Our Earth Day 2015 Take Action Movement- Join Us!

My husband, kids and I were outside walking around our land and planning our spring and summer goals on a recent sunny day. We were down by our pond listening to the birds, while the kids were watching toads jump in the water. I was standing under the fronds of our Weeping Willow Tree and I thought how very lucky we were to own this land, this home place where nature and green abound.

Weeping Willow, Tree, pond, land, earth day, green

It struck me as it often does in spring, how beautiful our land is. How fresh the air, how star studded our night skies are here in this little rural hamlet. How beautiful the green grass is that my kids get to run on whenever they want. In that moment, living a rural lifestyle seemed idyllic. All thoughts of the extra work it takes were lost.

And while I was smiling at my good fortune, a whisper of sadness for all those who don’t enjoy these things pulled me back to the present. What can I do to help preserve this for our kids and their kids? What can I do to make the air sweeter and the grass greener for all families?

The answer to these questions was just a click away. I went to EarthDay.org and read about the progress made over the year and as I do every year, I chose our Take Action movement.

earth day, 2015, join, help, save, conserve

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Last year, we chose to plant trees and recycle even more than we usually do. That’s saying a lot since we recycle everything and don’t even have trash pick- up service here. My husband handles all our trash and recyclables each week by taking them to our community Convenience Center. It’s a dirty, smelly job, but he knew that was part of the cost of owning land. He thought and still does think it's worth it.

This year we chose to Reduce our Energy Consumption.

Earth Day, green, sustainable, energy, reduce, turn off,

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Since we don’t live in an urban area, our electricity is a bit higher in price per kilowatt because it takes more lines and power poles to get it to us. We have been warned for months that our electric bills will go up dramatically this summer, so our reasons for wanting to reduce our energy consumption is both economic and environmental.

By going to the EarthDay.org’s Take Action Page I found we were not alone in our desire to save money and the environment. This was the 3^rd listed movement!

Here are some facts from EarthDay.org regarding using less energy:

The Issue

Did you know that nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US are generated from the energy we use to power our homes and cars? That adds up to a big environmental impact and a hefty toll on our wallets at the end of the year - close to half a trillion dollars!

What we can do:

The good news is that we can all take small actions to manage our collective energy appetite. This Earth Day, we have teamed up with WattzOn to provide their leading energy management tools to our community free of charge. Take action by creating an Earth Day Energy Center account and start saving energy and money - typical monthly savings are as high as 20% through simple habit changes and small projects!

It took me seconds to take the pledge and get started.

Our first task will be as they suggested, cleaning our dryer vent. When the weather warms up, we will be putting up an outside clothes line! I’m excited about this because that’s how my Mom and Grand Mom dried their laundry and I can remember running through the fluttering sheets on a warm summer’s day. The feeling and the scent of those perfectly clean smelling sheets stays with me to this day!

Join Us April 22nd!

Whether you want to reduce your energy consumption, help restore the forests, or support environmental education there is one simple thing you can do today to help make our world a better, cleaner, greener more sustainable world for ourselves and for our kids-

Go to EarthDay.Org and read.

That’s it. I feel confident that you will be inspired and the cause you feel most strongly about will find you.

And please remember no matter where you live, urban landscape or rural hills, take time to step outside and take in the beauty of the day.

If you don’t like what you see- help be the change!

Please share in comments- What will you do to help on Earth Day this year? Do you support Earth Day every year?

11 comments

Literary WinnerApril 10, 2015 at 11:58 AM
Drying clothes outdoors in the warm weather is a great way to cut down on energy usage. I too dread the high power costs this summer. We do what we can with ceiling fans but they still creep up. We're also going to try the spring peeper frogs this weekend. My kids have not gotten to experience seeing them.
ErinApril 10, 2015 at 12:06 PM
Thank you so much for this. As a middle school counselor I'm always talking to kids about how they can give back to the community and be "green". Now I have more ideas and thins to do with them. Thanks!
MikiHopeApril 10, 2015 at 3:30 PM
I support Earth Day every day of the year-not only the designated day! I have been slowly but surely lowering my energy consumption where possible. I live in a small city--so less light usage etc--less driving is about all I can do for that. When I was much younger I used to go out and help clean up the rivers and streams in our area.
Linda A KinsmanApril 11, 2015 at 1:04 PM
Hi Literary Winner,

It sounds like you have taken great steps to lower your energy consumption!

I bet you kids will love seeing the frogs this weekend too!
Linda A KinsmanApril 11, 2015 at 1:04 PM
Hi Erin,

Thank you for your supportive comment. It truly made my day because I have a 6th grade daughter who wants us to be greener as well. So glad I could help you teach our kids!
Mom Knows BestApril 11, 2015 at 5:47 PM
I have a closet that I can hang clothes up to dry in. I cant hang them outside as the wind blows dirt near me.
Linda A KinsmanApril 13, 2015 at 9:19 AM
Hi Tara,

Having a drying closet is a great idea! I wish I had an extra one for winter to hand my girls lightweight clothing in.
Linda A KinsmanApril 13, 2015 at 9:23 AM
Hi Michelle,

So glad to hear you are "green" year round! I think reducing energy consumption is one way we can all help our earth daily. My daughters asked if the could help with a park day clean up this year, so hopefully we can start doing this as a family too.
JamieApril 13, 2015 at 12:01 PM
I want to plan to go out in the forest and clean up trash. We have a hill down the road that people use for snow sledding, when they break, the weirdos leave the trash there...not nice!! Figured we could take a day to go out and clean it up!! :)
Barb WebbApril 13, 2015 at 3:08 PM
What cool website and initiative! Love your plans for energy use reduction, that's something we are constantly working on, too, for our home as we face the same challenge in our rural area. Every day is Earth Day around our home (as I'm sure you suspected!) :) but I do love that there is a dedicated day! We were thinking of participating in a road side clean-up this year.
tmApril 13, 2015 at 6:51 PM
Your home sounds like it is in a beautiful location with all of the beauty of nature. We have a small yard, but it backs up to a deep forest that is owned by the Army Corp, so we are lucky to experience the beauty as well. We always plant new plants for Earth Day. Last year was a blackberry plant. We are already really good about using lower energy consumption light bulbs, recycling, and not being big consumers. However, we could definitely cut back on non-essentials that we splurge on too often since every manufactured item has an effect on the environment.