Granny Went Green in 1930s - How You Can Follow Gail Lee Martin's Lead

Green initiatives are making headline news on Labor Day as schools and universities across America attempt to improve sustainability and cut down on waste, with the American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) leading the national "go green" charge, according to the Huffington Post.

But granny actually beat them all to it and she was doing it as early as the 1930s if anyone cared to take note, according to this USA Today writer.

Gail Lee Martin and "Going Green"

Gail is an octogenarian (that means she is in her '80s), but she might as well have been born along with the GenX group, since she is as technologically savvy as the rest of us. Gail has served as a web master for the online Our Echo website and her writings there continue to draw history lovers to the popular family memories website venue.

This Kansas City granny is an expert at green living too, as well as a prolific writer of biographies and stories too numerous to list them all here.

Gail's been recognized by literary groups, garnered the attention of USA Today writer Laura Vanderkam and published several books, such as her "My Flint Hills Childhood - Growing up in 1930s Kansas," which won the 2010 Ferguson, a Kansas History Book Award.

ACUPCC could take a page from that book -- and a cue from Gail Lee Martin -- about how to squeeze the most from the resources they already have at school and at home.

"My Flint Hills Childhood - Growing Up in 1930s Kansas"

Gail reminisces in "Flint Hills" about her father's prowess with catching rainwater (he rigged the eves and built a well for the water that fell from the roof) -- before it became the rage.

She also tells readers how stopping erosion just takes a bit of common sense and ingenuity, like they did it in Kansas in the '30s.

Copies of "My Flint Hills Childhood" can be found online at Blurb.com for $10.95 (softcover) or $28.95 (hardcover).

The read is easy and enjoyable, as Gail doesn't get mired down into long or lengthy sentences, keeping it simple and fun. Her simplistic biography approach isn't full of negatives or doom and gloom either, instead imparting a historical past that will leave you yearning for another time and place.

Be sure to check out the section on how Gail's mother made use of worn out clothing, and where she found her interior flower vases as she travel down this octogenarian's delightful "green" past.