I hear Earth and Nature are mothers, too.

Today, as you know, is Earth Day.
There are SOOOOooooo many reasons to take this quite seriously. Like sad little polar bears floating around on disembodied bits of polar ice. And lovely bits of human ingenuity swallowed up by swelling seas as the poles melt into big useless puddles. These are all great reasons to, among other things:

1) skip the beef - Oh the pollution! Methane from cow doody, runoff from ranches, chemicals of all sorts, other ickies...and Oh the resource sucking! Enough corn to feed oodles of people, enough water to fill bunches of swimming pools, not to mention the energy that goes into processing, packaging, and transporting your cheesburger.
2) Check out http://thewaterproject.org/ to see how you can help the MANY accross the world suffering for lack of clean water. Watch what you pour down the drain, while you're at it.
3) (pet peeve alert!) Stop throwing everything away! PEOPLE! You don't have to keep it. If you must, you can even replace it. But unless it is broken to bits or something that is rotting and decaying, don't trash it. Freecycle it. Donate it. Goodwill does pickups people! If all else fails, post it on Craigslist for free. Take it from me, someone will come and get it. No matter what it is. (I've tested this theory. Used fish tank filters? Check. Peed-on carpet? Check.) Just don't chuck it in a landfill because you wanted a newer, shinier whatever it is.

Because there is another reason that Earth Day and everything it stands for and reminds us of is important. One which makes looking out for the planet profoundly and acutely important to me now more than ever. I hope you think so, too.