While I was pregnant with Delilah, I noticed a change in my husband.   All of a sudden, our recycling was perfectly separated, our Countertop Compost Keeper was in regular use, and we stopped forgetting our re-usable grocery bags every time we went to the market.    Little things.   But a change none-the-less.

There’s nothing to remind you that you’re bequeathing the world to your children like…well…having a child.   Slowly, our inner-hippie is starting to show.   Non-VOC paint.   Organic meat and dairy.   Carpooling more often.   Making sure no extraneous electronics are plugged in or running when not in use.   Natural cleaning and bath products. Since Delilah’s conception (and thanks to Scott’s dedication,) our personal carbon footprint has shrunk by four metric tons (which is slightly less than half of what it was before) and we continue to work at it.   (You can visit CarbonFootprint.Com to calculate your own household and personal footprint and see what you can do to reduce it, as well as offset it.)    Here’s our footprint (left) compared to that of the average American (center, which is about four times the global average) and finally, the World Target (right.)

Other small but impactful Earth Day stuff?

Rock the Vote has launched their “Declare Your Energy Independence Campaign” – a campaign Forty Years in the making, which urges the Senate to stop stalling and start acting on clean energy and climate solutions for America.   By paving the way for America to build a clean energy economy, Congress will take meaningful action in the spirit of Earth Day to protect the environment, create jobs and enhance America’s national security.   Click HERE to sign their petition, and declare yourself a Patriot of Earth.

The Mini Social has had an amazing week of Eco-Friendly products (or, Eco-Week) complete with some great guest editors featuring their favorite green products for Mom and Baby.   Click HERE to check it out.

Gilt Groupe is hosting ECOCHIC, a day of sales featuring green designers, travel opportunities, and eco-friendly products (including Shiner Furniture, who’s reclaimed Drop Desk Lamp is the current object of my design-lust) and 5% of all of EcoChic’s proceeds will go to [Gilt Partners] The Audobon Society and The Nature Conservatory.   Click HERE to join Gilt or HERE to learn more about the EcoChic sale.

And if you want to do something offline to help – EARTHDAY.ORG has a list of events happening all around the country this week and weekend to celebrate and benefit Earth Day.   Click HERE to see what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Lastly, Avatar comes out on DVD today and Fox has joined forces with the Earth Day Network to put their money where their mouth is and take action on the film’s themes of conservation and ecological harmony by pledging to plant one million trees world-wide, indigenous to each region in 15 different countries, before the end of 2010.    Earth Day Network (and their international partners) is committed to caring for and nurturing the trees to maturity, as well as considering natural disasters such as fires and landslides during the planting process.

Says Kathleen Rogers, President of the Earth Day Network: “AVATAR sends a universal message about the danger of exploiting our natural resources and brings to the forefront of the global consciousness the need to protect our planet and humanity.  We hope this commitment from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment to plant one million trees, will inspire others to stand up against climate change for Earth Day.”   Pretty darn cool, Avatar.   Pretty darn cool.

And also, Go Team Earth.

[Main graphic property of and courtesy of Environmental Council of Sacramento.]

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