Happy Earth Day

Its Earth Day!

Despite my terribly politically, socially and environmentally incorrect not-so-secret longing for global warming to hurry up already (see previous post - and yes it is still snowing today), I really am in favour of doing all I can to protect the earth. Its the only home we've got.

I want "my" Earth Day babies - Hannah Mary and Lukas to grow up with clean water and clean air (as well as my own babies, and all the wee ones I photograph here). (Happy birthday Hannah and Lukas).

On the photography front, I would love to photograph a green wedding. Here's some food for thought.

Green Weddings
Green Elegance Weddings
Treehugger.com - there are some great ideas on this site.

Ecologically (and socially) responsible jewelry - how cool is that!
GreenKarat.

What are changes are you making this year? I'm going to buy a rain barrel, get a push lawnmower (right now I'm borrowing a gas one from a neighbour, and would you believe that in one hour, a lawnmower can produce as much pollution as a new car driving over 500 kilometres? I wish I knew that when I "had" to mow the lawn as a child - my children won't have that excuse :) ).

I would love to retrofit my house for geothermal heating. Imaging never having to pay a gas bill again. Wow. Really its not that expensive. I had friends who did their house in the suburbs for $25 000. And of course solar power.

For those of you who would just like to throw your hands up and say "what difference does it make what I do?" Here are some good news environmental stories.

"Thriving seabirds, once devastated by DDT, no longer belong on the national endangered species list, officials say." (Los Angeles Times)

Organic Methods Pay Off for Beekeeper In Midst of Colony Collapse Nationwide

A little of this, a little of that - including an increase in whales due to anti-whaling legislation, and scientists cleaning up their garbage in Antarctica.

And, finally one for all my girl-friends from the '80s. Do you remember the unbelievably difficult choice we were called on to make between our hair and the ozone layer, back in about '86? Scientists telling us that we, the queens of the big bangs, were going to have to stop using aerosol hairspray. Do you remember how devastating that was? That my friends, was our defining moral choice - we did it. Both our bangs and the ozone hole have decreased considerably in size. If we could wean ourselves from our hairspray addiction, there's nothing we can't do.