Jerilynn Bayer:  

What would people remember about me from High School? Probably the girl with the long blonde hair, coke bottle glasses and sweaty hands who championed endangered species like the whooping crane in Mr. Vogel¿s Social Studies class. In college, I wanted to major in education, then biology, but my parents deterred me. So eventually to satisfy my need for the sciences, I volunteered for several years as a docent at Brookfield Zoo. I educated folks who visited Predator Ecology in the Lion House, Tropic World, Aquatic Bird House, and Australia House. I also assisted teaching classes to youngsters. In the eighties, I started my own personal campaign of environmentalism. I recycled before recycling became mainstream and when they gave you money for the pounds of paper you brought in. (When I was a kid, my father would take me with him to recycle rags and newspapers for money in Chicago). I would travel once or twice a year to recycle to Naperville, Elburn, etc. I still travel once or twice a year to recycle my aluminum at Reynolds in Bolingbrook. If you would have told me I would later live in Naperville, I would have told you that you had a screw loose. When I was growing up, my parents were thrifty. No pictures on the walls, not very many knickknacks and no wall-to-wall carpeting. I lived in 5 different small apartments before purchasing a house with my husband. Then we started a family and filled the house. Then we moved to Naperville and filled this one. Now, along comes this idea of your carbon footprint. Well, my parents left behind a very small one, but I am trying to rectify what I have done. Several years ago, I discovered eBay. Then I discovered selling on eBay and found out how hard it is to make money with all the fees. Along came my...Expand for more