Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Honor the memory of Dr. Seuss and care a whole awful lot! 

Visit BreatheProject.org.

DoSomething Team ENERGY STAR Challenge

Who's up for another contest? This one is for the kiddos, however, and doesn't have anything to do with luck. I've teamed up a group of bloggers for EPA's Energy Star program and am making a contest available to all the of kids in the GG community. The program is designed to recognize kids for what they are doing to save energy, as well as inspiring other kids and their families to get involved in energy efficiency.

The contest is pretty straightforward. Kids who submit an essay about saving energy to the Share Your Story page and then click on the DoSomething Team ENERGY STAR Challenge immediately become eligible for a number of prizes, including:

• The new Lorax DVD, which will go to the first 100 kids to submit essays
• 25 winners will receive ENERGY STAR qualified electronics products donated by LG Electronics, including computer monitors and televisions, smart phones, and mouse scanners
• Top winners will also be featured in New York's Times Square on the LG billboard
• Some of the winners may have a chance to participate in ENERGY STAR day in October with EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson 
• All kids who submit an essay will receive a certificate of appreciation from EPA Administrator Jackson

In addition to entering the contest, kids can join Team ENERGY STAR by visiting the website where they will get 

easy-to-download educational and interactive materials, such as a comprehensive Action Kit, the ENERGY STAR Home Check-Up, a Lorax activity booklet , Energy Efficiency Games, a Lorax mustache-making kit and more!

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Do Something (one of the largest organizations in the U.S. for teens and social change) have joined EPA in this effort by running their own Team ENERGY STAR Challenges. More than 150 Boys & Girls Clubs have signed on to participate and win prizes donated by Samsung Electronics. Prizes for Do Something’s Challenge have been donated by LG Electronics.

Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR

Team ENERGY STAR is part of a multi-year EPA campaign, Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR, developed to engage Americans of all ages in saving energy, money and protecting the environment with ENERGY STAR. Millions of people are getting involved, joining their neighbors in this grassroots movement to help protect the climate by saving energy. Visit the website and see how people and organizations all over are making a difference with ENERGY STAR by viewing EPA’s ENERGY STARs Across America map.

As far as the contest goes, this is a great opportunity for  parents to learn a lot about what your kids know (or don't know) based on what they produce. The "essay" can be a written story; a photo essay; a video, a slide show a drawing, or any other way they want to show what they have learned about energy efficiency, provided it can be uploaded to the ENERGY STAR story page here. Kids (or their parents for them) can submit the story any time between now and September 17. Prize winners will be announced by October 10.

So this is what insomnia looks like ...

Photo by Sue Sheen

It's a little past 5:00 in the morning. While there have been times I've blogged at this hour before going to bed, this is the first time I've done it after getting up in the morning. I've never been a morning person. Late nights suit me best. But there's something about being in your 50s, at least for a woman, that knocks everything out of kilter.

I laid awake in bed for nearly an hour before finally accepting the fact that sleep was not happening for me. So I got up and came downstairs, made coffee and an English muffin, and am now sharing my story with you.

I guess 5:00 isn't so bad, provided you don't go to bed after midnight. I predict I'll be quite tired by the time my Writers at Work group meets tonight. Won't that be fun. Then again, perhaps I'll be productive enough this morning to afford the luxury of a nice long afternoon nap. Time will tell.

So, how was your weekend? Did you do anything out of the ordinary? Or did you bask in the ordinary, grateful for the life you have?

It was my week to teach the adult Sunday School class. I struggled a bit with what to teach, since I completed my months' long course on Christianity and the Environment. Then I saw The Lorax, as I blogged about last Monday, and I no longer wondered what the topic would be. I just wondered how to work it into a SS lesson.

It was this line of Dr. Seuss' that became the theme for the lesson: UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It's not.

Did you know there are 104 Scriptures that include the word 'unless?' I read through all of them and was struck by how important the word 'unless' actually is. For the class, I narrowed it down to 24 passages. We read them and discussed what would have happened if the 'unless' hadn't been acted on. It was an interesting discussion. Or at least, I thought so.

After we got done looking at what the Bible had to say about 'unless,' we got to the 'meat' of the discussion -- the theology of Seuss. Since I already wrote about this last week, I won't go into it again, except to say, after studying for my Sunday School lesson, the message of the Lorax is stronger than ever for me.

On to other Sabbath Experience stuff:  Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day here in Pittsburgh. Wow. The temps were in the high 60s and the sun was shining. It's that odd time of year when you see people in heavy sweaters or coats and others in shorts and sandals. The oddest sight for us, was when we were driving home after lunch with the kids and passed 3 bikini-clad teens washing a car. It's March folks!

While I appreciated the beauty of the day, I also have to admit I have a love/hate relationship with Spring ... especially when it seems to be here a month or so early. I love the weather, but hate the change in wardrobe. Give me leggings and boots and turtlenecks and big sweaters. I love the look and the fact that winter clothing offers a bit more grace to less than perfect bodies like mine.

I spent the evening writing, which was a pleasure. Then Bill and I talked about deep things, like aging and death and the possibility of having to sell our house and move someday. I cried at all of it. And then we went to bed. Is it any wonder I woke up halfway through the night and couldn't get back to sleep?

That was my Sabbath. I would love to hear about yours. Did you do you anything special? Did the loss of an hour mess with your internal clock?

Sharing my Sabbath experience,

Hana

UNLESS -- the theology of Dr. Seuss

Regret.

Greed.

Consumption.

Redemption.

Conservation.

Infatuation.

Short-sightedness.

Determination.

Motivation.

Add some whimsy, some humor, bright colors, and the brilliant intuitiveness of Seuss and you'll get a quick summation of my impressions from the movie The Lorax. While some are bemoaning the screenplay's straying from the original brilliance of Dr. Seuss, I found the film to be both entertaining and compelling. 

Bill and I took Laura to see The Lorax over the weekend. While the message of the movie was a bit over her 3-year-old head, I was deeply moved by many aspects of the movie. And I couldn't help thinking this would not be a movie E.I. DuPont, William Hearst or John Francis Queeny (founder of Monsanto) would be eager to see. Perhaps they'd even squirm a bit in their seats.

And, of course, there are the political implications of The Lorax, as those on the far right will likely threaten boycott of the film for its "blatant environmental indoctrination of our children." Give me a break! Those on the far left will applaud the film's "true depiction of where Republicans are taking our country." This kind of foolishness makes my blood boil. Guess what, folks? We can twist nearly anything to make the "other side" look bad. 

For me, the movie was not political. It was an exaggeration of where we're going in this world of ours. The world of over-consumption, greed, laziness, self-centeredness, greed, wastefulness, apathy, greed, short-sightedness, stupidity, greed ... 

Everyone can find a character to identify with in this movie, whether it is with 12-year-old, Ted, who is at first motivated by infatuation; Audrey, the object of his affections and a teenager with a heart for the beauty of what was in the natural world; Once-ler, who let his ambition, and eventual greed, overshadow common sense and is later doomed to a life of regret; Grandma, who remembers; or maybe even the Lorax himself, who offers advice, but does not impose his wisdom on anyone, even though he is the heart of the movie who speaks for the trees. Seuss had a universality to his work that reached across oceans, across religions, across social classes, across generations and, yes, across political parties. This is not a Democrat vs. Republican movie ... unless you make it one. 

It is a movie that reveals the dangers of raping the earth for corporate gain. It shows how "progress" isn't always a good thing. Some of it is far-fetched fantasy. And some of it is way too close for comfort.

As the film came to an end, I hoped they would run the credits without raising the house lights. I didn't want anyone to see my tear-drenched cheeks and reddened eyes. Yes, I cried during The Lorax. Bawled my eyes out.

The redemption scene at the end really touched me. Grace and forgiveness tends to do that. But it was beyond that. 

The message, thoughtfully delivered by Dr. Seuss when he wrote the book in 1971, was the heart of the film. And it spoke volumes to my heart. You see, sometimes I get discouraged as Green Grandma. I spend countless hours each week researching, writing, advising, and trying to turn the tide toward a healthier world for you and your families, as well as for me, and my family. But it's hard and sometimes I just want to give up. Every time I hear of yet one more thing that's not good for me or for the earth, depression threatens to get a hold of me. I start to think, What's the use? Does anyone even care? And then I debate shutting down the GG blog completely. 

But then something happens. I get an encouraging email. Someone sends me a note. I take my granddaughter to a movie. 

In this case, it was a movie that packed a much-needed punch that started with the word UNLESS.

UNLESS someone like you cares a whole, awful lot, 
nothing's going to get better. It's not.

I care. A whole, awful lot. 

If I've motivated you in any way at all, I guess GG is doing her part.

Hana 

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