Unbelievable Spring day here in New Jersey. The sun is beating down out of the clear blue sky, trees are budding and the air is filled with the sweet smell of the moist earth. All is good with the world.
It was, in fact, a perfect setting for an Earth Day fair on the New Brunswick Campus. Every year, a team from our environment, health and safety group holds a fair to help remind people of what the company is doing -- and what can be done at home -- to conserve energy and take more responsibility for the world around us. It's all in keeping with the company's commitment to protecting the environment and natural resources, but -- as an avid gardener -- I always like the yearly event because it brings a bit of Spring and the outdoors into our hermetically sealed offices.
This year, they hauled in a phalanx of flowering trees from a local nursery to make our cafeteria look like a miniature version of the Philly Flower Show. Among the tables of information (for instance, did you know that an average tree sheds about 3,600 pounds of leaves which return about 70% of their nutrients to the soil?) and helpful hints, they raffled off a weeping cherry tree and a set of solar-powered outdoor lights.
I, of course, didn't win a thing! Still, as I close up shop tonight, I'm now anxious to get home to start digging around in my garden -- and get up to my elbows in the good earth.