Celebrate National Public Lands Day

Join us on Sept. 25th in celebrating and protecting our nation’s public lands – wherever you live!

We’re fortunate to have a cabin at the foothills of the Smoky Mountain National Park.  So we get to spend a lot of time hiking the trails, riding the roads, and floating the rivers. This Saturday we plan to visit the Nantahala Forest with a stop at NOC, a magical place where the Appalachian Trail crosses the river just above Wesser Falls.

National Public Lands Day is a great opportunity to help the environment while exploring some of our nation’s amazing great outdoors with your friends and family. NPLD is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance our public lands. Last year 150,000 volunteers joined together around the country to celebrate service and recreation by planting trees, removing trash, building trails and bridges and restoring our water resources.

To  find a location in your state or ZIP code just visit: http://www.publiclandsday.org/involved/sites.htm

Happy Earth Day!

April 22, 2009 marks the 39th birthday of Earth Day.  Born April 22, 1970 the earth day celebration was created to celebrate gains in environmental protection and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. The US government, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), established Earth Day as a time to unite around new actions. They promote the concept that Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet.  For more information on how you can become involved be sure to visit www.earthday.gov and www.epa.gov/earthday.

Bad Economy Means Less Trash

Looking for a bit of good news in the face of a bad economy?  The ailing financial system is being credited for reducing the trash going to landfills across Central Florida, by up to 20% in Osceola County.  Neighboring Orange County, home to many Orlando tourist attractions, reported a 17% reduction in garbage at the local landfill.  

The reduction in trash is being attributed to consumers buying less, eating out less, and cutting back on vacations to the area.  The amount of construction debris has also declined with the falling real estate market.

It is no surprise that this has County officials worried about the impact on income generated from trash collection.  It also has a trickle down effect on energy.  In Lake County, down 8%, some of the trash is used at a waste to energy plant.  

So an economy in the dumps is good for dumps!  (Of course the politically correct word for “dump” is now “landfill” but it just doesn’t have the same ring!)

Start living green one day at a time,

Tracy Z

Note: This post is based on the article by Martin E. Comas in the February 7, 2009 edition of the Orlando Sentinel.