Lena's award (so well deserved and well earned) at the Women's Congress Conference recently, which you can read about at the link above, mentions the phrase 'we teach nations.' Lena is spot on with that idea and I hope to contribute a bit to it right now.

Women are the movers and shakers of the whole world. Yes, I've said it before and will likely say it again. We're the gender that dresses the family up for church or Temple on the weekend. We're the gender that creates the coffee klatches that gather women and kids together and solve all the world's problems, every week - if only the right folks would listen. We're the gender that kisses the boo-boos and rocks the baby in the middle of the night. We're the gender that makes our significant other go to the Dr. when he or she doesn't want to. We're the gender that feeds the neighborhood, rescues stray dogs and cats, and... wants to make the world a better place.

We do this collectively. We have always done this collectively. As Lena says, ""They say, when you teach a man, you teach an individual. But, when you teach a woman, you teach a nation." At no other time in history have we had the power we have today - via our growing use of social media and social networking.

So, ladies, here's your challenge for today's Gals Go Green: give up your bottled water! That's right... throw those plastic bottles of water out and never bring them into your house again! All of you.

Here's help - over at What's Tappening, you can learn the truth about bottled water (it's mostly tap water - but, you knew that right? so why are you still buying it?). This recent press release, which was shared with me via email - in full disclosure here - said, "Trend watcher Jane Buckingham appeared on "Good Morning America" in its first show of the new year to give a glimpse into what will be ‘hot’ in 2008.  Amongst the several items featured was a “hip new reusable water bottle” from the creators of ‘Tappening.’  Tappening is a campaign designed to encourage the public to drink only tap water, and to send a message to the bottled water industry about its extreme waste of fossil fuels and resultant pollution of the Earth."

You gotta love this post on the subject, from John Tesh on his blog, titled, "Do You Drink Water From a Sink or a Store?"

If John Tesh can write about this, if John Stossel can write about it, it's time we ladies DO SOMETHING about it. Women online have the advantage - get out there and talk it up and create the momentum to stop the bottled water industry from selling us junk to fill up landfills. Visit this link to the movie "Garbage" and do what women do: Share. Commune. Use your blogs and emails to get other women on board. Go green... by drinking the perfectly good water that comes out of your tap. In a reusable water bottle.

Hey, what's tappening?