Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! Be kind to the planet, we only have one! Plant a tree today! There are a million tag lines to encourage others to celebrate Earth Day. It's like Christmas...it only comes once a year....enjoy! I know this is meant to draw attention to our wasteful culture, and the intentions are good, but isn't every day really earth day? Wouldn't a smaller more consistent approach do more?


It's kind of like watching the Superbowl. You are glued to the game, but when a commercial comes on you jump up, use the bathroom, then flush the toilet. How many millions of flushes is that? Seems like it would create enough negative pressure to turn the earth into a black hole! But it doesn't. Millions of gallons of water are used simultaneously, but it averages out later to be about the same amount used in an typical day. After the game we go back to our normal schedule.


If you turn off your air conditioner you use no electricity. When you turn it on the meter zooms. Zero to sixty. There is no in between, it's either on or off. It's either Earth Day or it is not. But what if the air conditioner worked more efficiently? What if it got better "gas mileage?" What if most of the cool air blowing through the pipes went into your home and not into hyperspace? This would certainly help the atmosphere, but it would also put more money back in your pocket. Maybe you could go out to eat with the savings. Take a day off work. It could make your time on this earth more enjoyable with the added benefit of helping save it.


There are literally hundreds of simple, painless things we can all do to save energy every day. The air conditioner and it's duct system seems like a very complicated one, but there are several things that the average person can do to it themselves to make it save energy (money). The government has gotten involved with integrating energy codes into building codes, so now which arm you use to pull the lever at the voting booth will affect your views on energy consumption. A sad, but avoidable note on our political system.


So even if you don't care about the polar bears and the ice caps, you certainly care about your pocketbook. I looked out the window this morning and there was not a glacier in sight. But there never is. You can't see them from my house. It was a little warmer than usual, but this is not uncommon, it's mid April of my 48th spring. The beauty of this planet is that it's always changing. Some we cause, and some happen on their own. It is always debatable which is which. I don't pretend to know the answer but I have a few hunches. In the mean time if I make everyday a mini earth day to save myself some money, I surely won't be doing more harm.