Remember EarthSavers?

Well, I voted!

It was nice to see quite a few of the propositions in California go the way of my vote, but I was ultimately disappointed that Prop 87 lost. However, as this article in the San Jose Mercury points out, the defeat of 87 does not mean that research is not happening. (If you’re interested in this type of thing, check out Treehugger).

The other day, reading about alternative energy, I remembered this newsletter for kids called EarthSavers that was available free of charge at Target stores. (Being a little bit geeky growing up) I was already knee-deep in science magazines like National Geographic World. The stuff in EarthSavers wasn’t anything new to me, but I still liked it a lot. It had features about endangered species, all the facts about conservation, and a lot of information about what kids could do for the environment.

(I think I still have a copy back at my mom’s house. I’ll try to remember to grab it during Thanksgiving.)

EarthSavers hasn’t been distributed in Target in a long time, probably 10 years. Back then, in the 90s, in Northern California, no one really heard of any politician on Capitol Hill lobbying for global warming and making any ripples. Although kids received a lot of green talk in elementary school and families recycled, the environmental efforts were pretty much all grassroots.

With the gas prices of today, Al Gore’s efforts to raise awareness of global warming, and hybrid cars on the streets, I wonder how EarthSavers would impact the average person who shops at Target. Since the newsletter is directed towards kids, I wonder if their parents would listen to what the kids have to say.

I did a quick search on EarthSavers, and found out that it was published by the National Wildlife Federation, who also publishes a children’s magazine called Ranger Rick. The website earthsavers.com is valid, but is now used by an organization devoted to alternative energy lighting.