Hi neighbors. Quick! What's your favorite planet? Come on, you know this.

Earth! There you go. Did you know this weekend is set aside to celebrate Earth?

All around the globe, people took time Saturday to do their part in saving the planet. What can you do, you might ask? Since this is after all the only planet we have, we'd best figure out how to keep it healthy for a few more generations.

Replace your old lightbulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. They last for years and use a quarter of the energy of regular bulbs. They even produce more light. You can identify these great bulbs by the ENERGY STAR label, which means the bulb has been tested for quality and efficiency.

They will cost more initially between $3-$9; but the savings on energy costs will more than make up for their cost. Besides they last much longer than regular bulbs, keeping us off ladders for longer periods of time.

It's estimated that if every household in the United States replaced a burned-out bulb with a qualified compact fluorescent bulb, it would prevent more than 13 billion pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere -- comparable to taking more than a million cars off the road for an entire year.

Recycle, reuse and reclaim -- a catchy way of saying use the recycling center. If you can use something more than once simply by washing it, do so.

If there is some land that has seen better days and now lies beneath broken concrete, bricks or has no grass on it, try cleaning it up and planting some grass. Same goes for anything that can be repaired instead of replaced.

Contact someone at City Hall and volunteer to help clean up and paint the animal shelter.

Conserve water.

Turn off your computers and all other electrical equipment when not in use. Unplug those "gadgets" that have the little red light on indicating they are still using power just sitting there waiting till you need them again.

Ride a bike, walk, roller skate or carpool to get around town.

Make your next car a hybrid.

Plant a tree.

Check your home and office for air leaks to make heating and cooling more efficient.

Happily, a lot of things you can do to help the planet will save you money in the short term, and maybe save your life in the long term.

One important thing we need to take time to do no matter how busy we are, is taking our children and grandchildren out for walks in the parks. City parks are great and state parks are even better for learning to appreciate nature.

Help children understand that what they do to the environment has an impact. That impact can be good for the planet or not so good. Help them think about what choices they can make and guide them on what choices are the better ones to make.

Of course life goes on and we have to work and live. As my Dad always said, the key to efficient "energy saving" is having the right tool for the right job. You guys know that, that's why you have garages.

My daughter and her daughter went walking in the woods and decided to hunt for mushrooms. My granddaughter, Alyssa, informed her mother that they would not find any mushrooms as they did not have the right tool. "You need a mushroom stick," she told her.

Jenny didn't find any mushrooms and Alyssa reminded her repeatedly that it was because she didn't have a mushroom stick.

On the way back to the car, two men started out on the trail, carrying sticks and buckets. "See Mom" Alyssa said knowingly.

Once in the car they saw a woman coming from the woods with a sack of something and a walking stick.

Alyssa just nodded and pointed. "See, she has a mushroom stick." She had to add, "I told you so."

My daughter called me to ask what on earth a mushroom stick was and what purpose could it have.

I told her that as far as I could guess, it would be a stick to push back brush to peer under the foliage to look for mushrooms while avoiding sleeping snakes. It could also be something to lean on when you get tired of looking.

Until the next time friends remember, do all you can to help the planet if you know anyone who plans on living here in a few decades. Oh, and if you know what a mushroom stick is, give me a call.