I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees....

When I was a child in elementary school I remember carefully creating a poster to celebrate Arbor Day, but for the life of me I don’t know what it is. This time of year I always get the Arbor Day Foundation’s mailings. I appreciate the free address labels, this year appropriately adorned with nuts, but I never make a donation. I read the information. I even filled out the paper work like I was going to finally pay for all those free address labels, but then I thought – I don’t want to plant all those silly decorative trees. I want to plant real trees. From what I can tell the Arbor Day Foundation’s whole purpose is to get people to plant trees. And I plan on planting 20 of them this April! I would have given them a donation anyway, except they never got around to telling me exactly what “Arbor Day” is and how it came to be. I did look it up on the internet, but I won’t bore you with the story (it’s no where near as exciting as Johnny Appleseed). Arbor Day is April 29 this year, in case you’re wondering.

Have you ever planted a tree? Planting a tree, especially a real tree (as opposed to a decorative tree or a fruit tree) is an act of hope and faith. It’s an investment in the future. Most of us don’t stay in the same place long enough to see an Oak Tree or a Hickory Tree grow to it’s full height. You don’t plant a tree like that for your own satisfaction. It’s an act of altruism.

I grew up in the woods. The trees surrounding my childhood home were enormous hundred+ year old trees. You could barely see the tops. The woods were so dense we were never able to grow grass although my father sure tried. He finally gave up and turned the front “lawn” in to a circle driveway around the trees. When my children grumble about helping me with some outside chore, I regale them with the tale of being forced to pick up sticks and/or rake leaves for hours every Saturday as a child. I loved those trees though, even if they did spoil plenty a play date for me. When you looked up, the canopy was so dense the sunlight sparkled like photo flashes between the leaves. When the wind was really strong those mighty trunks would sway ferosciously, and I was certain they were coming down momentarily. Trees like that speak to your soul. To my young heart, those trees were a thousand years old and I wondered what stories they could tell.

Planting a tree with your kids is a must-do parenthood moment that I haven’t had yet. We had great intentions of planting a tree when each child was born and then taking their picture next to it every year of their life. We did plant a tree for our first-born, but we pretty much forgot about it and it withered to a sad brown stick. Then there was the problem of moving around too much, so it seemed silly to invest in a tree I wouldn’t see grow. Thankfully, my mindset has evolved. I understand more fully that we are all on the same boat. (A fact Japan’s nuclear disaster is bringing home clearly).

I don’t know whether we will be here pushing a grandchild-filled stroller up this god-forsaken hill someday, but either way I’m ready to build some forest. This spring we are planting “real” trees – 10 white oaks and 10 Shellbark Hickories to be exact. We’re purchasing them through the Seedling Sale sponsored by the York County Conservation District. If you don’t live in York County, you should look up your own Conservation District because you have one. There are 3000 of them spread out across this country. You can find yours at http://www.nacdnet.org./

These nonprofit Conservation Districts were created in 1946 to protect the health of the land and the welfare of future generations. They sponsor all kinds of important projects (and are always looking for volunteers – another great thing to do with your kids!). Their projects involve protecting and conserving wetlands and wildlife. They also assist communities in planting trees and other land covers so that our soil is held in place, our air is cleaned, and wildlife have a place to safely co-exist.

Because Conservation Districts are non-profits they sell seedlings for cheap and offer advice for free. If you’re ready to order your trees you better get a move on, because our sale, at least, is ending March 28th, with pick up on April 15th. April is the perfect time to plant some trees and here are a whole lot of reasons to plant them. Share this information with your kids!

Trees:

• filter pollution from the air (by absorbing carbon at a rate of 13 pounds per tree per year! They do the most good at about 10 years.)

• help recycle water

• prevent soil erosion/loss

• give shelter from wind and rain

• provide homes for animals/birds

• make food for humans and wildlife

• provide fuel for stoves and fireplaces

• provide lumber, plywood and other building materials

• reduce utility bills (by providing windbreaks which shield against wind and snow, reducing heating costs by as much as 30%)

• provide shade to cools hot streets and parking lots

• add beauty and grace to our lives

• provide ingredients for pharmaceutical and other medicinal purposes

• help reduce stress (research backs this up!)

• help us connect with nature

And without them there would be no life on this planet!!

I hope you’ll go outside today and consider where you could plant a tree (of any size, I was just kidding about that “real” label). Order yours now, April is a great time to plant and it’s just around the corner. Get your whole family involved. You could even plan a party around it. If you haven’t got land to plant a tree, consider volunteering with the Conservation District to plant trees somewhere else.

“I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."

- Dr. Suess

"Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them."

- Bill Vaughan

"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

- Warren Buffett

"The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"He who plants a tree, plants hope."

- Lucy Larcom, Plant a Tree

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."

- Greek Proverb

"A man does not plant a tree for himself, he plants it for posterity."

- Alexander Smith

Be a Part of Earth Hour!

I hope you’re making plans for this Saturday night! Saturday March 27 from 8:30-9:30pm (wherever you are, time zones don’t matter) it’s EARTH HOUR. This event has been building each year. In 2009, almost one billion people turned out their lights for Earth Hour, involving 4100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents– this year will be even bigger. And you need to be part of it!

People from all walks of life are participating in Earth Hour. You can go online and watch live as the lights go out in places like the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the strip in Las Vegas, the Eiffel Tower in France, and the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Your house and your lights are just as important as those places. Turning off your lights for Earth Hour makes a statement that we are united all over the world in our need to change our ways – stop wasting energy, develop new sources of renewable energy, combat climate change, and work together as a world-wide community to save our planet.

If you need more than my word for it, and even if you don’t (because it’s a really cool site), check out www.earthhour.org.

My kids think Earth Hour is one of the best holidays around. They’ve been planning the event for weeks. Their grandmother will be here to experience it with them. Last year we made popcorn and played Apples to Apples, this year’s plans are much the same except there is a grandparent here who is happy to indulge them, so the snacks may be a little fancier and the hour may stretch on a big longer than 60 minutes.

When we celebrated Earth Hour last year, we turned off more than lights – we tried to turn off every electrical appliance in the house and get our power usage down to nothing. I wish we had high speed internet, because it would be fun to watch Earth Hour on the rest of the East Coast.

By participating in Earth Hour we raise our kids’ awareness of the need for our world to work together for change to save our planet, but it’s also a great family memory. It’s one hour where we are all together, with no screens, no noise, no work to do. We’re joining together to make a statement, but we’re also gathering together just to be together. Last year the happiness was palpable. It felt a little like Christmas Eve. Everyone was in a good mood enjoying the “differentness” of our time. My youngest said to me nostalgically a few months later, “I wish we could have Earth Hour more than once a year.” Maybe we should.

I hope that this year you will honor Earth Hour in your home. Make up your own tradition. Like a lot of green initiatives, Earth Hour may not bring about change now, but it will change our children so that they will bring about change later. I believe this.

No Impact Man

My children and I watched the film, No Impact Man recently. It’s a documentary about a young couple and their baby daughter who live on Fifth Avenue in New York City and attempt to live for a year making no impact on the environment. This leads to eating locally grown organic food, generating no trash except for compost, using no traditional electricity, and using no carbon-fueled transportation. The film was premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

I will confess to allowing my younger children to believe No Impact Man was some kind of super hero who never touches anyone, right up until the moment we dimmed the lights and hit the remote. For the first ten minutes, my seven-year-old kept turning to me and asking, “Are they just going to talk the whole time?” but soon he was just as interested as I was in the adventure unfolding before us.

The point is brought up several times during the movie that perhaps this is all just some gimmick to allow Colin (No Impact Man) to promote his blog and sell his book. A tactic I can completely understand. I confess to feeling not a small amount of jealousy that I didn’t think of this first and that my blog doesn’t attract radio interviewers on the phone and Good Morning America to my door. Colin is tortured emotionally by this issue as he deals with the hate mail his project generates. He definitely hit a nerve. The surprising thing was not the nasty letters from meat-eating, liberal hating, materialistically motivated folks, but the letters from environmentalists and sustainable-living proponents. They felt that his project was embarrassing and silly. He faces his own demons here and comes to the conclusion that he’s going to do what it takes to publish his books, so why not actually use that energy to do some good with his writing. If he can change his own lifestyle and maybe inspire someone else to change theirs, even the tiniest bit, than he’s doing something worthwhile (and increasing his odds of selling his book and becoming famous in documentary-land). I respect that. But I’m still jealous.

We enjoyed learning about the “Pot in a Pot” refrigerator, how quickly added worms can make compost, and the art of washing your clothes in the bathtub with your feet. We were grossed out (as were No Impact Wife’s co-workers) at the idea of not using toilet paper. (They used scraps of washable fabric.) We were very self-satisfied when they talked about making their own cleaning supplies (altogether now: “We already do that!!”). I think this film put my own efforts in to perspective for my kids. Maybe mom isn’t so crazy, she could be a lot worse. I caught my 13-year-old watching me warily to see if I was getting any ideas.

I did get a few ideas and spent some time the next day journaling out my fantasy of living a sustainable life off the grid. But now I’ve come back down to reality and begun to ponder what I can take away from the film. I think it makes me even more conscious and committed to living an earth-friendly life. Especially because I know that an earth-friendly life is a human-friendly life and it makes us all healthier.

I’m not ready to shut off my electricity, but I did send away for a solar-powered water heater information packet. This morning I flicked on the light in the bathroom and then realized I was doing that out of habit. There’s plenty of light in our bathroom. I don’t really need that light. I’m just programmed to reach right and hit the switch each time I walk in to a room. So I’m making a resolution to stop using lights I don’t need. My children have the same habit. I’m setting out to break the habit for all of us. I happily chirped, “Let’s have less impact!” as I remind them to turn off their lights.

The No Impact Family doesn’t use any kind of carbon-fueled transportation. They use their bicycles and scooters. I’ve got several serviceable four legged animals in the pasture, but I’m not sure my town could handle me riding up to the post office on my aging pony. So as much as that seems like a great option, it’s not really an option. I guess I’m not ready to risk public humiliation in my quest for a greener life. Bicycle riding is also an option although we live in a bike un-friendly area with narrow winding, hilly roads with no shoulders. The sidewalk-free shopping areas in town would be just as dangerous for bikers. I’ve even found that as I bike for pleasure, cars pass frighteningly close to me and some drivers seem to scowl in annoyance that I am on the road. Public transportation in this little rural/suburban outpost is virtually non-existent, although we do have two Park-n-Rides, which is a good thing.

Still, I do think I can do less driving. I need to combine all my errands in to one or two times a week. I tend to jump in the car and run out whenever I need something or the longing for wi-fi hits me. I’m going to commit to putting less miles on my car. Truly I have no idea how to do this since my kids have a myriad of activities that require my taxi service. I will start by driving them to practice and bringing my laptop or book and hanging around rather than dropping them and going home, only to go back an hour later. That will cut out a few miles. But at least I have an excuse when they beg to go to Rita’s or want to burn through their allowance at Wal-Mart – “Let’s have less impact!”

My kids were uncharacteristically quiet at the conclusion of the film so I don’t know for sure what they thought. I do believe the things they saw on the film will stay with them and hopefully lead to some questions down the road. I’m also, of course, hoping it generates a little more buy-in on their part for all my living organic shenanigans. I will caution anyone who is offended by the occasional foul word, that these are New Yorkers living in New York in the film, so there is a little f-this and f-that here and there. When the first one came flying across the screen, my kids raised their eyebrows in unison and looked at me. I said, “I think you’re smart enough to handle adults using bad language.” And we moved on. That said, I think it’s a great movie to watch with your kids. It’s tempting to be defeatist when it comes to saving the environment when you see the incredible waste that is generated every day by our culture. Most likely we can’t change the majority of people, but we can change the mindset of their kids. Kids are much more flexible and easily inspired. They want to help.

I know my little noble efforts don’t amount to much. But I keep thinking about No Impact Man and his sadness and desolation when he wonders if what he’s doing is silly. He laments that he is only one person. But we are all only one person and if each of us made just a few changes we could have a great impact for good. I don’t think No Impact Man was successful in having no impact on the environment, but I’m hoping that he is successful at having an impact on the rest of us.

Talking Trash and Earth Hour

This morning as I was crushing another cereal box for the recycling bin and dropping the apple peels in the compost, I realized that trash has changed a lot since I was a kid. Back then (and I won’t say when “back then” was) we threw everything away. I remember we had three big trash cans in our garage filled to the brim and then some. The garbage men walked up our driveway, lifted the garage door, and carted them out to the street. Then they put the trash cans back in the garage and closed the door again. Times have changed. Between composting, recycling, and my plastic container fetish, we have about two or three bags of trash each week. They all fit in one trash can that we roll down to the street. The garbage men pick them up, along with all the recycling, empty them in their truck, and fling the cans back in to our driveway with as much force as possible. Sometimes the can rolls back in to the street to create an obstacle course for our neighbors. Like I said, trash has changed.

My kids have grown up with compost and recycling. They don’t know any different. They know all about saving the planet and global warming. They are concerned about the rainforest. Teaching your kids to live a life that is good for them and for this world isn’t as hard as it used to be. Being green is “in”. As much as they might complain about changes to their lifestyle that involve the loss of cheese curls and soda, they will adapt. And it will be what they know. Once they become parents themselves they’ll even appreciate it.

This weekend there is a great opportunity to create a memory for your children and do something good for the planet. Last year 50 million people participated in Earth Hour and created the largest voluntary power-down in history. This year it could be even bigger. I’m already planning our evening. I’m gathering candles and games and yummy snacks. At 8:25, we’ll send the kids all over the house to turn off everything. Even though Earth Hour organizers are only directing us to turn off lights, we’re going for broke in our household. We have a Black and Decker gadget that tells us how much power we’re using in our house at any given moment – we’ll try to make it say 0. We’ll light a fire if it’s cold and light lots and lots of candles and then for one hour we will be together and have fun without using any electricity. My kids are stoked for this, as am I. We can’t wait. What can your family do for Earth Hour? Don’t miss this opportunity to teach your children about conservation and have a great family memory to show for it.

One other thought, if 8:30-9:30pm this Saturday doesn’t work for you, pick another time. Your kids will never know it wasn’t the real “Earth Hour”. Besides if you do it sometime within 24 hours of our Earth Hour, you’re bound to be participating in Earth Hour somewhere on the planet. It’s important that we find ways to pass on our commitment to a planet-conscious lifestyle. Here’s a great chance. And don’t forget Earth Day is coming in April – start making plans now!

You can learn all about Earth Hour at www.earthhour.org. Earth Hour is a worldwide event. You can check out other people’s posts, videos, and tweets from all over the world. You can join the Earth Hour group or just be a fan on Facebook. Isn’t it cool to be part of something so big?