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Extra Stories You'll find only online If you have a computer with access to the Internet, check out these stories: The January column of Marci's Medicare Answers in the Finance section. A plan to take back your financial health in 2008 in the Finance section. Let's hope this "greening" has staying power I've been an environmentalist since the twin gas crises of the 1970s (1974 and 1979). Yes, I'm old enough to remember waiting in line to fill the gas tank on my first car, a used 1974 Datsun (that's what they used to call Nissans) B210 hatchback. I even remember keeping track of the mileage I got for each fill-up in a little notebook. That was the last energy crisis endured by this country, and it had nothing to do with sky-high prices (though gas did seem high to us by 1970s standards). They may have focused our attention on a scarcity of resources, but in fact they were really brought on by tensions in the Middle East (sound familiar?). Still, my research into what happened at that time shows that much of the drive to develop alternative energy sources as well as the interest in conservation and environmentalism that captured America's conscience at that time really started with those shocks to the pocketbook. It's too bad this country didn't continue to "walk the talk" when the oil started flowing again. That brings me to consider the current push to "go green" in this country. I've got the feeling that, maybe, this push may "walk the talk" better than the last, both because of the empirical evidence that we're destroying our environment (thanks Al Gore) and the breadth of people involved. Prime examples are the two local "communities" spotlighted in this month's feature article. When a group of retirees at Reed's Landing and the staff at Shriner's Hospital are both interested in the same goal improving their relationship with the environment it leads me to hope that there's a broader base and more staying power to this century's environmental movement. And those two institutions aren't the only local institutions "going green." I recently learned that Lathrop Communities has been incorporating green living ideas from recycling to energy- saving lighting to incorporating energy-efficient design and appliances into their new constructions for several years. I'm sure Lathrop isn't alone. Let me know what you're doing either in your own home, or in your community. I'd love to get a dialog going about the greening of Western Mass. for a follow-up article in a future issue of PRIME. Debbie Gardner PRIME Editor dgardner@reminderpublications.com dgardner@reminderpublications.com