Friday Featured Friend -- Elgin Draper

I wanted to share a special person with you this week, Elgin Draper. He is my 93 year old neighbor, as sprightly and able as anyone 30 years younger than him and a great source of wisdom.

Elgin has had many roles in his life. He has been a parent, a grandparent, a great-grandparent, a teacher, a farmer, a professional, a cook, a traveler, a gardener, a singer, and many other things besides. He says that he is incredibly fortunate to have lived such an amazing life and that he expects much more to come yet!

Elgin grows a lot of his own vegetables in his year-round vegetable garden and he adores flowers. He says his garden keeps him fit and aware of what nature has to share. Elgin tells me that he understands why it is important for people to have a concept of protecting the environment but it bothers him that this has become a distinct "thing to do", apart from our daily lives. For him, nature, the environment, the seasons, and all that constitutes the "environment" are a fact of his everyday life, to be attended to, cared for, and to remain attuned to. In other words, Elgin doesn't make it into a concept or a cause, he just "is" in his environment, relying on it to sustain him and in turn, doing his best to care for the garden, the native wildlife, the trees around him.

I asked Elgin about his children and grandchildren. He has many! He tells me that it has always been a deep privilege to have known all of his children and grandchildren and that he has always treasured them for who they are, and whatever achievements they make for themselves in life. He is adamant that teaching children includes the subject of "mistakes". Elgin says "Too many people think that mistakes are terrible things. That's not true. Mistakes are simply another side of learning, another way of seeing the world. And from mistakes grow many amazing things." His worry is that by raising children to be afraid of making mistakes, we risk curtailing their creativity and teaching them to be risk averse and fearful. Instead, Elgin says that children need to learn who they are by doing, experimenting, and occasionally getting it totally wrong. In a very gracious and diplomatic way, Elgin tells me I could do with a bit more of letting go of my own fear of getting things wrong too. That touched my heart -- he is such a wise soul!

Elgin doesn't know how many "seasons" he has left but he says he's going to make the most of every season to come. He showed me his penciled plans for the spring garden (it'll be spring in New Zealand shortly) and proudly tells me that he even has some of the grandchildren coming over the help till the soil and plant. I said I'm game for pitching in too, as there's a lot of gardening wisdom for me to learn from! Thanks to Elgin for our lovely chat at the kitchen table with the hot chocolates. You're a very amazing, wise person even though I know you'll never read that here because you don't own a computer -- I'll just remember to tell you next time!

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This is to be my last featured friend. I have really, absolutely enjoyed bringing you a vast array of wonderful friends and I hope that some of them have touched your lives as they have touched mine. And dear readers, it has been a real privilege to have so many of you let me into your lives to share the goodness, kindness, enthusiasm and sheer amazingness of all that you are contributing to humanity and our planet. Keep doing the amazing things you're doing, keep on being the wonderful people you are, and I will be looking out for all of you as you continue to make this world a better place. ~ Felicity

From food garbage to food gold

 

Americans throw out nearly 30 million tons of food every year—27 million of it from supermarkets, restaurants, and convenience stores. This is 25% of all food produced.

It is always delightful to find innovative companies that take what is an enormous problem and turn it into an enormously helpful solution. Eco Scraps is one such company that I think has a bright future ahead.

Started by a Brigham Young University student concerned about the amount of food left thrown out after eating at a favorite restaurant, Utah- based Eco Scraps has been winning innovation awards in the US, and is set to revolutionize the food scrap challenge. Basically, Eco Scraps collects the food that is otherwise thrown away from local restaurants and grocery stores, and turns it into high quality soil conditioner, using a completely organic process.

Gardeners use soil conditioners to improve the soil’s nutrient content. Eco Scraps says that most of the compost-manure based amendments on the market have high organic content but low nutrient values, so this initiative is a win-win situation where our food waste is turned into something that is not only incredibly useful but has the “same nutrient values as chemical based soil amendments”. Eco Scraps says that it is offering the only soil amendment on the market that “offers the best of both worlds”.

Their wonderful new product is offered for sale at local nurseries in Utah and apparently they’re producing 60,000 pounds of compost every month and it’s selling fast. I definitely think this fantastic idea is going to catch on!

What do you think of this initiative? Do you know of anything similar? Please share your comments.

Friday Featured Friend -- John Peter Thompson

  

Our lovely friend for featuring this Friday is John Peter Thompson. John Peter is a gardening speaker, an invasive species program developer, sustainability consultant, and agricultural research policy advocate. And to top off his expertise, he is also a deep thinker who has the most delightful sense of humor! It's wonderful to be able to bring to light some of his thoughts to share with you today.

John Peter has long cherished the beauty of the world and all of its intricate interconnections. Fascinated by the myriad relationships that nourish and support each other, he says that "whether in music that I compose, or a garden that I plant, a landscape that I conserve, or a world that I conserve, I am looking for and finding beauty woven in the cloth of an ecosystem, or the intricate patterns embedded in the calculus of life, drawn to the flames of life's interaction with the cosmos."

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that one of John Peter's main passions is a concern for the unintended consequences of introducing invasive species to new homes and ecosystems, often something we do without thinking through the possible repercussions first. He explains that an invasive species is a species that is not native - any animal, insect, plant, or even disease, that hurts the environment around us, and spreads quickly by human activity such as trade and recreation, food production and gardening. John Peter considers that "the costs of invasive species are a symptom of unsustainable land use decisions based upon our past needs."

John Peter is working on finding ways to reconceptualize how we see our world, so that we can better understand the implications of how our activities and ways of living impact the planet. As part of this process, he seeks to bring together the many disciplines such as agriculture with ecology, biology with economics, etc., in order to help manage the systems of our world, both human and ecological. His laudable inter-disciplinary approach is targeted at finding new pathways to sustainability, "working," he says, "to bring sustainable ideas to life so that a new generation will have a natural philosophy that is sustainable." We love the idea of a sustainable natural philosophy, an innovation sure to be appreciated for many generations to come.

And by logical extension, John Peter is greatly concerned about our continued unthinking use of finite resources. He explains: "For ten thousand years now, mankind has been plowing the earth each spring and in doing so, disturbing the interactions and relationships of the species around him in order to extract resources to improve his quality of life. When man numbered only a few this made some sense, but as the number of people has grown, the sacred places of the world have waned, and now, indeed, are almost gone. We have lost the idea of the sacred and now live in a time when we think there is no need for sacrifice; we think there is no end to resources to make the things we need." Troubled that there is a conflict between what we as humans want right now and what is good for us tomorrow, John Peter is seeking to "find ways to enhance a sustainable paradigm for the future, a pattern for life choices that will enable humanity and ecosystems to interact and grow together, to sustain each other." And we can follow John Peter's journey as he documents his frequent presentations, discoveries, and thoughts on his fabulous blog Invasive Notes.

While John Peter laments that he sometimes feels "like a Moses trying to lead a new generation to the Promised Land", he has no doubts that children are the way forward for a sustainable future, telling us that "children see the beauty in the complexities of nature without being told how". He believes strongly that it's time we stopped "unteaching" children of their innate ability to see the wonder of the world and ceased trying to "replace this wonder with the craft of waiting in line to buy something we suggest that they really need instead." We heartily agree! And we sense John Peter's great hope when he tells us that while he "will not see a world that thrives on sustainable principles, I can help today's children begin to dream of one in which one day they shall live and play." We love the passion, the conviction, and the certainty of John Peter that children will change our world for the better, facilitated by all of us cherishing and nurturing their dreams of a sustainable way of life.

A big thank you to John Peter for sharing his innermost thoughts and ideas. And you can find out more about him at: 

• Invasive Notes blog
• Twitter
• Facebook
  

Feel free to get in touch with John Peter - he'd be delighted to help your organization with tailored presentations on sustainable sites and sustainability, climate change impact, and invasive species solutions. And he's a dab hand at tackling those invasive species in your garden too!

Biodiversity -- a conservation issue we all own

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). Since 1959, the United Nations has held international years as a way of drawing attention to major issues with global impact, hoping to encourage international action to make changes for the better. The theme of the IYB is: “Biodiversity is life, Biodiversity is our life", a motto that urges us to understand that without biodiversity, we’d have no food, clean water, medicines, shelter, and that we'd be spiritually and culturally bereft.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban ki-Moon, has asked “each citizen of our planet to join together in a global alliance to protect life on earth.” It’s a stirring call to action and it’s worth watching the video to get a feel for what’s at stake:

Good intentions, slow results

I remember studying the Convention on Biological Diversity at university – it was fresh off the press and my incredibly enthusiastic lecturer Hilary Charlesworth brought it to life avidly. Back then, we held dreams of becoming international environmental champions, destined to tackle wrongdoers, hoping to rely on strong laws to protect biodiversity. Even then though, we could foresee trouble in the biodiversity convention's elegant, inspiring language and philosophy that left it highly aspirational in nature. Since then, much of the good intent has failed to translate into laws and policies that adequately slow the decline of biodiversity. The toll continues, and as Julia Whitty explains, it's a scary picture: “The overall numbers are terrifying. Of the 40,168 species that the 10,000 scientists in the World Conservation Union have assessed, one in four mammals, one in eight birds, one in three amphibians, one in three conifers ... are at risk of extinction. ... [F]ully 40 per cent of the examined species of planet earth are in danger, including perhaps 51 per cent of reptiles, 52 per cent of insects, and 73 per cent of flowering plants.”

So, after hearing the Secretary-General ask us "citizens of the planet" to “join together”, I am left thinking that I really do want to know that “each citizen of our planet” feels enabled to do something about our tragic biodiversity loss and that our efforts will be taken seriously, and will have an effective impact on helping arrest the decline in biodiversity.

Our own backyard

The good news is that there is plenty that we can do and we don't need to feel bewildered or overwhelmed by the mammoth extent of the problems. Our personal involvement can make a remarkable difference, even through simply raising awareness and making biodiversity a conscious, everyday issue. While it is important to know and understand how dire the situation for biodiversity is, it is equally important not to give up hope. It is heartening to learn that biodiversity awareness has increased dramatically in the past year, a sign that we "citizens of the planet" are feeling a greater sense of ownership of the conservation challenge.

I want to share with you some of the things I think we can do together to help our biodiversity. As individuals, families, and communities, we’re best placed to look in our own backyard, our own local community, and it is reassuring to know that small actions at this level can, and do, feed back into the global level – after all, biodiversity doesn’t know the artificial boundaries we humans call borders. With this in mind, here are some suggestions for getting involved in the IYB, and beyond:

• Don’t hide your passion. It doesn’t serve anybody to cloak your concern for our world’s species. Share your passion with everyone and anyone who crosses your path, whether you’re a parent, a bureaucrat, a football star, or a high school principal. Unleash that passion for biodiversity!
• Show children the wonders of biodiversity. It’s never too early or late to teach children what biodiversity is and why it matters. Children understand the power of nature innately - awaken their curiosity by example: Take them gardening, hiking, beach cleaning, snorkeling, camping, etc. Get them out into nature, learning to love it, appreciate it, thrive in it. The Children and Nature Network has fantastic ideas to help you find fun ways to connect children to nature.
• Do small things that make a large difference. For example, keep your pets inside at night and keep your dogs within your yard. Wandering cats and dogs can be especially devastating to local wildlife at night. Don’t get me wrong – I love cats and dogs – but I don’t love some of their habits and we're the ones with the responsibility to contain our pets' impact while still ensuring they lead a fulfilling life. Avoid growing invasive species in your garden, or find effective ways to keep your plants within in your landscaped space. Plant native trees and grow your own food. Leave dead trees for nesting and shelter hollows.
• Recycle, reuse, reduce, and refuse as much as possible. Less packaging waste and less garbage means more habitat and less pollution for all species, ours included.
• Read up on biodiversity. There are many incredible books about biodiversity, from those written for children to academic tomes. Learning more about the breadth and wonders of biodiversity is not only inspiring but it gives you good facts and stories to share with others about biodiversity. Don't forget that even reading books about species and habitats is learning about biodiversity, so don't limit yourself to searching just for this term.
• Write letters to the editor of every newspaper and magazine you read, both online and offline. Help to make biodiversity as mainstream a topic as economics and celebrities, by sharing your concerns with readers, and tell people how they can do things to help protect biodiversity by explaining what you're doing.
• Get involved in a local conservation group. From tree planting to making shelters for endangered species in their natural habitats, there will likely be a group in your very own community that is working hard at making a difference by actively trying to conserve biodiversity. Get in there at least once a month and get your hands dirty.
• And get involved online. Whether you just want to read about biodiversity, tweet about it, find educational materials, or actively participate in petitions to save endangered areas and species, there is a website for you. I’ve rounded up a smidgen of a sample to get you started:

• Check out the IYB worldwide celebrations
• Check out the IUCN red list species of the day (and you can add species of the day to your website)
• See what's happening with the International youth conference on biodiversity
• Look for upcoming events celebrating the IYB
• Visit UNEP's home page on the IYB
• See the days of 2010 tick down on Biodiversity Countdown 2010
• Visit the Biodiversity Heritage Library for many articles
• Read Anup Shah's Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?, a very detailed article with good links
• Add a Google alert for "biodiversity" updates to be emailed to you
• For children, some fantastic places to visit include Globio and The Green Wave; and naturally, you can't beat having them play MiniMonos, where the monkey diversity is an important lesson in caring for species too!
  

And we'd love to know what you're doing to help biodiversity - it's exciting to learn about what inspires you and what you're doing to make a difference on your own patch.

Restoring a neglected plant for Earth Day 2010

We were pondering what would be an ideal way to celebrate Earth Day in our house. Even a very small search online revealed that the internet abounds with ideas of how to celebrate Earth Day, including celebrating in 40 ways (given it’s the fortieth anniversary of the event this year), and many other sparkling, wonderful ways to express our solidarity with Mother Earth. Yet, none of these ideas seemed to gel for my son. What did strike him as interesting was Melissa’s discussion of what she and her daughter were intending to do for Earth Day, and that was to plant a plum tree or a kiwi vine. My son wanted to plant a round garden of flowers, to create a magical floral circle. I was all for the idea but it was awkward – last season’s garden is in need of at least a good three days weeding, digging over and mulching, and here was Earth Day almost upon us. What to do?!

The next best answer hit out of the blue, as spontaneous and fresh as children’s answers always are, on the walk back from school. “Why don’t we replant that plant over there ?” I was asked. It was a fine plant, yet long neglected in a small pot and nourishing an entire ecosystem of its very own in weeds, no doubt at the expense of its own growth. We’d bought a pot for it ages ago but “never got around to fixing it”. At first I thought, that’s not a very momentous way to celebrate Earth Day, we need to do something grand, something that gives life. Yet, as we examined the plant while our cats frolicked around it, it dawned on me that here was a lesson of great value about our role as stewards on Earth, about our ability to tend nature and nurture that which is already growing and needs restoring.

So, we’ll leave what we learned from our Earth Day action for the end of this blog post. First, we want to share with you how to renew the growth of a neglected, pot-bound plant in the hope that if you've a few 'forgotten plants' around, this might just give you the nudge that's needed to restore their vigor in honor of Earth Day:

1.    Choose your neglected plant. Hopefully there aren’t too many to choose from!

2.    Remove all the weeds from the plant.

3.    Water the plant in its original container. This is especially important if the soil is very dry and compacted and the plant is pot-bound, as was the case with ours. We tugged and tugged but it didn’t come out until soaked through. (Poor plant!)

4.    Open the potting mix. You can also use quality soil straight from the garden if preferred. In our case, we had a marvelous surprise – upon opening our potting mix, we discovered a fern growing inside it. We rescued the fern and potted it as well, giving another plant a new lease of life.

5.    Prepare the new container. You don’t need to buy a container unless you want to. There are many items around a house that can be used as a plant container, provided you drill drainage holes into it; there should be at least one decently-sized drainage hole at the base of the container (centered), and depending on the type of container you’re using, you might need more. In addition, be sure to cover large holes to prevent the soil from leaking out; here we used a twig generously dropped in by one of our cats.

6.    Tip some potting mix into the new container. It is best to fill it about a quarter to a half the way, as you’ll need to leave room for the plant. We used a cut-down plastic milk bottle to act as a jug for transferring the soil from the bag to the pot. The jug was also used to water the plant. Wash it and keep it for reuse after.

7.    Take the soaked plant out of its original container.  At this point, it is important to gently tease out the roots of the plant so that they are loosened and dangle freely. This will help them to settle comfortably into the new home.

8.    Gently lower the plant into its new home. Fill in the sides and top with potting soil. Pat down the soil gently.

9.     Water. Admire. Take lots of photos of your children’s big grins at having been such a big help!

At the end of our planting, my son and I had very dirty hands, fresh with soil and decomposed matter. We’d managed to drop the camera in dirt, get soil all over our clothes, and smear our faces, but how good we felt – we’d not only replanted the neglected plant and made it appear brand new, but we’d also rescued a forlorn fern that wouldn’t have seen the light of day had it not been for our spontaneous Earth Day restoration. We felt we’d answered Melissa’s question of “what will you be doing?” in a very earthbound, connected, outdoor classroom way that helped my son learn that gardening is about making beneficial choices as human stewards. Just as we can choose to create beauty and nourishment, we can also choose to ensure that a garden continues to flourish for its own innate value, with just enough help from us without being either neglectful or overbearing. And hopefully, in some small way this is a little lesson writ large for approaching our own mindful input into planet care. Happy Earth Day everyone!

Preserving a Precious Resource: Water

March 22 is World Water Day, and this year marks the middle of the United Nations Decade of Water for Life  (2005 – 2015). In honor of this occasion, our family decided to look into how important water is in our lives.

Water covers almost two thirds of our planet. Most water is found in the oceans (97.2%), with 2.1% in frozen ice caps and glaciers. A mere 0.7% of water is in the rivers, lakes and groundwater that we rely on as freshwater and that freshwater is not evenly distributed around the world: Some countries get more than enough water, other countries are parched, suffering from water scarcity and its resulting challenges, and some countries have an abundance of water at one time of the year but suffer from scarcity of water at other times of the year.

Photo courtesy: Pat Hawks

We rely on water for a wide range of human activities. Not only do we drink water but we use it for irrigating our crops, caring for our pets and livestock, transporting our goods, adding to our manufacturing processes, bathing and washing, providing energy and fuel (for example, hydroelectricity dams), fighting fires, beautifying our personal landscapes, and more. Water is a vital resource for human existence and yet, the availability of water and its cleanliness are compromised in many parts of the world.

Freshwater shortages are, unfortunately, commonplace. Drinking water supplies are threatened by increasing populations and many urban centers of the world are struggling to meet the infrastructure needs required to deliver clean water to the population. Drought (exacerbated by the impacts of climate change) is causing many parts of the world to suffer from severe water shortages; many cities are now rationing water supplies (for example, Mexico City had to cut off the water supply to hundreds of thousands of people five times during 2009 because rainfall levels were so low). It is a sobering fact that almost fifty percent of the developing world's population (2.5 billion people) do not have access to improved sanitation facilities; in addition, over 884 million people get their drinking water from unsafe water sources (UNICEF).  Polluted water is a problem in most parts of the world, from rivers filled with the tailings from mining operations to local lakes that have served as a dumping ground for toxic waste from local companies. Pollution of freshwater destroys the wildlife of rivers, lakes and streams, and compromises and threatens the health and spiritual well-being of people.

At home, saving water is, in the first place, a matter of recognizing that water is a precious resource despite it being “on tap”. As a family, we sat down and had a talk about how we save water and what more we can do. We already turn off the tap when we brush our teeth, we fix dripping appliances quickly, we don't use sprinklers or have a water-hungry lawn, and we wash the car using a bucket instead of a running hose. Could we do more? We thought yes, and we’d like to share the possibilities with you:

1. Research more about the water cycle, the uses of water and the importance of water. Understanding the bigger picture is often a great motivator for children. Jen Green’s book Why Should I Save Water? (ISBN 0-7641-3157-5) is great to read with kids ages 3-10, and Trevor Day’s book Water is a fantastic overview of all things water, suitable for kids aged 8 to teens (it’s also great for adults!) (ISBN 978-0-7566-2562-7).
2. Avoid purchasing bottled water. Municipalities have an important role in ensuring the provision of clean, healthy water to all of us as a basic right. We try to remember to take our durable, long-lasting water bottle with us on trips and ask for tap water refills wherever we go. It's always a good excuse for a yarn about local water quality with the residents! (See also Richard Metzger’s great post on The Story of Bottled Water.)
3. Monitor water usage as a family. This is a fun exercise you can do at home, courtesy of Jen Green’s book Why Should I Save Water?.  Create a chart for: Shower/bath; Dishwashing; Washing Clothes; Car Washing; Toilet Flushing; Gardening; Other Water Usage. One bucket is about 3 gallons or 10 liters of water, a shower or hand washing dishes uses about 4 gallons or 15 liters of water, using the dishwasher uses about 8 gallons or 30 liters, a bath uses about 16–26.5 gallons or 60–30 liters and a washing machine uses about 32 gallons or 120 liters. Knowing all this, ask children to record daily water usage by bucket in the home for one week. At the end of the week, tally up the buckets and see what your overall water usage is. Think about how your family can start to reduce this usage through these water saving ideas:

• Wash fuller loads of washing and dishes using energy efficient appliances
• Turn off the tap or faucet when brushing your teeth
• Avoid rinsing or washing dishes under running water
• Water plants only when they need watering; don’t over-water (this is also important for the health of the plants!)
• Wash your car with a bucket and sponge rather than with a hose; wash the car over lawn (the lawn gets watered)
• Limit shower length and use water-saving nozzles, reduce the frequency of baths and have young children share bathwater rather than filling the tub several times
• Consider having a gray water system installed in your home; while it’s a big investment, it has many water-saving benefits
• Fix leaking faucets and pipes quickly
• Pour cooled down vegetable cooking water on your plants; it's full of nutrients
• Ask your children to come up with their own suggestions.

MiniMonos is helping to ensure that clean, healthy water reaches those who most need it. Through its membership of Buy1Give1, MiniMonos provides clean drinking water to children in India through Bird India. But it doesn’t stop there: MiniMonos helps you and your child contribute a week’s worth of clean drinking water for a child in India through the purchase of every six month Top Banana Gold membership too! It is a terrific way to be involved directly in making a difference. And finally, let us know about your water-saving efforts; we're keen to learn about what you're doing to reduce the buckets of water your household uses!

MiniMonos Monthly Mission for January

Each month at MiniMonos we'll be creating a mission to acheive a monthly sign-up goal and help a child somewhere in the world.  Our aim is to assist a child who ordinarily would find it really difficult to help the planet, or his or her family, or to learn at school.

This month, if, together, we get 300 new people signing up to MiniMonos and creating a monkey avatar, a child in India will receive an education program for several months about planting trees and global warming. 

This amazing program is made available through our worthy cause partner, Buy1Give1 and Bird India, whose aim is to plant 1 billion trees in India over the next 10 years.  Bird India also run initiatives to help feed, clothe and provide clean drinking water for disadvantaged Indian school children.  We love what these guys do -- it's completely aligned with our values of making the world a better place for, and with our kids.

If you haven't already done so, here's how to sign up to MiniMonos - It's fast to do, and free:

1. Go to the MiniMonos home page here

2. Click on  the Create a Monkey tab

3. Have fun creating your monkey avatar!

You're now ready to explore and play on MiniMonos Island and help good, green kids to look after our earth.

Hats off to the Obamas' green garden

I recently read that our First Lady started a new garden project at the White House -- a 'green' garden, to be exact. How much does that rock? In the latest issue of O magazine, the First Lady said:

"We want to use it as a point of education, to talk about health and how delicious it is to eat fresh food, and how you can take that food and make it part of a healthy diet. You know, the tomato that's from your garden tastes very different from one that isn't. And peas -- what is it like to eat peas in season? So we want the White House to be a place of education and awareness. And hopefully kids will be interested because there are kids living here."

I believe people in power have a responsibility to make their best effort to set an example. And small actions as the White House green garden make a huge impact to a world starving for change, for answers, and for guidance on establishing a pattern of positive behavior to our children. Who best to set an example but the president and his family?

I struggle with ways to implement a healthy lifestyle in my home. You see, I grew up with parents from the old school: where food was fried, and buying organic was the way for huge corporations to use strategic marketing to steal our money. And everything on the plate had to be eaten before we could play. 

Luckily, I think my wife and I have so far set a pretty good example of healthy living and being environmentally conscious. It's still early, though. The kids will begin school in years to come and they will be presented with decisions to make. Before the big no-nos like drugs and alcohol, we've got simpler questions to tackle: should I eat unhealthy chips or healthy fruit? Drink soda or water? Choose fried or grilled? Ask for paper or plastic? Paper, of course! Yes to organic! Yes to fruit! No to soda! And yes to recycling, because no matter what their step-grandfather says, recycling is not some weird conspiracy. Who cares that we aren’t getting paid for separating our garbage? We're doing something for the good of our environment and teaching our kids something positive. Right?

Michelle Obama, I thank you for setting a great example for your family and for all of us who truly believe that it is up to each one of us to make a difference. What difference have you made today?