Happy Earth Day

Every couple of days my computer puts a little reminder about some public holiday that is automatically on my calendar. I am sure that this is some setting I have ascribed to and now don’t know how to turn off. I like reminders, but I usually don’t need to be told Christmas is coming tomorrow or it is tax day. I think there have been plenty of other hints to alert me.

To top it off I get not one or two of these little reminder boxes, but at least four and they all come at the same time. For as smart as computers can be sometimes they are incredibly stupid, or at least the user is an idiot. Enough said.

Yesterday the four box reminders popped up and told me “Earth Day tomorrow.” Huh, a reminder I actually did not already know. Suddenly I was transported back to my childhood. I was about to turn nine when the first earth happened in 1970. Back then we called taking care of the environment Ecology. John Lindsay was Mayor of New York City and he took this whole thing very seriously even going out to pick up trash in the street of NY himself. It was a big job because back then NYC was full of trash and rats.

It seems like we have gotten control over trash in the streets, but we are not completely in control of taking care of the earth. We have just gotten better at hiding our trash. I try and recycle, but admit that I sometimes throw away a bottle when I am out in public rather than bringing it home and putting it in my recycling. I sometimes forget my reusable bags at home and when I get to the grocery store I realize they are all still sitting on my table in the garage.

So in honor of earth day I went out and bought arugula seeds and squash, tomato, cucumber and pepper plants to put in my vegetable garden. Not only is it the best way to use the earth, but also I will cut down on my carbon footprint by walking the few feet to my garden when I want food. I also will not need to recycle the plastic clam shells the store arugula comes in and no bags will be needed when I gather vegetables out of the garden rather than at the store.

If each of us planted just a few vegetables in our own pots or gardens it would cut down on the fuel used to move commercial vegetables from the farms they are grown in to the store and then to our houses. Lettuce and herbs are incredibly easy to grow and taste so much better when picked right before eating.

In case your computer did not send you reminders that it is Earth Day don’t feel bad, you are just better at calendar management than I am. But let me be your reminder to do something nice for our Mother Earth. You might also enjoy the fruits of your good deeds.