On this day...

the day before the much ballyhoo'd Earth Day, I want to preach on 'green'.

If you don't watch TV, you're missing out on nothing except being deluged with commercials on greening up your living space, reducing your carbon footprint and instructions on how to help reverse global warming. Newsflash: Dear Greenies, it is NOT in your best interest to try to undo that which Ma Nature herself has set in motion. That's right I said it.

I do believe in Global Warming, evidence of a warming trend in general is overwhelming...I DO NOT believe that it is entirely man-made or reversible (in other words, Mr. Gore your ideas are not my belief). Why? Because it is a cycle that this blue space marble we reside on goes through. It cools down, it heats up, please repeat as necessary...insignificant species that do not have the ability to adapt disappear and become fossils, oil and pretty rocks. It's a cycle that takes way longer than we (ie humans) have been in residence. A cycle that we are only just scratching the surface of with our paltry scientific studies.

However, like most things, we (ie humans) tend to look to the easiest explanation (big spirit in the sky plays in mud and makes man, human advances warm the earth to dangerous levels, etc...okay, I'm sure I touched a nerve somewhere with one of those) and look for an uber complicated way to 'fix' things. Please don't fix my section, I'd rather not see the damage you can do.

This does not go to say that I believe that we can't do something about the situation. No, far from it. We can practice sustainability. Self-reliance of a sort.

Stop with the whole buying of boxed goods that take more energy to process than you receive from them, stop with the using of chemical laden products that just get tossed in the garbage and buried/stacked/dumped somewhere that screws with ground water, learn to garden responsibly (ie compost for your own fertilizer, use gray/rain water, pick the flippin' pests off by hand)...the list goes on and on folks. It's actually a quite logical list. Think of how you would handle the problem in the first place then do the opposite...we've been trained (for the most part) over the years to do that which is exactly wrong for living a life free.

Break the cycle, do something unexpected...don't 'go green' for the sake of going green...go sustainable for your own peace of mind. Knowing that you don't 'need' to run to (insert whatever store you want here) to pick up dinner, diapers, bug killer (there is a reason they are there after all...think cycle of nature again) and whatever thing you don't really need in order to live is a massive relief. This again cycles back to prepping, long term. By retraining your brain to think 'out of the box' that it has been forced in for all these years, you are in essence training yourself to survive.

Learning to save seeds (good ones, heirloom...not genetically enhanced), learning to garden responsibly (square foot is a good place for beginners to start, imo), learning to do without a disposable lifestyle....these are tiny, tiny baby steps to becoming truly green and self-sufficient.

If you must celebrate Earth Day, plant a FRUIT or NUT producing tree suitable to your zone (decorative trees are pretty, sure...but can you eat them?). Don't make a run to the store for disposable diapers, make a run for cloth and save yourself some future visits. Look up your local nursery in the phone book and ask about heirloom plants that haven't been tampered with OR find a good heirloom seed company (start with www.rareseeds.com) for your garden. Start small, read up and apply...look at that, you're on your way to reducing your carbon footprint and becoming self-sustainable. Easy, no?