It has been a busy and stressful April for me, and I have not succeeded with EcoChallenge as I would have liked and have not managed to complete all my daily challenges every day. Still, in looking back over the month I have accomplished quite a bit and have made more than a few good habits.

It has helped me to pay attention to how I'm doing things, is a gentle reminder whenever I'm taking a shower, buying o or cooking.

I spent all day yesterday at the Green Columbus Earth Day Celebration, and was able network with people from many of the organizations I have worked with for a while (and a couple ones that were new to me). It was well attended, and so I got to talk with many people passing by the Simply Living table! I must express my gratitude to all the Green Columbus volunteers who put on the event.

I have been working diligently to turn my grass lawn into a seed bed for a bee/clover seed mix, and today I finally sowed the seed! It's such a relief to be done with it! Rain is in the forecast for the next three days, so my timing should be good. I'm hoping to have a good stand this summer to support bees & other pollinators!

I completed 60 minutes of research on non-toxic home products and conducted an audit of products in my home. This is a something I have been concerned with for a while, so I found only one old bottle of industrial cleaner/degreaser (almost empty) to dispose of. I still use chlorine bleach on my white shirts, but I haven't found an alternative product that works nearly as well. Still looking. (I'd like to get rid of my white shirts, but they are required where I work). My expression of gratitude today is to the guys who pick up my trash to be recycled. Thanks to advances by my local waste management agencies, I produce only one small bag every other week that needs to go to the landfill.

I'm still working to convert my yard to pollinator habitat, tearing up turf to replant pollinator-friendly seed mix. Very hard work. My neighbors stop by to see what I'm up to. They think I'm crazy but are tolerant. And some, when I explain, approve of my actions. I'm grateful to have such good neighbors.

Today, I made a donation to Green Schools Alliance, which provides programs, tools, and resources to fast-track sustainable solutions in schools, empowering all members of the school community to become sustainability champions. I also contributed to my local school district's Education Foundation, which manages and distributes funds for educational activities that may not otherwise be funded. My expression of gratitude today is to all schoolteachers everywhere for the important work they do.

My expression of gratitude today is to Tammy Miller, administrative consultant for Simply Living. Tammy is an accountant, and I recently became the acting Treasurer. Tammy has been very helpful in getting me going in this position, and I appreciate it tremendously.

It was a cold day for the season, but dry enough to work in the yard, preparing for seeding with bee/clover mix seed. Exhausted but happy. Picked up library books--thank you to everyone who works in the library system!