Happy Earthday!

Well, I have to wish the Earth a Happy Earthday today. It’s also my brother’s birthday as well as my grandfather’s birthday. Isn’t it so much easier to remember dates like that when they’re all on the same day? From now on, everyone should celebrate major birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and minor medical procedures on major holidays. It would do everyone else a big favor!

I was farting around on the net today when I clicked on Terrapass.com. I really don’t buy into the whole carbon credit craze. I think that comes from my simplistic penny pinching nature. I think we should all work on reducing our footprint or impact on the planet, but carbon credits almost remind me of paying tithes for a sin just before you step foot into a brothel.

Okay, so this isn’t 1814, it’s 2008. We live in an overcrowded, materialistic, overtaxed, gasoline-guzzling, polluted country that likes to give it’s children cheap toys from China laden with lead paint. Something has to give eventually, doesn’t it? Children don’t need 5,000 toys. If we spend the same amount of money on 10 quality Made in the USA (or insert your country here) age appropriate toys, then we’re supporting jobs, our economy, and a sense of ownership and responsibility in our children. Ownership and responsibility in our children? You try paring down your wares to 10 items see how your sense of ownership and responsibility for those items skyrockets.

We are becoming a disposable nation. Our landfills are full. Our vehicles don’t last more than 6 years. Can’t find something? Buy another. It’s a vicious trend, and it’s all occurred in the last few decades. Long gone are the days of doing without or repurposing items over and over again.

We crave new because we think it is better. Our economy, our children, and our Earth suffers for it.

Well, I don’t know where those last few paragraphs came from. I suppose I had an inner soapbox struggling to get out! So back to terrapass.com…

I’ve written before about my quest to include energy efficient technology into the home we are building. My brother-in-law, who is quite insane, or at least just drives everybody in the family insane, sent me a link (that I appear to have deleted) to a company selling light switches that turn off all electric appliances in a room. This helps to eliminate the drain that electrical appliances have while plugged in…even while they are turned off. The theory was great, but the price tag was absolutely nauseating. I think the cheapest starter package they offered was $2,000. Terrapass has some links to purchase a various green products, and the one that caught my eye the most was the Smart Strip surge protector. For $32.95, you can rest assured that your 52-inch flat screen is not sucking out any more money from your wallet than it has to when you finally figure out a way to get it home. It’s also ingenious for computer energy waste. I have three power strips at my computer desk alone, just to handle all of the huge transformers that come with peripherals these days. As an added bonus to getting a smart strip, you can rest assured that thousands of dollars worth of equipment is protected from those nasty electrical surges and storms.

Well, I hope you all have a very Happy Earthday. I think I shall spend it offline today, and maybe go plant a tree…or maybe a vegetable garden. Okay, so if you know me, I’m more likely to plant my ass on the couch in front of the TV. But the outdoors are definitely calling my name today.