We here at Snailbird (look at me sounding all professional) believe in the Earth and the good that it does for us. In return, we feel that we should give back in every possible way. Recently, Ash and I took part in Earth Hour, a yearly event to call for action on the hot topic of climate change. Of course, we do the best we can in our daily rituals as well. We recycle, we compost, the majority of our food is organic, our cleaning supplies are non-toxic or homemade, and lately we’ve been sharing one car (though that one is kind of forced at the moment). While we aren’t as extreme as some, I feel we do more for the world than most. So why not make my blog go green as well?

Make it Green!

The Make it Green! (German) project is a small but growing initiative in Germany that is attempting to get the blogging world involved in helping the environment and reduce their carbon footprint. How will this help?

“We are planting trees in cooperation with the Arbor Day Foundation in Plumas National Forest in Northern California for our project to neutralize the carbon footprint of blogs. Thousands of wildfires have burned in many national forests over the past ten years and 88.000 acres of Plumas’ were destroyed by two fires in 2007. For replanting this area we need help from bloggers all over the world! For every participating blog, we plant a tree. One blog – one tree.”

How awesome is that? I’m more than willing to do my very small part in this project. Are you? Visit the How You Can Join page (English) to find out more. Blog for a better world!

Water by Aeon-100

The philosophy of mine earth can be summed up as this: Sunshine creates happiness, and I create myself. Nights are long and life is predominantly good. Wind is refreshing. Tea is wisdom. Do the best you can, and be good to yourself so that you can above all be good to others. ~Jessi Lane Adams

Morgan Niels-Jeske
“The Valentine Baby”
January 1, 2008 – February 5, 2010
Adopted into our family February 14, 2008

She no longer has the burden of an old body, but I’m going to miss her so much. Here’s an excerpt from the journal entry I wrote about her on Valentine’s Day of 2008. The best Valentine’s Day ever.

In my hands was a tiny, beautiful baby girl rat. Seriously, all I did was stare at her for the longest time. I couldn’t formulate any thoughts and I hardly dared hope that she was mine, so I kept asking stupid questions like “Where’d she come from?” and “What is she doing here?” I know I kind of made Ash nervous that I didn’t like her, but I was just in shock. And then when it finally started to dawn on me that this little girl was mine, I began to tear up and almost started crying. She’s so beautiful. She’s mostly white with a dark gray hood with a white line like a scar down her face to her nose and a dark gray spot on her back. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

We love you, Morgan.

Japan: Sanzen-in Spirits by Risachantag

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.” – Thich Nhat Hanh.