We hosted a wonderful clean-up event in St. Louis for Emerson Enterprise employees on Friday April 26. Over 30 people joined the effort and braved the rainy weather to make a difference at a local park near the Emerson Campus.

Today I calculated my water footprint - my direct footprint is about 60 gallons per day, but my virtual footprint is about 20x greater due to eating meat and the indirect water use associated with clothing / other goods manufactured. My rainwater harvesting saves a few gallons per day but is negligible compared to the virtual footprint.

Using reusable water bottles and coffee cups are a very easy way to reduce plastic consumption. When I think about the amount of waste I would normally produce on a daily basis through consumption of water and coffee, it becomes a huge opportunity to reduce and eliminate this. All of this comes at little cost and inconvenience to me as well.

I attended a lunch & learn today hosted by the Missouri Botanical Gardens on sustainable landscaping. It was a great topic for a young homeowner to better understand effective ways to keep a yard/garden looking nice, but also doing my part to contribute to biodiversity in the region. Very enlightening and inspiring, overall!

I played golf this afternoon and made it a point to pick up trash as I saw it around the course. This is something that required limited, additional effort from my end, but makes a big impact when done on a consistent basis. This is an easy action for me to continue doing during Earth Month and beyond.

Last weekend I finally got my rainwater buckets up and "running", and they've already filled up 100 gallons completely! Might say it rains a lot here in the Spring. Had trouble getting the footings level the first time I tried to set them up and likely do not have a backup masonry career waiting for me, but I've started to use them!

I also installed a drip-irrigation system in my garden which, with a timer system should much use less water throughout the season. The only issue I didn't think through is that the rainwater collection system does not create enough pressure to work with the drip irrigation system, so I'll have to dream up a better solution soon enough.

Last week I hosted a sustainability lunch and learn by setting up a tour with my local AEE to visit Nashville's Omohundro Water Treatment Plant. The historic building came online in the 1870s and still enjoys the same footprint, albeit with many sustainable upgrades, providing upwards of 50 million gallons per day of clean water to the city. Metro Water has gone above and beyond for decades to provide safe, reliable, and sustainable water to residents.

Four neighbors, all together, pitched in to buy one wheelbarrow and we pass it back and forth as needed! Only needed it to haul a few larger plants from backyard to the front.

Last year during EcoChallenge I finally bought a bike - regretfully I finished last season with 2 flat tires and no knowledge of how to change them. This weekend I finally got my hands dirty and figured it out, giving me a lifelong skill and returning my working bike.