How green was this decade?

The Sierra Club has put out a fun quiz to test your knowledge of the past decade, and the effects "green" living have had on it. If you'd like to take the quiz, go here ... and stop scrolling - the answers are listed below.


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compiled from www.sierraclub.org

1.The Hummer's demise signaled an end to an era of the gas-guzzling vehicle. Between 2007 and 2008, Hummer sales dropped by just over 50 percent. Sales plummeted 50.9 percent between 2007 and 2008. Sources: NYT and Autobloggreen.

2.In 2001, a Gallup poll found that 30 percent of Americans thought the seriousness of global warming was "exaggerated." In March 2009, that percentage had since increased. In March 2009, 41 percent of Americans thought the seriousness of global warming was exaggerated. Sources: Gallup.

3. In 2009, Gore's audiobook An Inconvenient Truth won a Grammy for best spoken word album, but it was read by Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon, and Blair Underwood. In 2006, Gore won an Oscar. In 2007, his network Current TV won a primetime Emmy. That same year he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

4. Congaree was established as a national park in 2003. Black Canyon of the Gunnison was established in 1999. Biscayne was 1980. And Saguaro was 1994. Other parks established in the 2000s include Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio and Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.


5.Which of these species definitely did not become extinct during the past decade? The Tooth Cave Pseudoscorpion. Click here for a gallery of ten species that became extinct during the 2000s. The Tooth Cave Pseudoscorpion is not extinct, but it has been on the U.S. endangered species list since 1988 due to habitat loss and urban development.


6.Who said "We're spending money on clean coal technology. Do you realize we've got 250 million years of coal?" Former president George W. Bush made the remark on June 8, 2005. Estimations on total coal energy supply vary, but even the most overly optimistic numbers aren't more than a few hundred years.


7.According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic sea ice is now declining at a rate of just over 11.2  percent per decade, relative to the 1979 to 2000 average. Here is the graph.


8.The 2000 Olympics were in Australia. In 2004, they were in Greece. In 2008, they took place in China. Of the three countries, Australia has the worst greenhouse-gas emissions per capita. The Aussies are near the top of the world's list in greenhouse-gas emissions per capita. Greece also has a relatively high per capita emissions rate. China's rate is one of the lowest. But China, thanks to its increasing use of coal-powered energy, is now believed to top the list for total greenhouse gas emissions.


9.In 2009, the rate of deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest was much lower than in 2000. In 2009, Brazil reported rainforest deforestation at under 10,000 square kilometers. In 2000, Brazil reported that figure at just under 20,000 square kilometers. According to Mongabay.com,  "The reduction in Amazon deforestation comes a year after Brazil announced an ambitious plan to reduce forest loss by 70 percent by 2018 as part of its climate policy. Deforestation accounts for more than three-fifths of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 20 percent of emissions worldwide. Brazil is seeking billions of dollars from industrialized nations for its efforts to reduce deforestation."


10.In July 2000, gas prices were roughly $1.50 a gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration. In November 2009, the national average was about $2.66 a gallon. Prices peaked above the $4 mark in July 2008.


For more green fun, check out other "How Green is my ..." quizzes at http://www.sierraclub.org/howgreen/

Recycling reminder

Christmas is Friday, and with its arrival - or departure, depending on how you look at it - comes lots of additional waste. Tons, in fact ... literally tons. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, household waste increases by more than 25 percent, and trash created annually from gift wrap and shopping bags is about 4 million tons.


Here are more staggering statistics, courtesy of Saturday's Chattanooga Times-Free Press:

• If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet.
• If every American family wrapped just three presents in re-used materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.
• The 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high.
• If every person sent one less card, approximately 19 million pounds of paper would be saved - the equivalent of 160,000 trees.

So what can one family do about all this? The answer is simple: Recycle! Many of the things you'd throw away while cleaning up the Christmas morning mess can actually be recycled, including gift wrap (no metallic papers or bows), paper shopping bags, toy boxes, cardboard mailing boxes, cards, and envelopes.

City residents enjoy biweekly curbside recycling pickup; others can drop items off at one of Chattanooga's many recycling convenience centers. Click here for convenience center locations. Anyone can drop off their recyclables at these locations - you do not need to be a resident of Chattanooga ... or even Hamilton County! To take advantage of curbside pickup, you must be enrolled in the local recycling program. Click here to sign up, or here to check your area's recycling schedule (only enrolled homes will appear in database).

Guidelines for both curbside recycling and recycling at convenience centers are available at http://recycleright.org/. The web site also includes information about the Orange Grove Center's involvement, answers to frequently asked questions, a printable “Rocky the Recycling Raccoon” coloring page and more.

And yes, for those of you who were wondering about the photo at the top of this post, that is my post-Christmas recycling pile - tree and all - from last year. Scary, huh?

Save trees - send eCards!

Fretting because you haven't started your Christmas cards yet? Feeling frazzled at all you must do between now and Christmas? Let The Nature Conservancy take one thing off your to-do list: Send one of their beautiful nature-themed eCards! The free cards feature amazing nature photography taken by "ordinary" TNC members.

Here are two examples of the stunning photography ...

Banff, Alberta Canada

Pleneau Bay, Antarctic Peninsula.

Sending eCards is one small step toward protecting beautiful places like these. So do something different this year - save a stamp, save a tree, and send eCards!

Save money with LED lights

One quick and easy change that will save you money this Christmas - and many Christmas seasons to come - is to change your standard twinkle lights to light-emitting diode (LED) lights. LED's use 75 to 90 percent less electricity than standard incandescents, and they're 90% more efficient than their tungsten counterparts. They’re perfect for strings of holiday lights, because they don’t get hot so if you have an artifical tree it won't off gas as much and if you have a live tree it is less hazardous. And most LEDs  last 100,000 hours. They’re made with less nasty chemicals and come in all kinds of festive colors and shapes. They are now easy to find at hardware stores and most big box department stores.

Need more convincing? The U.S. Department of Energy recently posted this cost savings analysis on its blog:

Although the initial purchase price of LED light strings might higher, consider the cost of running each type of light string for 12 hours per day for 40 days:

Type of Light
Electricity Cost *

Standard C-7 (125 bulbs, 4 watts each)

$25.13

Mini incandescent lights (300 bulbs, 0.4 watts each)

$6.03

LED holiday lights (280 bulbs, 0.04 watts each)

$0.56

*Assumes an electricity price of 10.5 cents per kilowatt hour (Annual Energy Outlook 2008 Residential Average).

Learn more about the advantages of LED holiday lights on EnergySavers.gov, and visit the ENERGY STAR® site to find manufacturers and brands.

Heather Levin, author of The Greenest Dollar blog, did her own testing to prove the cost savings. "The LED lights I bought were $9, and there were 60 lights on the string," she said via her blog. "I tested them last night using my Kill A Watt and had an amazing discovery. After being left on for 12 hours, they only used .02 kilowatts of electricity. This means that, for this strand, it would take 25 days to use 1 kw of electricity. And, that’s if they were left on 24 hours a day."

What can you do with your old lights once you have converted to LEDs lights. Well, if you're really crafty, you can us them instead of ribbon when wrapping presents, but a more practical solution is to recycle them. Recycling lights is a more responsible option than sending them to Goodwill, enabling someone else to burn up the ozone. Light manufacturer Holiday LEDS is offering a recycling program - people who send in their old lights before Jan. 31, 2010, will have a chance to receive a free set of LED lights or a 10 percent discount coupon on future purchases. For more information, including recycling contest rules, visit http://www.holidayleds.com/ for the scoop.

Other links of interest:

• http://eere.typepad.com/energysavers/2008/12/tips-to-save-energy-during-the-holidays.html
• http://www.thegreenestdollar.com/2009/10/save-money-with-led-holiday-lights/
• http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1568660,00.html
• http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/29/HOFKU25SP.DTL
• http://www.greendaily.com/2007/12/30/recycle-your-christmas-tree-lights/

Thanks to Keely Farris, CUMC Green Team member, for contributing this article.

A natural holiday

We'll be posting more "green holiday" tips later this week, but I wanted to share some natural decorating ideas, courtesy of the Chattanooga Nature Center. My family attended its annual "Holiday in the Woods" celebration this past weekend, and I was struck by the unique ways they turned everyday items into holiday decor.

Look twice at this wreath - it's actually a common garden hose!

Coca-Cola cans inspired this outdoor tree.

When decorating, don't forget your feathered friends! The Nature Center's outdoor trees were all adorned with wildlife-friendly "ornaments."

Orange skins doubled as bird-feeders on this tree.

Children were invited to make these birdseed ornaments - simply cover a pinecone in peanut butter, then roll in birdseed. It was messy, but the kids loved it!

I'm sure this little guy will enjoy all the natural treats!

We even saw a deer as we left!

If you've never been to the Chattanooga Nature Center, I highly recommend it! It's an inexpensive way to enjoy the great outdoors and teach children - and adults - more about wildlife conservation.

Christ Church Green Team - Who Are We?

The Christ Church Green Team began this fall with the goal of practicing environmental stewardship—and encouraging other Christians to do the same. Here’s a look at our members and the different things that are important to us in our various journeys toward greener living:

_____________________________________________________

Keely Farris

Keely’s road to green began in a seventh-grade science class when a substitute teacher explained how long it took Styrofoam to decompose. Years later, she read Green Baby, Sage Mom and says it changed her life. She now avidly supports organic products and volunteers as a Green Cleaning Parties host, helping people who want to make their own green cleaning products. Keely’s first step to being green started with buying organic baby food, followed by buying cleaning products at health food stores and our local green grocery. Her family began recycling, and now she makes own cleaning products. She and her husband Heath have two children: Ian, 4, and Lilah, 2.

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Jennifer Hobbs

Jennifer’s family really started thinking green earlier this year when she and her sister decorated a "green" table for the CUMC Mad Hatter's Tea—everything on the table could be recycled or was recycled. This caused her to think about all stuff we waste and throw away: Did it have another purpose? Her family now recycles and tries to consume less. She uses only homemade cleaners and makes her own body wash; she says her son, who is prone to chronic sinus infections and nosebleeds, has been more healthy since she stopped using harsh cleaners at home. Jennifer’s next goal is to start composting. She is married to Jason Hobbs, and they have two children: Noah, 6, and Sarah, 3.

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Julene Simmons

Julene’s passion is recycling and trying to keep items out of landfills. She says her sons love to help with recycling and are always proud to help someone else out by giving away items we don't need on Freecycle. (And Julene’s friends are always amazed at the freebies she finds through Freecycle!) She believes it’s important to know that even as “just” one family, she—and all of us—can make a difference! Julene is also active in the Christ Church music ministry. She and her husband Ben have two sons: Alex, 4, and Paxton, 3.

_____________________________________________________

Cathy Turner

Dr. Cathy Robbs Turner is the Christ United Methodist Church Director of Education and serves as the God is Green coordinator. Cathy considers herself "light green" when it comes to the eco movement and is eagerly learning and growing as an environmental steward. She believes that the world God created has been entrusted to us. We show respect for our Creator by our care for creation. Her e-stewardship journey has begun with an effort to go paperless by paying bills online, forgo plastic water bottles, and recycle paper.

_____________________________________________________

LeeAnne Viall

LeeAnne became a reluctant recycler about 10 years ago when her mother guilted her into it, but she's since become a bit obsessed about the issue. She and her family now recycle everything, even swapping with out-of-state family to ensure items not accepted in Chattanooga still get recycled. She has also switched to compact fluorescent light bulbs and all-natural cleaning products, tries to purchase organic, locally grown food as much as possible, and has bought reusable shopping bags (and quickly learned that the bags only help when you actually remember to take them inside the store ...). LeeAnne believes that Christians have a unique responsibility to care for the earth God created and is thrilled to have found other folks at Christ Church who feel the same way. Her next goal is to eliminate two things from her life: plastic bags and heavily processed foods. She is married to Bobby Viall, and they have one daughter: Maggie, 5.

Green Thanksgiving

Did you know? Americans produce 25 million extra tons of garbage between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

If you're hosting - or just attending - a big Thanksgiving dinner this year, you're probably already thinking about the meal preparations and Black Friday sales. But every year between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, Americans generate 25 million extra tons of garbage. As you kick off this busy season, why not get started on a more eco-friendly holiday by making your Thanksgiving a little greener? Here are eight great ideas, courtesy of earth911 and ABC affiliate KIVI-TV in Boise, Idaho, to get you started:

1. Shopping for Food
   When shopping for your Thanksgiving meal, keep two words in mind: organic and local. These keywords will guarantee a fresher, more nutritious meal. If you buy local, not only can you enjoy fresh food, but you will also support your local economy. Check for farmers’ markets, family farms, community-supported agriculture programs and U-Pick options in your area for the freshest produce, eggs, dairy and grass-fed meat. Also, consider buying organic wines to be more eco-conscious without sacrificing quality or taste. If you’re going to have a large crowd, buy food in bulk to reduce packaging waste and save money. And of course, bring your own reusable shopping bags to the grocery store.
   


2. Crowd Control
   At least 28 billion pounds of edible food is wasted each year – more than 100 pounds per person. One of the best ways to reduce your waste this Thanksgiving is to plan ahead for the meal and practicing portion control. Use Less Stuff has created a list of approximate per-person food and drink portions:
   
   -Turkey- 1 pound
   -Stuffing- ¼ pound
   -Sweet potato casserole- ¼ pound
   -Green beans- ¼ pound
   -Cranberry relish- 3 tablespoons
   -Pumpkin pie- 1/8 of a 9 inch pie
   
   After the meal, evaluate how many people were present and how much of each dish was consumed. By keeping track each year, you can make a more efficient, less wasteful Thanksgiving meal in the future.
   


3. Playtime Isn't Just for Kids
   Instead of planting yourself in front of the TV for the day, consider getting some fresh air or playing a board game. Take advantage of the time together with friends and family while decreasing your energy usage. Try bundling up and playing some football outside instead of watching it. Split the whole family into teams and get everyone involved. Make sure the winners get to go through the dessert line first!
   


4. Traveling Tips
   According to Use Less Stuff, if each family reduced holiday gasoline consumption by 1 gallon (about 20 miles), we would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 million tons. Invite nearby friends and family and neighbors to your house for Thanksgiving dinner and encourage them to do the same. If you must go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving, turn down the thermostat and turn off the lights to save energy while you’re gone.
   


5. Setting the Table
   There are many options when it comes to table settings. If you're having a small gathering, get out your nice china for the occasion and use cloth napkins. If you’re expecting a big crowd, organize it like a potluck and ask your guests to bring dishes and silverware for themselves. If disposable place settings are your only choice, opt for biodegradable and compostable utensils, napkins and plates, such as those from Biodegradable Store.com.
   The average dishwasher uses between 7 and 15 gallons of water per cycle, so be sure to fill the dishwasher to capacity before running it to save water and energy.
   


6. Crafty Decorations (Yes, You Can Do It!)
   Add some handcrafted elegance to your table with homemade decorations. Most materials can be found in your craft cupboard or backyard. Have the kids chip in with a pre-Thanksgiving craft day. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
   -Acorn napkin ties
   -Dried leaf place cards
   -Corn or leaf print place mats
   -Pinecone turkeys
   -Painted gourds
   -Festive fall arrangements of pumpkins or corn cobs
   -Make your own cornucopia
   If there is a tablecloth or other decorative item you’ve been eying, make sure it’s a purchase you’ll be happy to reuse in the future. Some decorations can even become new family traditions.
   


7. Lose the Leftovers
   Once the party is over, it’s time to decide what to do with all that leftover food. Don’t forget to donate your leftovers to a food bank or nearby homeless shelter. And remember to compost your food scraps. If you bought Thanksgiving supplies in bulk, the containers from your various products are perfect for storing large quantities of leftovers. Make sure your guests leave with a portion of extra food to take home. After all, one of the best Thanksgiving traditions is noshing on leftover turkey sandwiches and mashed potatoes for lunch the following weekend.
   


8. Recycling Isn’t a Chore
   Get back to the basics and recycle. Provide clearly marked recycling containers for paper, plastic, and glass, and make sure your guests know not to throw these items in the garbage can. Recycling all packaging, as well as any beverage containers, will significantly reduce the number of times you have to take the trash out, as well as the amount of garbage you send to the landfill.
   
   
9. A Family Affair
   Thanksgiving is a great time to invite the rest of your family to "go green" for the Christmas season. Not everyone needs to be on board, but you might be surprised at the small steps your loved ones are willing to take. Remember: We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children!

These shoes were made for ... recycling?

Photo courtesy of Nikereuseashoe.com

Just last year, Americans discarded more than 300 million pairs of shoes. When these shoes break down in our landfills, the toxic glue that holds the shoes together can leak into our water supply and atmosphere. Old athletic shoes might not be at the top of your recycling list, but did you know that even these can be recycled? The rubber soles of 75,000 pairs of sneakers can create an entire running track, and the foam from the same shoes can be turned into the springy surface of three tennis courts! While it might be harder to find places to recycle your shoes, it's worth it to keep millions of pairs out of our landfills.

Worn-out athletic shoes - of any brand - can be turned in at a Nike store or another Nike collection site. (The closest collection site is at the Nike Factory Store in Calhoun, Ga.) Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program recycles the rubber, foam, and fabric from more than 24 million pairs of shoes. This recycled material is turned into various types of surfacing, including tennis courts, tracks, athletic fields, and children's playgrounds.

If you're getting rid of wearable shoes that have just gone out of style, you have more options. Local thrift stores will often re-sell the shoes, raising money for their charities AND keeping the shoes out of the landfill. In addition, Shoes 4 Orphan Souls (http://www.soles4soles.org/) cleans up unwanted shoes and ships them to needy people around the world. The group facilitates donations from organizations and individuals and has distributed more than 4 million pairs of shoes to people in 125 different countries.

Most of our closets are full of shoes we rarely wear. The next time you decide to clean these out, think twice before you throw them away! We can change the world, one pair at a time!

Green Mattress deal

The Green Mattress Company at Hamilton Place is offering $100 off any latex or EcoMemory mattress! To take advantage of this deal, CLICK HERE and then select the Green Mattress Co. box. You will be directed to a printable coupon, which you can redeem at the store.

This offer is valid through 12/31/09.

Holiday tips

With the Christmas season fast approaching, we at the CUMC Green Team thought we'd share some of our favorite ideas for a greener holiday. Between now and New Year's Day, we'll post easy hints for making your holiday fun AND eco-friendly! And if you have any extra tips, please share them in the "comments" field (click on the "Comments" button at the end of this post).

Green holiday hints

• Recycle!! This is probably one of the simplest things we can all do - at Christmas and year-round. Between the advertising flyers, wrapping paper, toy packaging, and added grocery shopping, Christmas generates a lot of waste! You can recycle wrapping paper, tin cans, boxes (both "regular" paper, toy packaging, cereal-type boxes, and corregated cardboard), even those glass wine bottles! (If you live in the Chattanooga city limits, all of these items except glass can be collected via curbside pickup. If you live outside the city limits, all - including glass - can be dropped off at one of Chattanooga's many recycling centers. CLICK HERE for curbside pickup schedule/guidelines and drop-off locations.)
  
  


• Consider gifts that are friendly to the environment. Charitable donations are a great option for the person who has everything - and they produce virtually no trash and no harmful production process. If you want to give something more tangible, why not make or purchase a handmade gift? Etsy.com is an online marketplace where crafters sell their own wares. Gift certificates or memberships to local attractions make great gifts as well. (When my brother-in-law's children were young, my husband and I gave them a much-needed evening out: a restaurant gift card, tickets to the movies, and a coupon for free babysitting. And since having my own daughter, I've received gift memberships to the Creative Discovery Museum, Tennessee Aquarium, and Chattanooga Nature Center. I can promise you that parents with young children would love a free date night, a gift that continues "giving" year-round, or things that don't take up a lot of space in their homes!)
  
  


• Decorate naturally. Decorate with fresh greenery rather than plastic. Trim branches from that holly bush out front, gather pine cones with the kids, fill a bowl with red and green apples, or replant your live Christmas tree when the holidays are over. (Young Life is selling live wreaths and garlands to raise money for its ministry.) Be creative! And share with us here what you come up with!
  
  


• Take a time out. If you decorate with outdoor lights, do you leave them on all night? Consider buying a weather-friendly timer for your outdoor decorations. These timers can be set to come on at dusk and to turn themselves off at the time you designate.
  

Be sure to check back often for more great tips! And don't forget to share your own hints with us too!

Seeing green at the movies

No, it's not a new kind of techno-color! Chattanooga's Majestic Theatre, the country's first stand-alone Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) theatre, opens to the public today!

Some of the theatre's green features include:

• Local, recycled construction materials used throughout building process
• Motion-sensor lighting
• White membrane roof to reflect solar energy
• LED and fluorescent fixtures with programmable controls and sensors
• Rainwater and condensation collection - for use in restrooms and landscape irrigation
• Indoor air quality enhanced with environmentally friendly adhesives, sealants, cleaning and maintenance products

In addition, the downtown theatre is convenient to public transportation options and provides recycling collection containers throughout the facility. The building has been certified green through the U.S. Green Building Council.

Chattanooga's Majestic Theatre is located downtown at the corner of Broad and Third streets, across from the Creative Discovery Museum. It replaces the city's Bijou Theatre, which will be gutted and turned into commercial space.

eBay goes green

According to eBay, it IS easy being green! And they're helping make it easier by providing buyers and sellers a chance to raise money for their favorite environmental charities. You can buy from sellers who are donating a percentage of their profits to groups like the World Wildlife Fund and Rainforest Alliance, you can donate a percentage of your own profits if you have items to sell, or you can use PayPal to make a simple donation.

CLICK HERE to learn more.

Happy shopping!!

Energy Vampires

Halloween may be over, but many of us still have energy vampires - devices that suck electricity even when they're turned off - lurking in our homes. Check out this helpful link for tips on avoiding this year-round enemy. Killing the vampires is good for our wallets ... and good for the earth!

Preaching to the choir?

This is an interesting article on the Nature Conservancy's blog discussing how those of us who care about conservation can better reach others who don't. The blog author had just returned from a "Green Festival" in Washington, D.C., where she noticed that -- great as the festival lessons were -- they seemed to be merely preaching to the choir, to use an old church analogy. In this post, she offers suggestions ... some obvious, and some surprising. I particularly liked the last recommendation, to "celebrate the free stuff":

(copied directly from article:)
Many people still think that “being green” is expensive, but there are so many things that people can do that are eco-friendly and low cost that you can shout about:

• Walking more and driving less. Save on gas and get some exercise at the same time.
• Replacing your light bulbs with CFL bulbs. CFL bulbs cost a little more than incandescent bulbs, but they last up to 10 times longer while using about one-fourth of the energy, according to the Energy Department.
• Eating more vegetarian meals. Beef averages $3 per pound in U.S. cities and boneless chicken breasts cost about $3.40 a pound. On the other hand, dried legumes and rice are less than $1 a pound.
• Shopping (and eating) in season. Steering clear of strawberries and melons in the winter will not only save a lot of dough, you’ll avoid having your fruit shipped around the world.
• Shopping online. No, not online stores, but on sites such as Craigslist or Freecycle, where you can find secondhand goods — everything from furniture to house wares to baby clothes — for really cheap or often completely free!

Challenge yourself to implement just one new strategy!! Every little bit helps, and you'll be showing others a great example of stewardship!

Welcome!

Welcome to God's Green Gang blog! GGG is a new "green" ministry of Christ United Methodist Church; our goal is to increase awareness of environmental stewardship and service to God through green living. Stay tuned for lots of great information, green tips, book reviews, product recommendations, and more!

Why I recycle

I posted this on my personal blog back in April and thought I'd share it here too.
-LeeAnne

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In all seriousness, I challenge everyone reading this to make one change -- just one small change -- in an effort to becoming more earth-friendly. It might be switching to compact flourescent bulbs. It might be shopping at local farmers' markets instead of big chain stores. It might simply be turning off lights and other electricity-eating devices when you're not using them. It might be a new commitment to recycling (Chattanooga DOES have this, and even if you don't have curbside pickup within the city limits, you CAN still drop items off at any recycling center.) It never fails to amaze me how many Christians don't worry about the environment and don't seem to do anything to take care of God's creation. The way I see it, He gave us this planet -- a planet that, unlike any other in the world, sustains human life so perfectly -- and we're killing it. Every day. Little by little. My personal environmentalism isn't because I'm an animal-loving-tree-hugging-granola-eating-vegetarian weirdo ... it's because I'm a Christian and I want to respect and honor the world I believe God created for us.

I'll step off my soapbox now and leave you with one plea: Don't be Stupid.

Happy Earth Day.