Simple & Green.

Get the tissues out, she says why for me instead of why me. Today's hero:

http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2010/06/01/friends-family-race-against-time-for-mandi-schwartz/?icid=main|htmlws-sb-n|dl4|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnhl.fanhouse.com%2F2010%2F06%2F01%2Ffriends-family-race-against-time-for-mandi-schwartz%2F

On to a less emotional subject. Simplifying you life while turing it green. Today's USA Today had an article about Wanda Urnbanska and her new book "The Heart of Simple Living: 7 Paths To A Better Life." You can read the entire column here:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/environment/2010-06-02-urbanska02_ST_N.htm

Some of the things that she suggests are as follows:

Pay bills immediately.

Spend time outdoors.

Celebrate your victories.

Save you spare change.

Hang clothes outside.

Buy used.

Stop and chat.

How many of the things above do you do? I do almost all of them with three exceptions. I don't celebrate my victories, hang clothes outside, or buy used. I can improve! What other things would you put on the list to live simply?

WHO AM I?

Yesterday's answer was Mary Eliza Church Terrell.

My last name is often confused with another famous family. I was born in 1860 and died in 1935. I am known as the first American woman to win a famous prize. I was considered a mover and shaker in the labor movement and was a charter member of the NAACP I was the daughter of a very well-to-do gentleman; my mother was a kind and gracious lady. I had five brothers and sisters at the time of my mother's death when I was two. Father remarried and my new stepmother brought two new step-brothers to the already large family. I was especially devoted to my father who taught me tolerance, philanthropy, and a strong work ethic. He encouraged me to pursue higher education but not at the expense of losing my femininity and the prospect of marriage and motherhood. I attended the Rockford Seminary for young ladies and excelled. I developed strong leadership traits. My classmates admired me and followed my examples. I wished to pursue a degree in medicine, a choice that caused a great stir in our household. My parents felt that I had had enough education and were concerned that I would never marry. I became despondent. I wanted more in life and felt if my brothers could have careers in medicine and science, why couldn't I? Hoping to change my mind my parents took me and several of my friends on a long tour of Europe. They hoped that I would settle down and realize that my duty was to marry and have a family. During this time I began to show signs of serious illness. Dad died upon my return from Europe, which set me into a deeper depression and a sense of guilt that somehow I had upset him with my insistence upon a vocation. My illness grew to the proportion of "invalid." I could barely walk or move without great pain. I did have a slight curvature of the spine and for which I sought treatment. I had surgery and was strapped into a back harness from which I could not move for about a year. This year gave me time to think. When I recovered, I headed to Europe. While in England, I was introduced to the founders and the workings of Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in the slums of London. A friend and I committed to starting a settlement house in Chicago. I was able to procure all I needed with the generosity of patrons. Money poured in. Within a few years, The House offered medical care, child care and legal aid. It also provided classes for immigrants to learn English, vocational skills, music, art and drama. When in the late 1800s a severe depression rocked the country the House was serving over two thousand people a week. I worked for legislation to protect immigrants from exploitation, limit the working hours of women, mandate schooling for children, recognize labor unions, and provide for industrial safety. This led to the right to vote for women. I worked for Chicago municipal suffrage and became the first VP of the National American Women Suffrage Association. I became a very controversial figure while working on behalf of economic reform. When horrible working conditions led to a riot I was personally attacked for my support of the workers. It resulted in a great loss of donor support for the House. I supplemented House funding with revenue from lecture tours and article writing. I foresaw World War I and in an effort to avert war, I organized the Women's Peace Party and the International Congress of Women. When the U.S. joined the war in 1917, criticism of me rose. I was expelled from the Daughters of the American Revolution, but it didn't slow me down. I was a founding member of the ACLU. When the depression of the 1930's struck I saw many of the things that I had advocated and fought for become policies under President Franklin Roosevelt. I received numerous awards including the Prize. I am known for the quote: "I am not one of those who believe - broadly speaking - that women are better than men. We have not wrecked railroads, nor corrupted legislatures, nor done many unholy things that men have done; but then we must remember that we have not had the chance." Who Am I?