Living History

Over the last however many years I've always been a recycler. Particularly paper. Lincoln has always been a huge recycler of EVERYTHING and my mom always laughs when she comes to visit and accidently throws out something that you can recycle and Lincoln will pull it out of the trash. I'm happy to say that while I don't go through our trash I do now recycle every possible item.

At work I've been in charge of setting up various Green Initiatives including the fact that we now recycle plastic, metal, and glass as well as paper. We also compost and use biodegradable plates, bowls, and silverware made from corn.

Hannah has told me that she wants to start a club at school to clean up the environment and this year at her school the 2nd grade class will be doing composting in the classrooms as part of an education grant that two of the teachers applied for and were awarded.

While driving around Cambridge and the surrounding towns it is not unusual to see a "Clean Air Cab" which are hybrid vehicles sponsored by Whole Foods. Cambridge is also offering grant money to taxi companies who convert their current vehicles to ones of the hybrid variety. Additionally, I occasionally see vehicles, like the one I followed back from lunch today, that say "fueled by biodiesel" or something similar.

Today I received an email from someone in my Upton Moms email group about the website www.OurRenewableNation.org which is a fantastic project run by a New England family. They make great short videos about energy saving and renewable resources. The videos are narrated by their 9 year old son.

All of this rambling is to say that it seems like we're on the cusp of something new and exciting. I realize that recycling and energy saving and renewable resource discussions have been around for a long time but it just seems like the tipping point has finally been reached. It seems like people are really embracing this new way of life and I couldn't be happier.

As a history major in college I would always look at different time periods and think "Wow, I wonder what it was like to live in that time." I feel like this may be one of those times. The world is changing and I for one am really glad to be right in the middle of it.