I’m really excited to get to write a blog post about Earth Month because I’m one of those people who subscribes to the “Every day is Earth Day” philosophy.  I carry a reusable bag in my purse, use the back of printouts as scratch paper, buy produce from local farmers, use energy-efficient light bulbs, etc.  I inherited that from my parents—when I was a kid, my family took group trips to the recycling center, had a small compost heap in the backyard, and we even owned one of those tin can crushers that reduces the size of your cans so they take up less room in the recycling bin…though, I’m not sure if we had that because of the environmental benefit, or just for my dad’s enjoyment…

Though I grew up in a “reduce, reuse, recycle” family, the thing that really convinced me of the importance of being eco-conscious was when my elementary school teacher showed my class photos of the local trash dump.  I couldn’t get over the sheer size of it.   As they say, a picture’s worth 1,000 words.

Regardless of whether you grew up like I did, you probably still have a pretty good understanding of what we should be doing to protect the earth, and even if you need a little convincing that you should do your part, I thought there might be better photos to show you than those of the local dump.  That’s why I thought I’d take you on a brief photo tour of some of the natural wonders I’ve been lucky enough to see that truly remind me why I work to preserve Mother Earth.

Vintgar Gorge, Slovenia

Whitsunday Islands, Australia

 Lake Ohau, New Zealand

- Valerie