After a long weekend of hunting, Tom and I finally tracked down my new vehicle late yesterday afternoon. When I came to terms with fact that the Jetta was officially out of commission, I knew that it was time to put my money where my mouth is and go for the hybrid.
I mean really, have you seen An Inconvenient Truth? No? Well, let me fill you in. The polar bears are drowning because they can't find the they can't find icebergs to rest on, and they can't find the icebergs because the icebergs are melting, and the icebergs are melting because we like to let our Hummers idle so as to leave the air conditioning on while our friend runs into the store to pick up a six pack because God forbid we roll the window down and breathe the polluted air. And the plastic rings that hold the six pack together? They're eventually going to strangle a penguin. At least that's what Al Gore said.
{This guy just got lucky. Look how teeny tiny his iceberg is!}
So, in order to save the polar bears, I bought a Prius and I only drink microbrews that are locally sourced and come in recycled, biodegradable carriers.
So what if my new car looks a little bit like a spaceship that got stuck in a wind tunnel? It's well worth it if I can cut emissions by even 25% on my fifty mile round-trip commute. Look how relaxed the polar bears are now.
Plus, think of all the new tops I can get with the money I save on gas...
In an attempt to take advantage of Disney's Give a Day, Get a Day program and work toward accomplishing #9 on the list (volunteer for a charity I care about), Tom and I headed to Monroe Middle School in City Heights on Saturday for a community event put on by San Diego Coastkeepers and Outside the Lens.
Coastkeepers is a group dedicated to protecting the beaches, bays, rivers, and watersheds around the county; they provided trash bags and set up education stations along the half mile length of Swan Canyon. Outside the Lens is "a youth media literacy program dedicated to celebrating the vision and voices of children around the world and across cultures." Outside the Lens also happens to be working on a three-year project called Water in Focus, "a global photography project that calls youth to action as they document the use, waste, conservation, and pollution of our most precious resource through words and images."
Outside the Lens seemed like a really cool organization, plus.. Kids? Cameras? Around the world and across cultures? Conservation and pollution? Words and images? Sign me up! So sign me (and Tom) up I did. We showed up Saturday morning, trudged down into the canyon, and helped to set up OTL's education station where we, along with four other volunteers, were to encourage people to sign a petition in support of the Water for the World Act and try to get people psyched up for the photographic scavenger hunt that OTL had created.
Now apparently the photographer who was supposed to cover the event didn't show up, so after my very supportive husband grossly oversold my photography skills, I found myself reassigned.Tom and I spent the next hour or so walking around the canyon taking pictures of all of the kids and families who had dedicated their Saturday to restoring the canyon.
over 275 pounds of garbage removed from the canyon!
planting native species
pledging to conserve
After a couple of hours of cleaning and learning about the canyon, participants marched out of the canyon to Hamilton Elementary for a closing celebration complete with performances by the teen dance troupe Transcendance, a skit about the dangers of plastic bags featuring the evil villain, Bag Monster, and a delicious array of tamales.
Bag Monster
handing out tamales
All in all, it was a great Saturday morning, made even better by a stray puppy found wandering the streets around the school.
If not for Tom's frequent reminders of our landlord's no pets policy, I would have scooped this guy up and taken him home.
