It was torn and beat up with curling pages that weren’t white anymore, but I was thrilled when I pulled it out from behind the bookcase where it had fallen to the floor. As I cleaned it up, wiping the dust kittens off, the cover was so cheerful and colorful I couldn’t help but smile. Then I opened the book, and smiled even more.

Each page has lively illustrations. Each chapter is only two pages long and has projects that are every bit as fun as they are educational. The style is humorous. It’s lively. It encourages kids to be “detectives,” and includes exciting, kid-friendly words like “treasure” and “guess” and “wild” and worms” and “dirt.” It encourages and motivates. The book’s name? 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth by John Javna and published by the Earthworks Group.

My smile faded when I saw the copyright was 1990. But not to worry. There is a new edition, called the The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth. Since it was just today that I pulled out my 20-year-old version from the dusty floor behind the bookshelf, I haven’t seen the new book yet.

However, reviews on Google.com are glowing and say the new edition also includes websites to related organizations and other “goodies” my 1990 version doesn’t have. I also learned that Sophie, Javna’s daughter who wasn’t born yet when the 1990 edition was published, helped to write the new edition. 

This is exactly the book I want for my grandchildren. It’s so good, I’m jealous I didn’t write it myself! 

Too often we don’t give children credit for the depth of their thoughts, and their ability to care about others. For instance, one quote from the book stopped me in my tracks and made me marvel about this quality of children.

“When I die I would like to give the next generation a better Earth than I had.”—Joey Leichter, Age 10  

Let us…you and I…help Joey! Let’s put this book into the hands of the kids we know. Better yet, let’s read it to them and do the projects with them. And let’s put this book into the hands of teachers and parents, too.

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions! I love to read and answer them.

Carol

Reduce          Re-use          Re-cycle           Re-think

If you’ve ever been to the seashore, you’ll never forget the gritty feel of the sand on your knees and your hands as you built a sand castle.

You’ll always remember the chilly thrill of the wavelets on your feet, and the pure vastness of the ocean stretching out before you
much farther than you could see. It’s an experience every person should be able to enjoy.

My grandparents and great grandparents—Norwegian, Scottish, and German—had to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to get to America. It was so vast, it took weeks!

Oceans still are vast…making up 70% of the surface of Planet Earth. Not long ago, people thought humans would never affect the oceans. They were too vast. 

Reading my morning newspaper, I learned of  two ocean areas deeply affected by humans. They’re not even close to shore. Because of the movement of currents, and because of all the garbage we have dumped in the ocean, there are at least two oceanic trash dumps.

One is in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Caribbean. The other, in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, is known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” During recent experiments, researchers in the Atlantic and Pacific threw out a net, and each pulled in over 1,000 pieces of plastic trash, during a single tow of a net! That’s not even counting all the other kinds of trash they pulled in.

Plastic. It’s all around us…invading the oceans of the world. And there’s no end in sight.

That sand we loved to play in as children is no longer composed simply of bits of stone and seashells worn down through the centuries. Today, the sand of our oceans is part stone, part seashell, and part—scientifically measurable tiny pieces of plastic!

This thought is almost overwhelming to me, especially when I think of my grandchildren. At what point will our vast oceans be so full of plastic, sewage and garbage that people will no longer go in the water? I want my grandchildren to enjoy the oceans and seashore for life…to enjoy the feel of the sand on their feet as they walk along the beach. 

There is a huge amount of work to do to clean up our oceans. But I have to believe we can do it. And that we will. The alternative is just too unthinkable.

Re-cycle. Re-use, Re-think. 

What can I do? Three things: I’m switching from plastic to cardboard containers for milk and for eggs, and I’m curing myself of thinking that disposable plastic plates and cups have a place in my house and in my life. It’s a beginning.  What are you going to do?

“The gathered waters, He called seas, and God saw that it was good.”—Genesis 1:10

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

The historic building in which I once worked was over 200 years old. In the afternoon, the sunlight would come through the old, wavy glass windows and fall across the planks of the floor. I always noticed how sparkling the windows looked.

Mr. Pearson was the person who kept the building clean, and one thing that amazed me about him was that although he was in his 80s, he did such a great job. Not an easy task with a building old enough to have been a village store during the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin had a charge account, and Washington’s troops were housed there. 
 
Mr. Pearson had lived in town since the turn of the 19th to 20th century, and as we became better acquainted, I came to know and respect Mr. Pearson’s abilities and to look forward to his telling me of the local lore.

One day, as I leaving the building, briefcase in hand, I noticed Mr. Pearson doing an odd thing. He had scrunched up a newspaper, and was rubbing the windows with it. I didn’t say anything, but I did check out the windows the next day, wondering.

What I saw were clear, sparkling windows. I was mystified, and the next time I saw him, I asked, “What were you doing with the newspaper the other day?” 

“Cleaning the windows,” he replied.

“With scrunched-up newspapers? How could they make the windows sparkle like that?”

"Well," he smiled. “I s’pose it had somethin’ to do with the vinegar I put on ‘em.”

“But the windows are sparkling. Are you sure newspapers and vinegar were all you used?

“Yes’m,” he replied. The next weekend, feeling a bit silly, I tried it at home. Oddly, the windows looked better than they had with any fancy cleaning agent I had used before.

Mr. Pearson passed away 20 years ago, but I’m telling this story, because last week, someone wondered why I said vinegar could be useful as a cleaning agent. Unfortunately, so many of the cleaners we buy at our stores contain ingredients that are dangerous to the environment, and poisonous to ourselves and wildlife. It’s a wonder, we all seem to have bought into the idea of thinking commercial products in pretty packaging are better.

Woops! Gotta go. My window looks dirty. I’m going to wad up a newspaper and grab my bottle of vinegar. It’ll be sparkling in no time! Thank you, Mr. Pearson!

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

My neighbor nearly died last year. But no wonder. She was working with highly toxic chemicals. Is she a chemist? No. She’s a homemaker. But she might as well have been a chemist, because the cleaning supplies she was using to scrub a bathtub contain chemicals that are capable of killing humans. Too bad she didn’t read the fine print.

But then, how many of us read the small print? I admit.it…I usually don’t.

Rashes, burning eyes, fuzzy thinking, coughs. You probably know people who have experienced these symptoms. You may be one of these people yourself. One of my sons had painfully cracked feet until I started rinsing his socks twice to ensure all the detergent was out. Eureka! No cracked feet! I probably should have changed detergents, too. 
 
How can we find out what’s dangerous to the environment…and to us? Often, what’s dangerous for one is dangerous for the other. The non-profit organization, Green Seal, places its seal on items it finds environmentally-safe. Look for it when shopping.

True. Some items that protect the environment—and us—cost more. But hey! A bargain that poisons our air, water, and even ourselves…what kind of bargain is that?

Wildlife—especially birds—are killed by these harsh cleaners as they enter the streams and ponds. Yet, we go on, poisoning them, each other, and even ourselves by using them.

Of course, we don’t want to be engulfed by dirt, but if you had to choose, is dirt really worse than poison? Relax. You don’t have to choose. New laws are coming in place, and there are alternatives.

The word is that in January, cleaning product manufacturers will voluntarily begin disclosing what’s inside their bottles. Isn’t it amazing that we haven’t already required that of them? The Environmental Protection Agency is taking steps to protect consumers, too. Unfortunately, it is almost taken for granted that lawsuits by some manufacturers will substantially slow the process of ensuring our safety. 

Fortunately, there are alternatives. Vinegar works miracles. Have you tried baking soda? 

What do you use to clean with? Is it safe for wildlife? Birds? You?

By the way, most of us have heard the saying “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” But did you know this saying did NOT come from the Bible? Here’s a theological question to mull over: Does God love dirty people and dirty homes as much as clean ones? I’m curious…what are your thoughts?

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

What grade should I get? Early January is a good time to check up on myself. Did I actually adopt any of the “green” ideas I wrote about this last year?

Let’s start with my high point. How about cleaning up bottles and cans from parks and public places, something my brother Dave’s example “hooked” me on. By just spending a minute or two on my daily walks, I average about one pound of trash a day, but that adds up to at least five pounds of trash a week—or about 250 pounds of trash a year! Not bad. I’m going to claim an “A” on that one.

Total failure, on the other hand, for getting a group of neighbors or an organization to volunteer for “Adopt a Highway” as my friends Mike and Irma Kelly do at Ascension Lutheran Church in Newtown, PA. I’m still hoping to, though! Egad! An “F”!

Am I following the example of grandson Liam, by composting? Usually toward evening, I stroll out to the back, and in my very undignified and unscientific way, fling the veggie and fruit peelings and egg shells out into a pile that is, right now, becoming wonderful soil for planting next year’s summer flowers. Hmmm. But I did shirk the task when the snow was two feet high. Still, I think it’s good for at least a “B+”.

I admit I haven’t had much success in substituting cloth shopping bags for plastic ones. At least I bought the cloth bags. I also learned I have to keep them in the car or I will forget them! I learned I have to keep them in the front seat! Sadly, I still usually forget them! I have succeeded a few times, and have saved probably 50 plastic bags that didn’t go into our landfills. Give me a "D-".

By eliminating pesticides and poisons from our yard and providing a small pond and birdseed, we have lived up to the guidelines of the Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat program. Unfortunately, I just haven’t gotten around to applying for the certification! Still, it must be worth a “B+”.

Excitement over the EIGHT rain barrels of my sister Twila and her husband Bruce still didn’t motivate me enough to buy one! But, I saved waters in other ways. A "C-"?

Dead. That’s seven of the eight herbs I tried to grow. But hey!…one, a lemon thyme, has survived and is on my kitchen window sill right now. I grab a pinch now and then to toss it into whatever I’m cooking. Must be good for a "D".

So, in 2009, I had some successes, and some failu...uh…challenges to work on! Room for growth! How about you? I’d love to know how you did in 2009 to make our planet a better place! Write me! Let me know!

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

Most aspects about Christmas are things I can mention in a public way. Getting together with family and friends. Giving gifts. (Okay! Okay! I admit it! I love getting gifts, too!) Receiving and sending cards. And of course, right at the top of the list is the wonderfully amazing story of Jesus’ birth. 

I have to admit, though, there is something I love about Christmas that for some folks is just downright low-brow, out-of-style, and embarrassingly old-fashioned. 

What is this thing that has become—at least in some circles—unpopular to mention? Feasting! And this is the greatest time of year to do it. Having frigid weather and the shortest days must have had something to do with the fact that so many of our forefathers (and foremothers) decided to create three of our greatest feast days (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s) for the coldest, darkest days of the year!

I know. I know. Most of us are trying to take weight off…not put it on. But there is something to be said for gathering around the table with ones we love and enjoying a feast. Imagine how drab—even depressing—this cold, dark time of year would be without looking forward to feasts. Just the thought perks up one’s spirits…at least it does mine.

Plenty. Abundance. The very thought of feasting suggests wastefulness, doesn’t it? It seems to be on a direct collision course with being “green,” and using our resources thoughtfully and carefully. So what can we do about it?

The first thought that leaps to mind is something we learned from our grandparents and parents who went through the Great Depression. Leftovers. It was from watching my mother—and enjoying every bite that she cooked—that I learned that food can taste better on the second day. I don’t remember Mom throwing any food away.

So, instead of feeling guilty over the abundance of Christmas and New Year’s feasts, eat and enjoy! Later in the week, continue enjoying the leftovers from the turkey or ham or crown roast. If you haven’t been putting them into salads, sandwiches, and soups in years before…why not? 

Not only will this kind of thoughtful eating help to save the planet for your children and grandchildren, it will help your pocketbook. I have been amazed by those who say they are short of money…all while they are taking delicious, nourishing food and scraping it into a garbage can!

So, this Christmas—for the sake of the planet, for your pocketbook, for your tastebuds—allow yourself to enjoy the feast! And then, enjoy the leftovers!

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

Okay, I’ll admit it. I feel guilty. Hmmmm. I guess I could put that a little more strongly. I AM guilty. I’m not sure how it happened. To be truthful, I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing, but if everyone else did what I did, well…let’s just say I’m glad not everyone does. After all, I’m, a person who is fairly conscious about my environmental footprint. I mean…darnit…I write a blog about it, for Pete’s sake!

But there is something about the Christmas season that seems to say: “Hey! It’s the most special time of the year! Go ahead. Buy it. Use it. Consume it. Loosen up a bit. What can be more special than celebrating Jesus’ birth?”

When I drove home one night and saw how pretty some of the houses and yards were, all lit up, I thought about our own house lights, and compared. We did have some lights up. Following in the tradition of our historic town—we had one white candle in each of the 20 or so windows across the front of our house. Nice, but not truly exciting.

Suddenly, a great idea came. Our house has a large sun porch on the front, with many windows, and above the windows are five arches…three across the front and one on each side. There is something about the curve of those arches that I am very fond of. 

Wouldn’t the arches be lovely outlined in twinkling lights? White…to stay in the historic tradition. Not that many houses have sun porches around here, and none of them have arches outlined in lights. And wouldn’t it be different and unique to put one of our many-colored Tiffany-style lamps in the center of each arch?

Larry, my husband, is a can-do kind of guy, and before I knew it, hundreds of twinkling lights were outlining the arches. I fussed around, moving the Tiffany lamps this way and that to get the best effect. Viola! Our house is all decked out in lights!

I have to admit, when we took a walk last night, and returned home, it gave me great pleasure to see it…the twinkling arches…the soft, gleaming colors of the Tiffany lamps.

So, I joined the unthinking Christmas consumerism that I usually complain about! In remorse, we’ve set up timers to turn the lights off at 10 pm instead of midnight. Maybe I can do some other penance. Save our Christmas wrapping paper and use it next year? Turn the heat down another degree and wear thicker sweaters? Yes, I’ll do these things.

Each time I see those twinkling arches, I thank God for creating a planet that provides the natural resources to light them. And, first of all, I thank God for sending a tiny baby to lie in a poor, unlit manger…to remind us of His love.

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

It was one of those confusing moments when you wonder if you heard right. And if you did, then you realize there is a huge gap between the way you view the role of your spiritual faith and the way the person speaking views his or hers.
   
My friend and I both call ourselves Christians, and we were discussing how climate has changed in our lifetime. I’ve seen it on the East Coast, in Pennsylvania where I have lived for over 30 years, and on the West Coast where I grew up and frequently go back to visit.  

The words, “global warming” passed my lips, and my friend paused a moment, and said, “Well, not everyone agrees about that.”

I was dumbfounded. HUNDREDS of the most respected scientists in the world agree that our planet is going through a significant warming phase that—if left unchecked—will change the coastlines, the plant life, the animal life, and human life…yours and mine and especially our children’s and grandchildren’s as well. And this climate change has not been caused by ancient volcanoes, meteors, or other natural phenomena. It’s been caused by us.  

Her next comment left me shaking my head. It was something about Jesus coming again, and for that reason, there really isn’t a need to take care of Planet Earth. It will be passing away someday, anyway.

To preserve the friendship, I said nothing more. But if I had, I would have mentioned that Jesus also said that He would come like a thief in the night, and no one would know of the day or the hour. So what is the point, I have to wonder, of this continual emphasis of some Christians on the end of the world? 

Even more, I would question how people who claim to love Christ could ignore His summation of all the Commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

I would have to ask how disregarding God’s exquisite creation Planet Earth can possibly be a way of showing one’s love for God? And how can ignoring the coming devastating hunger and pain of millions of humans be a way of following Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves?

Perhaps my friend didn’t know that Christians across the planet… Fundamentalists, Pentecostalists, Main-line, and Evangelicals are joining together to compose shared statements of our sacred responsibility to be wise and caring stewards of the planet God has given to us and other humans and our children and grandchildren.

I hope she will check out just one of the many Christian environmental groups, like earthministry.org.

And I hope she does it before it is too late.

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

Ouch! My knees hurt, my shoulders ache, and my back feels like someone smacked it with a bat! Some folks might say that gardening isn’t the smartest activity for a person with fibromyalgia!

I’m wondering how others handle health issues and gardening. Cut back? Quit altogether? If you are someone who loves gardens but have health issues or you know of someone…I’d love to hear from you!

I’m actually glad it’s damp and drizzly today. Otherwise, I’d feel like I should be out there in the yard, digging up and moving around another 300 pounds of soil, and planting the 50 daffodil and tulip bulbs I didn’t get into the ground yesterday! 

And I have to admit my heart sank a little when Larry handed me a package he found in the basement—30 narcissus that still need to be planted. Erk!!

It’s days like today that I question my decision a month ago to plant a variety of bulbs in the front yard. Why did I decide that? Well, last spring and summer, as I was walking around town, I found myself enjoying immensely, the flowers in people’s front yards. I realized their flowers—just the beauty of them—were a blessing to me, and a reminder of God’s love for the people and for planet earth. That led me to another thought… 

Was my front yard a blessing to others? I had to admit that although we have some healthy (though scraggly) shrubs and wonderful huge maples, there’s not much color to lighten people’s hearts as they pass by. 

We have a lot of flowers in our backyard, especially our flower friends that faithfully return every year…the bleeding hearts, periwinkle, rhododendrons, mountain laurel, azaleas…and the annual friends that are nearly indestructible and shade-loving, like impatiens. But the front yard that others can see and perhaps be blessed by? Not much.

The thought (very idealistic, I admit) came to me that by planting bulbs that won’t require annual back-breaking work, I can respect my health and at the same time provide for passersby some beauty, joy, and a reminder of God’s love for people and the planet.

Well, I certainly hope it works. The last time I planted daffodils, several years ago, the squirrels must have been watching, because they feasted on nearly every one of them.

Annie (who is 80 years old and walks 5 miles a day) came by when I was planting, and suggested that a screen fastened down tight over the bulb flower beds might help with squirrels. And I think that’s what I will do.

Or better yet...maybe Larry will do it for me!

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

The man was scowling and his face became redder and redder the longer he spoke. I was surprised at the level of his vehemence. “What this town needs is not more parks and open space,” he was telling me, angrily. “What we need are more businesses!”

I didn’t know the man well, only that he was a businessman, involved in buying and selling properties. “What we should be doing is turning these historic houses into businesses…fancy boutiques and little coffee shops.”

“But, Mr. Putnam,” I replied, “folks who live here don’t want to live on a congested street next to a fancy boutique. They love our many parks and open spaces. That’s why they moved here in the first place.”

He went on excitedly exclaiming that in a nearby town, houses sold for $10,000 more than in our town. I could almost see the cash registers “ka-chinking” in his eyes.

I tried again. “Many of us could move to that town down the road if we wanted to, but they’ve covered up their open spaces with buildings and macadam. Their history is dissolving into shopping centers and parking lots. That’s why people move here.”

I doubt if anything I said registered with Mr. Putnam. He was in no mood to listen. I listened, though, and found myself thinking about his heated words the following week. 

Should towns, cities, counties, states, and the federal government stop preserving land for public parks? It’s a fair question. Still, I keep coming back to how much Americans love their parks and open spaces. 

Just today, I read in our local newspaper, The Bucks County Courier Times, that the annual supply of 1,500 hiking permits in the Grand Canyon are in such demand by people all over the world that a new system is having to be devised to ensure fairness.

For years, we’ve been hearing of how Americans love their parks so much that in some cases we are in danger of loving them to death! Parts are closed down temporarily to allow them to recover from over-use.

Yesterday, as I spent two hours huffing and puffing, digging and planting daffodil and tulip bulbs in my front yard, dozens and dozens of people walked, jogged, bicycled, and skateboarded by me, enjoying the peace and serenity of a stroll past and in the open spaces and parks in our town.

Too many parks? Not enough macadam and businesses? Mr. Putnam, I don’t think so. Readers, what do you think? 

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

Is there a place that refreshes your soul, simply by being there? If so, please let me know where it is. I’m making up a plan for the next 100 places I want to travel to! In the  photos, you can see a few favorite places of mine. Can you identify any?

Larry gave me a T-shirt last Mother’s Day. (I’ll admit it…when I saw it, I wanted it, and told him it was exactly what he should get me for a gift…nothing subtle about me!) Across the front, in bold letters, it says: “The mountains are calling, and I must go.” The place Larry bought the shirt was Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia, in May 2009. 

The words across the front, though, were written in California nearly 100 years ago by John Muir, founder of the 630,000-member Sierra Club, the same man whose enormous enthusiasm and persistence carried our nation to the birth of its national parks system.

Some of the places that refresh our souls are in national parks, such as Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yellowstone in Wyoming or The Everglades in Florida. 

Some are in state parks, like Silver Falls in Oregon or Tyler in Pennsylvania.

Some of the closest and easiest for us to get to are the ones right in our backyard…in community parks like Langhorne Heritage Farm and Catawissa Creek Nature Preserve that folks in my own town worked so hard to save, and to which I donated thousands of hours in the negotiating and the raising of funds to purchase. 

Some places that refresh our souls were saved by people unconnected with government Places like Williamsburg, Virginia and the Redwoods in California.

Those open spaces that refresh your soul might be the snow-capped mountains, a tranquil lake, or a meadow with waving grasses, or a rushing stream, or an ocean beach….

Wherever those places are that refresh your soul, chances are 9 out of 10 that someone had to work hard volunteering time and energy to save it, other people had to donate money, someone else had to bear the attacks of those who wanted to commercialize it, someone else had to negotiate with the owner, the neighbors, the prevailing government. Someone, still today, has to maintain it. 

Whenever I visit one of the many, many places that refreshes my soul, I pause for just a moment to thank God and the many unnamed people who helped make it possible. 

So, I’d love to know: where is a favorite place that refreshes your soul? Tell me about it.  

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!

The Quilt of Life

“I’m so sorry, Grandma,” the young man said. “My dog climbed on my bed, and chewed the quilt you made for me. Can you replace the damaged squares?” His grandmother took the quilt in her hands, studied it, and then said, “I’ll repair the damaged squares, but I won’t replace them. Part of what’s special about quilts is their history.” 

Sure enough, 20 years later, long after the dog had passed on, the man said, “Grandma was right. When I see my quilt now, with the repaired squares, I remember my beloved dog.”

This delightful story was told by Linda Wentzler, Manager of Village Quilts, of the small Amish town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania where Larry and I recently visited with my brother David and sister-in-law Jane. We also met Lorraine Zimmerman, quilting by hand, a lovely, exquisitely-designed quilt.

Lorraine charmed us with her thoughts on the meaning of quilts…not just the art and history of them, but the philosophy of re-using vintage fabrics from clothing of our own and from that of the people we love.

The quilt Grandma Holey made for me brings back warm memories of my childhood. There are squares of checkered pink-and-blue cotton—from the only matching dresses my sister Twila and I ever had…sewed by our mother. There are squares from the flared, lavender, princess-style dress I wore for the graduation concert of my high school choir. And there is the blue dotted Swiss I wore on a date with Larry.

The photos show Larry’s heirloom quilt made by Great-grandmother Burns, and my quilt made by my Grandmother Thena Western Holey. On November 21, the Langhorne Council of the Arts, here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is sponsoring a “Gathering of Quilts,” not only to commemorate vintage quilts, like Larry’s and mine, but also exciting, creative, modern-day quilters or the area.

Our grandmothers probably never heard the phrase “Go Green!” but in many ways they were very “green.” In fact, their carbon footprints were so small, by today’s standards, they were microscopic. Our grandmothers bought items sparingly and re-used them whenever and as long as possible. They didn’t use hundreds of plastic bags a year, like most of us, and many probably never heard of Styrofoam.

And fabric? They designed, sewed, used, re-used, and handed-down their own clothing and that of their husbands and children. And when the clothing became ripped or out-dated, they didn’t throw the fabric away. They cut it up, stitched it together, and made quilts from it. Amazing quilts. Soft and comforting quilts. Warm. Practical. Quilts that were works of art (although most people didn’t realize this until decades later).

Hmmmm. I’ve never made a quilt…but I do have some fabric from clothes of my loved ones. Do I have the talent and patience to make a quilt? I’ll admit it. Probably not. But what about a pillow? Yes, I think I could make a pillow. Is there still time before Christmas? 

Carol

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A Lesson in the Treetops

Like another world…it was surreal. We were in the towering treetops of a rainforest, gliding slowly through the canopy, a drenching rain running off our water-repellant ponchos and off our rainhats down into our faces.

Peering out from the open-air gondola, we marveled at the sight of the exotic flowering vines draped from the huge trees and the mist rising from the ground far below.

And there was a mystery here.

Huge, 100-foot-high metal towers held up the cable along which our gondola glided. But where was the road the construction crew had used to bring in these steel towers? How had they brought in the tons of concrete needed to stabilize and support the towers?

I looked below for the road. Nothing there. Only a narrow trail. How could these towers have been brought in and supported without a construction road?

Our guide explained. The Costa Ricans are so protective of their natural wonders that sometimes they even avoid building roads into them!
 
It seemed like a park, but this part of the rainforest was privately owned, and the owner, a businessman, treated his land in a way more protective way than even our own national parks are treated here in America. 

Not wanting to remove any trees or disturb this amazing natural place, he had the steel towers brought in by helicopter and actually paid workers to haul in the cement on their backs! 

I love America. But one unflattering thing I’ve noticed about us Americans is we tend to think we have all the answers. The truth is, we have a very great deal to learn from other countries. And Costa Rica can teach us a lot about preserving the environment.

Not only did the people of Costa Rica make a conscious, national, democratic decision in the 1970s to preserve their environment…they did it in a way that builds their economy and uplifts the lives of their people,

It’s called eco-tourism. Countries all over the world are doing it. Depending on which country you’re talking about it, eco-tourism can pay for schools, parks, government services, retirement programs and medical care.

You’ve heard that tired argument that preserving the environment hurts business. Short-run, maybe so. Long run, the argument doesn’t hold water. Ask the people of Costa Rica whose living standards soar above their Central American neighbors’. Better yet, learn for yourself. Don a raincoat and glide through the treetops of a Costa Rican rainforest.

Carol

Feel free to email me your environmental tips and questions!