You know Emily McKhann, right? Well, you should, because she and Cooper Monroe founded TheMotherhood.com and, yes, they ARE very, very smart.
How do I know?
Well, personally, I've been working very closely with The Motherhood Creative for a long time, now (in Gemini years, anyway) and, quite frankly, I feel way smarter, already.
[sound of crickets chirping]
Aaaaanyway, Emily attended a lunch for DC bloggers (Amie Adams, Gayle Weiswasser, Diane MacEaachern), hosted by Jaime Matyas and her great team at the National Wildlife Federation to help them learn a little more about a few NWF programs.
Here's what Emily said:
"The conversation came around to global warming
and climate change and Jaime's staff talked about the local impact of
global warming, and how we tend to think of it as being outside our
day-to-day lives (it is global after all!), but that really, we're seeing big changes all around us."
Then, her email made me itch:
"Poison ivy, deer ticks, fire ants are all getting much worse, and
we can expect the yucky, biting Asian mosquito to arrive some day soon."
Awwwwwwwesome, right?
[scratch…scratch…scratch]
Thanks for that, Emily. Still. I was very interested in learning simple little ways in which my family can help cut our global warming pollution and, hopefully, become more energy efficient…yes…from right here in Jersey.
Here's a quick recap of what I found out, thanks to Emily's post, without the itch (you're welcome!):
- Plant shade trees: The Department of Energy says planting three trees strategically around your home to block the sun in summer and wind in winter can reduce your annual heating and cooling costs by an average of 40 percent. [TFH: DONE!]
- Become a Green Tag subscriber: Many states now offer options for homeowners to buy electricity from clean, renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass that produce little or no global warming pollution. Green energy can also be purchased through the National Wildlife Federation by visiting www.nwf.org/energy. [TFH: My husband, Garth (not his real name) is looking into renewable energy incentive programs in New Jersey and ways in which to help us find a way to decrease the initial amount of $$$$ required, upfront…PHEW!]
- Act locally: Contact your mayor and ask that (s)he sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, committing your city or town to meet or beat the global warming pollution reductions outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. [TFH: On the "honey do list," too!]
Aaaaand, if that ain't enough for ya's (I'm goin' all Joisey on ya's…YO!) here's a link to NWF's global warming page: http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming.aspx
Here's their page listing the impact of climate change by state: http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/In-Your-State.aspx
Aaaaand Emily's post – http://beenthere.typepad.com/been_there/2010/04/the-closetohome-impact-of-global-warming.html
Rock on with your bad itchy-self, Emily…YO!
[FWIW: Emily and I are Founding Mothers of NWF's Be Out There program
– just helping families (like mine) get their kids outside and enjoy
nature, more – no payment was received for this blog post.]
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