- Plant a tree
- Adopt a street or stream for clean-up
- Ditch the paper and plastic – Use recyclable totes
Valentine’s Day infuses love into the air, and on the ground, and in our water – what a wonderful planet! Showing gratitude for what Mother Earth gives to us – the air we breathe, the water we need for life, and the soil to sustain the crops we grow, can be done in a number of ways.
Plant a tree – Trees help not only to provide shade and beauty, but also serve many practical functions including cleaning our air, water and soil, as well as helping to reduce the effects of global warming by acting as carbon filters. Our community is committed to becoming a Tree City USA. We have designated the Southern Magnolia as our official tree and planted it near the entrance to our newest park, Swift-Cantrell. On Arbor Day, almost 100 volunteers planted trees at the park, including 50 dogwood seedlings in the newly created Children's Forest.
Adopt a street or stream for clean-up – Litter has become a major problem along our roadways and stream banks. First line of defense – Don’t litter! Taking trash home to be responsibly disposed of can save precious resources so that we all don’t bear the costs of paying for clean up. It can also help prevent wildlife injuries caused by this careless act as well – many birds and fish have been strangled by plastic rings that hold soda cans in a six-pack. Some ways to help: Sponsor a neighborhood clean-up or adopt a local streambank to keep clean of litter. Check with local municipalities and environmental groups to see what they might have scheduled as well.
Ditch the paper and plastic – Use recyclable totes – Did you know that nationally consumers use over 10 Billion paper bags per year! Plastics are worse, with an estimate of over 500 Billion consumed worldwide each and every year. That means we are losing our precious carbon eating trees to make disposable paper bags and creating more need for oil consumption in the making of plastics. At a minimum, save your bags (plastic or paper) and take them back for recycling to places like Publix (recycle bins are right outside the front doors). Better yet, start a fashion trend with totes for take-out or groceries. These reusable bags, made from partially recycled products, can be found locally at Publix and Walmart. Jazz them up with pins and other ornamentals to create your own signature style!
Ready to make more of an impact? Then join us for our committee meetings and see what we are working on next. They are held on the 4th Tuesday of every month at 6:00 pm at Kennesaw City Hall conference room. We love Green volunteers who are willing to help out!
We hope you will check back frequently and we welcome your comments and ideas as well. Until next month, hope you find these helpful on your way to going green!
Your Eco-writer,
Lisa
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