Every day should be Earth Day. Gillian and I are trying to live more mindfully each day, making changes that seem little, are relatively painless, but if more and more people practiced probably would make a difference. Here are a list of things that we do (or don’t do) to live in a more earth-friendly manner:

• Take fewer showers and more “bird baths”
• Drive less (we’re actually thinking of getting rid of our car altogether and getting into a car share)
• Bring totes everywhere with us instead of collecting plastic or paper bags
• Wash the laundry in cold water
• Hang dry our clothes
• Change our light bulbs to CFLs
• Use rechargeable batteries
• Use cloth napkins
• Use reusable kitchen wipes instead of paper towels
• Of course we recycle
• Buy locally grown and produced foods and goods
• Eat meat fewer times per week
• Continue to educate ourselves about environmental sustainability

We’re also going to start composting and gardening this summer. When we shop, we try to be mindful about it, thinking about the object’s usefulness and life time, and think about what’s going to happen to the object after it’s no longer useful.

I was also gratified today to see all of the environmental links that my contacts were saving on Ma.gnolia. Actually, for the past few days.

So what if Bush won’t get serious about green house gas emissions? If he won’t create the policy to get our emissions lower, We The People can still make the life style changes to do so. If I model the behavior, perhaps my friends, family, and colleagues will be inspired to do the same. I know that I learn from the people around me, and have adopted more sustainable living practices.

So happy Earth Day everyone! Do something, however small, good for the Earth today and every day.