When my boys were little, we often prepped by playing a "lifesaving game" where we assessed our options in case of different kinds of disasters. The boys knew where to meet up and who to contact in case something happened to us. Even our dogs knew what to do in case of a tornado watch. I've realized that it's been a few years since we've done this, so it's time to check how well we're prepared for extreme weather events. The one that frightens me the most is wildfire.

I asked a lot of different people what local environmental concerns they were aware of and one I did not expect was lithium mines! I know that lithium is often used for green energy but the effects of its mining often go overlooked. Lithium mining can be extremely harmful to the earth it is harvested from, including contaminating local water supply. In addition to the mechanical mining of lithium, lots of different chemicals are needed to separate and extract lithium, which are often toxic to the environment.

Reading through different articles about this has disheartened me a little - it seems as though a lot of steps taken forward towards a greener future often set us that many steps back. I was also unaware of how many products use lithium! That is another thing to think about when purchasing eco friendly products.

I was surprised that driving used so much water - due to water to produce gasoline. I will shower less and find alternate transportation when I can

I recently completed the Beginner Beekeeper course with the Wake County Beekeeper's Association and earned my certificate as a certified beekeeper! This 10-week course was a wonderful experience, and I learned so much that I didn't already know about bees and pollination. Did you know that strawberries take multiple pollinations to make a perfectly full strawberry?

I picked up packages of bees and we installed them in our 2 new hives at our home!

most likely using a car to get to work. I will need to figure alternate methods of work or potentially working remote more frequently.