Welcome! Parents, friends, family, supporters, teachers -- you all play a role in bringing up someone's child. No small task in This World! My blog is for all those who want to raise happy kids and leave the planet better than we found it (and old Girl Scout goal.) I'll share what I've learned so far in my 12 months of parenting. Yes, a baby is a bundle of joy -- but, let's face it, she's also a consumer, and as an American consumer she has the potential for a huge "footprint." You can raise a joyous family and live simply, gently on the planet.

Here's a homework assignment -- let me know how you measured up!
Find out how you're impacting the earth with a Footprint survey!
At EarthDay.com's site, my family's footprint was 18 acres (the American average is 24). Take the quiz: http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp
At Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth site, my carbon load was 4.25 tons per year (American average is 7.5). Figure yours out: http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/

With this blog and website, www.greatgreentips.net, I hope to give your resources, advice and a forum to share so we can continue to reduce our footprint, our anxiety, and raise happy and healthy families!