Water Conservation in the news

Yesterday I noticed that half of the news stories on my news ticker widget involved water conservation, so I thought I might highlight those on this wonderful Earth Day!
Here are some of the headlines:

New Mexico: Water Authority Rewards Conservation
California: California Launches $4 Million Water Conservation Push
California: Pittsburg Approves Water Conservation Plan

I did my part to conserve water yesterday, too. I sat the water buckets out in the rain to fill. I didn't fill them up by any means, but collected several inches of water overall, and am confident that I conserved at least a couple of gallons of water, which saves A) the water itself, and B) the electricity needed to run the pump. So go me.

Happy (B)EARTH DAY!

That's right, this sunday is Earth Day! Why? I have no idea! But who needs an excuse to party, right? So this Sunday, weather willing, gather up your closest friends and have a little get together to celebrate our Mother Earth! Just don't forget to recycle your soda cans!

Speaking of recycling and Earth Day, one of the easiest things you can do on an every day basis to help our planet is recycle. In some neighborhoods recycling can be picked up just like your trash, in others there are designated drop-off centers, like at a fire station or community building. And in many places you can recycle such things as aluminum, tin, and other scrap metals or glass for cold hard cash! Recoup some of your 10 dollar a week cola habit by recycling all your aluminum cans for as much as 55 cents a pound. Just a trunk full of empty soda cans delivered to a paying scrap metal recycling center can net you an easy 15 bucks. It's a great way to inspire otherwise uninspireable teenagers to get involved. If your kids are anything like me, they probably have that 15 bucks stacked all around their room, or rolling around in the floorboard of their car. But whether for profit or the simple health of the planet, you can find a place to sell or dump just about anything you can think of to recycle using Recycle.net's Traders and Recyclers Directory.

If the weather cooperates you might make Earth Day an outing with the family to a local nature spot. Visit the zoo or a nearby water garden and impress upon your children the importance of preserving our planet's natural wonders, not only for their beauty (though that ought to be reason enough!) but because our planet (and us!) simply cannot survive without them! To locate a National Park near you go to the National Park Service website, or to find a Wildlife Refuge visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service's Refuge Finder.

Here's where I wish I was going to be on Earth Day!

Apache Lake, Arizona. Surrounded by the Superstition Wilderness, Three Bar Wildlife Area and located in Tonto National Forest. We've seen Big Horn Sheep, Coyotes, Coati, Herons and seasonal water fowl, Falcons and Bald Eagles. We even know up which canyon a mama Mountain Lion lives, and have heard the squeaky chirps of her newborn cubs. Needless to say, we left her alone!

The year in recap, Earth Day, Climate Crisis Action Day

If any of you have ever happened to stumble over to my other blog at Unwholy Babble-On you'll see that life around here has kinda gone to the fiery pit of Hades in a hand basket in the last week or so. But we're recovering. However, I've hardly had time to even think about this weeks Living Gaia post, or find submissions for specific issues, so this week we're going to have to let the little furry creatures fend for themselves a bit. First I want to make a list. These are all the charities and organizations I personally support:

World Wildlife Fund
Defenders of Wildlife
Front Range Equine Rescue
ASPCA
Beyond Pesticides

Those are just the ones I tune in to on a regular basis. As a full time supporter of WWF and Defenders I receive regular email and snailmail updates and action alerts, a great way to keep on top of issues that can develop quickly. Not only do these organizations help wildlife in need, they help to protect our own natural resources, and the integrity of our natural history. Imagine where America would be today if we'd let our national symbol, the Bald Eagle, go extinct? It would be a disgrace.

Speaking of symbolic animals...I said the furry critturs were on their own, but I didn't say anything about reptiles! As a Marylander I have to help spread the word and save Maryland's diamondback terrapins from overfishing! Here in the states we don't even EAT turtles (for the most part) so why are we destroying our national natural resources to export a food product that is nothing more than a delicacy? We're not saving any starving chinese children with diamondback terrapin export, folks. And everyone knows that the Terp is a nationally known symbol for Maryland! What will we call our University of Maryland teams if the diamondback terrapin disappears? The Maryland Common Box Turtles just doesn't have the same ring. If you are a Marylander, Gov. O'Malley is listening, so start talking! Give his office a call and explain to him why there needs to be a LEGAL BAN on terrapin fishing, not just a bunch of loophole filled DNF guidelines.

In other news: Don't forget about Climate Crisis Action Day in Washington, D.C. on March 20th! For the sake of wildlife and ourselves we need to tell Congress to step up and start making some real change, if we want to keep living on this planet.

The TeeShirtShoppe knows what they're talking about, man. I mean, do you really think they have Chocolate on Mars? Not to mention they don't have trees, or oceans or, I don't know, the proper amount of OXYGEN!

Also coming up, the Spring Equinox and Earth Day! Stay tuned for more information on what you can do to make this Earth Day a success. With pressing social and environmental issues as well as elections on the horizon we have a real opportunity to create change this year.

Wildlife Action Update: Defenders of Wildlife has collected almost 90 thousand of the 100 thousand 'actions' required to halt aerial gunning in Alaska. All you have to do is help is add your own thoughts to a form letter, sign and hit send. Its as simple as signing a petition, but it has that extra added individuality that helps make our voices really heard. We still need lots of Action to save our Rocky Mountain wolves, though! Jaguars and Polar Bears still need our help as well. There is also a boycott of ExxonMobile that you can sign and send, telling them you will not support them until they stop lobbying to open up some of our most precious wildlife refuges to drilling, invest in alternate energies, and take responsibility for the damage caused by the Exxon Valdez disaster. You can find all these 'Actions' at the Defenders Action Center.

As a final word I'd just like to say "welcome to spring!" I know we still have a week to go officially, but as today was the first day warm enough to open all the windows and air out the house, thats good enough for me!To me, Spring is when the new year REALLY begins. Lets make it a good one, helping wildlife, helping our planet, and helping each other :)



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