Green, green, green... Everything is about going green these days. Why? Because it is the right thing to do to protect our planet. It's the right thing to do to ensure a future for our children and grandchildren. It's the right thing to do to safeduard the quality of the air we breathe. It is the rght thing to do to defend our national security. And it is the right thing to do now that solar, wind and bio-fuel and geothermal technology have advanced to the point, where as fuel sources, they are economically feasible.

This past weekend, Kathryn and I, along with two of our daughters, Angel and Adriana, attended the New Life Expo in New York City. With three hundred vendor booths present, and over seven thousand people attending the event, I came to the startling realization that the "green world" people never went away - they have been here all along! We are just now starting to catch up to them, and their advanced way of thinking, thank goodness.

I hope this spring, as we're all cleaning out our garages and closets, wewill all keep in mind the very real need to grow a small or large garden. Or maybe just a cooking herb tray in our windowsill. Any of these projects will help us to see just how fragile our world is, without our help. For if you do not care for and water your garden, it will wither and die. It will simply cease to grow. Growing a garden, like the ones I'm suggesting, will also help us to see the miracles that happen when we witness a seed we've planted blossom into a flower, a fruit, vegetable or an herb. I believe this exercise will serve to connect us once again to the Earth, and She to us. While helping our minds to think green, a garden will also help us to eat green.

In a world immersed in the issue of global warming, drought and famine, it is time for us to face the hard facts. The cost of the feed and water it takes to produce one 8-ounce steak could actually feed one thousand people for the same amount of time it takes to raise that cow. And to add to that already high cost, our government recently released a statement informing us that it would like to start charging cattle farmers an annual fee of $200 per head, in order to reduce the carbon footprint created by the gases released by each cow. It appears to me that our eating habits have gone absolutely crazy!

When you combine the escalating cost of animal farming along with the use of toxic pestasides,steroids, hormones and antibiotics in no waste farming as well as genetically engineered foods, it is time to stop and take a really good look at the daily damage we are doing to ourselves and to our planet's environment. These harmful chemicals are creating a brand new world of ailments. Our children are entering puberty too early, our middle-aged people are suffering from many debilitating symptoms of aging far to soon, and we are all overlooking the ever-increasing cost of healthcare for diseases caused mainly by the foods we are consuming. This is a most vicious and detrimental cycle that must end! We are what we eat, and what we are eating is killing us!

All the information you need is at your fingertips. Please take the time to explore the possibilities on the Internet.The need to "go green" is literally becoming a matter of life and death. The choice is ours. I do hope that as you read through each page of this month's Kinetics Magazine, you will come to the same conclusion. There is a commanding need for you to consider the possibility of leaning toward green.

Dannion, The Tree Hugger
www.dannion.com