can make to do our part, but if you can commit to making a couple, you’ll feel good about doing your part. I hope you’ll consider answering the call!!

Thanks guys! Love, Mer