The many shades of GREEN

Since I was a young child Earth Day has been one of my favorite days of the year. I remember when I was really young, I'm guessing kindergarten age, my mom and I went to a local event for Earth Day. I can barely remember all the details but I remember we got our first canvas reusable tote bag-it had the earth pictured on it. I was hooked, I officially felt a high off celebrating and taking care of the earth. I felt at the ripe age of 4 that I had a responsiblity to do something. Growing up I was the earth moderator in our household. Educating my family on things that would help "Save Our Planet". I would always be on everyones case about just doing our part.I'm sure I was annoying at times but my mom was always so good about encouraging me. Now I'm proud to say that alot of my hard work and nagging has paid off...my family members are definitely making an effort to "Go Green". It's a bit comical now as we have assigned ourselves shades of green to rank our earth-friendly-greenness. My sister I believe said she is sage green where I am more moss green (though I did just trade my Prius hybrid in for a Highlander-eek that may have changed my green shade a bit!). I also enjoy seeing my mom tote her life around (be it lunch, groceries, or magazines) in her reusable tote bags. All that matters to me is now that we are all trying to get to some shade of green. Now that I am a mother my stewardship for the planet has changed, I now have to pass the tree branch onto my two sons and hope they can do even better than I have.We have celebrated earth day today by visiting a nearby river and waterfall. While Harper slept snugly in the baby Bjorn Finley navigated over the rocks to explore every nook and hole. He spent the morning there by the rivers edge throwing sticks ("boats") into the water and making huge splashes with rocks...he was certainly in is element. We then collected smooth rocks for our earth day project. Now my little earth boy's are taking their naps to rest up for our "Trash Clean-Up Walk". I'm proud to be able to give Finley and Harper the opportunity to explore their beautiful planet and learn to love and take care of it as I have growing up. Its up to our children now to make a real difference. Be it big or small sage or moss green. Happy Earth Day everyone.