Earth Day 2010

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.



Last year I made a list of things we do at our house to decrease our environmental footprint. See Earth Day 2009. I've been thinking of anything I have added to that list this last year.

1. One thing I thought of is that I have driven a lot less. That was because of medical reasons, but none-the-less, I have only had my car filled up with gas about 6 times since we purchased it last October. Because I've not been driving other people have had to do the grocery shopping. That is combined with other errands so that no one is making a special trip. Also, my new car is more fuel efficient than the
2. A second thing I did was to give Abbey a set of reusable bags to take to the grocery store. Since she has her own household now, she needed those.
3. I've also been more careful about shopping and using up produce before it goes bad. I was really bad about not using up fresh parsley in a timely manner. So what I've been doing is after a day or two, processing it with a little good olive oil and freezing it - either in ice cube trays or 1 Tbsp blobs on a Silpat lined baking sheet. When the portions are frozen, I store them in a Ziploc bag until needed. It's an easy way to add a boost of fresh herbs to something when you don't actually have them on hand fresh.
4. I will have fresh herbs in pots at the house in town again this year. That will negate needing to purchase herbs that have been trucked in to the market.
5. This year I am also growing strawberries in strawberry pots. The strawberries send out runners, so purchasing new plants is not necessary. Also, the flavour is much better than in strawberries that are grown for shipping.

So what have you done new this last year to help our Mother Earth? Every little thing counts.

Remember, we can

Happy Earth Day

namasté,