Conservation: Two Steps Back and One Forward

I’m back in town after a week of helping my daughter and her husband fix up their recently purchased home. My husband and I helped with cleaning and patching to make it livable. When we left, the inside painting still wasn’t complete. Thank goodness professional installers will put in new tile and carpet.

I must admit that I took two steps back in my earth friendly lifestyle during this period away from home. Recyclable items were thrown in the trash all week long as we rushed along to finish things like cleaning bathtubs and closets. And, we used many paper towels as we worked. There’s a neighborhood recycling service but the recycling bin hadn’t arrived yet at my daughter’s home.

A step forward was when the air conditioner vents were either cleaned or replaced, as needed. This should allow better flow of air and cut down on electrical usage.

The majority of us environmentally concerned folks have good days in taking care of the earth as well as not-so-good-days. If most days are spent doing the right things to conserve energy, our good days cancel out the energy wasteful ones. We can still make a difference in the world we leave behind for the next generations.

I thank the great teacher who motivated me–as a college sophomore–to start thinking of leaving behind a greener planet. I just need to keep listening to good advice on how to preserve our resources and pass on that knowledge.

I’d love to see middle school children learning about how to preserve and protect our planet. If only half of them start living an earth friendly life, what great changes could occur in their lifetime. We still can’t say, “It’s up to the next generations” but we need to continue to save energy and keep on picking up trash.

Note: Before publishing this post, I got a message from my daughter saying the needed painting was finished!