Mom, I’m coming home. Do you need me to stop at the store?” This very well may be my favorite phone call ever. My youngest son, Ryan, recently got his driver’s license. Prior to this much anticipated event, I chauffeured him to school multiple times a day for athletics, classes, and various activities. I am not exaggerating when I say that it consumed several hours per day executing this duty. So when he turned 16, adding a car to our family fleet was as much for me as it was for him.

As a loyal reader, you may know that my “baby” is 6’4” and built like the football lineman that he is. As a result, we went to a used car company to “try on” multiple types of vehicles. Much to my surprise he had several options. Getting in and out proved tricky on occasion but many cars had plenty of room inside. Just for fun we tested the theory and discovered he even fit in a Smart Car. However, the one that caught his attention was a hybrid Camry. He is studying Environmental Science at school and is impassioned about the impact we have on the planet. I was pleased to discover that the investment in a hybrid engine was about equivalent to leather seats in the used car market. I’ve always wanted to own a hybrid car so we took the plunge. I’m happy to report he has only filled up once in the 5 weeks we’ve owned the car and he still has plenty in the tank. Add to that the number of hours returned to my life and gas I’m not burning and I’m a happy camper.

Our feature article, The Next Level – Education for a More Sustainable World [page 18], considers the idea that our educational system could be inspiring generations of “solutionaries” prepared to enthusiastically meet the challenges of world problems. “If schoolchildren are given the gift of exploration, society will benefit, both in practical and theoretical ways,” notes Papert. In our case it is certainly true that Ryan’s study of how people impact the environment translated to a real-world choice for his transportation.

In this issue we celebrate Earth Day by focusing on environmental issues. Our Green Living column highlights tech advances that may drive eco-transportation mainstream [page 25]. Our Conscious Eating column explores how our choices for consuming food can have an enormous ripple effect [page 22]. And our Wise Words column [page 18] discusses healing the ecosystem within. Plus, discover local events you can enjoy to honor Earth Day on page 11. It is my hope that you find inspiration among these pages to make your life a little greener.

Here’s to making it easy to be green!

Kris Urquhart, Publisher