Hey, Earth, it's your birthday! Age is just a number, but you look mighty fine for 4.6 billion plus years old (or 6 thousand, depending on who you ask). A whole bunch of people are celebrating by bringing a reusable mug to Starbucks today, or maybe taking the bus. As for me, I'm celebrating Earth day by not making a gasoline bonfire on the sidewalk today. It's become a little tradition of ours, the Friday afternoon gasoline bonfire, but it's on hiatus in honor of the Earth. We'll just make the bonfire twice as big next week. It's another beautiful spring day in Seattle, and I know there are meaningful things humans can do to improve the health of our planet. I'm a little afraid that most of the things we do to "save" the Earth are actually ineffective, and may be harmful because they breed smugness. I'd love to buy a hybrid car, but building cars consume resources. Is it better for the environment to drive my Honda civic for 15 years until it dies, or trade it in for a new, more "efficient" car every 5 years? Is it better to use recyclable paper cups, or to buy ceramic mugs that consume far more resources to produce? According to the Nature Conservancy, a single ceramic mug must be used in place of styrofoam over 600 times before any environmental benefit is realized. Multiply that by all the ceramic mugs in your kitchen cabinet, and that's a lot of coffee to drink to break even, environmentally speaking. I don't know the answers. But I've seen and read some very illuminating pieces about the global community recently, such as the stunning documentary Thirst, about water privatization, and the fascinating NY Times article "How Susie Bayer's T-shirt ended up on Yusuf Mama's back". I'm totally unqualified to give advice on this issue, but I'd urge you to take a few minutes today to learn the true effect of something that you consider "environmentally friendly". The results may surprise you, or reassure you that the actions you take are actually helping the Earth. And you could also postpone any gasoline bonfire-related festivities you might be planning for tonight. I know, the hot dogs just won't taste the same.