(Oklahoma City) Who remembers April 22, 1970, when Earth Day came into existence and brought together an alignment of Americans incredibly rare today - Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders – all towards a common goal of preserving our planet?

However, long before Earth Day began, many Oklahomans including my grandparents and my parents were already “green” even though behind the scenes of any spotlight on the environment.    My grandmothers from northwestern Oklahoma reused and recycled many ordinary things – reusing wax paper from cereal boxes, making the “best” pot and pan scrubbers from produce bags and creating compost piles from food scraps and peelings was the norm.

My parents taught us early on the importance of being good stewards of the land.  Moving our farm from almost exclusively planting and harvesting an annual wheat crop to growing blue stem grasses, a perennial crop that provides feed stock for cattle and great wildlife habitat is just one example of their efforts to conserve and protect the environment. 

Many Oklahomans like my family didn’t work hard to be “green” because they should, but because they could.   On Earth Day 2008, we should celebrate Oklahoma’s unsung heroes and become ones ourselves.  Since when have Oklahomans needed the spotlight to do what’s right?

Preserving our environment is vital to our success as a state, a nation and a world. 

What can you do? 

*Drive wiser. Combine trips and errands. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as a longer multipurpose trip when the engine is warm. Rural Oklahomans have mastered the economies of motion and today, with our transportation fuel prices being what they are, it makes sense for all of us.

*Maintain your vehicle.  Simply tuning your car regularly, reducing your speed, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your mileage up to 10% or more.  Changing your fluids every 30,000 miles or every two years can greatly impact your fuel economy.

*Change at home.  Air leaks are the biggest energy wasters and account for approximately 39% of the energy loss in a home, so caulking doors and windows, adding insulation, using weather stripping, adjusting your thermostat during times away from home, can make a difference.

Oklahoma’s vision for the 21st Century should include finding ways to have cleaner air, cleaner water, more plentiful fuel supplies for home, business and transportation while creating a new industry and new jobs for our state.