In all of the reasons this day is so important it really should be every day of our lives. A little history via: It marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it. At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson's New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment for the modern environmental movement, selling more than 500,000 copies in twenty-four countries and up until that moment, more than any other person, Ms. Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and public health. Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.
If you think about it 1970 isn't that long ago but it's long enough to know that we have been aware of the consequences of not taking care of the ground we walk on and eat from and the air we breathe every day. I'm proud to say I take new steps each day to become more earth friendly, whether its reusing, recycling or reducing. I strive to be more sustainable. It's a work in progress.
Earth day 2010
I picked up an extremely disgusting and disturbing pile (4 trash bags) worth of trash around the GTCC campus. I was finishing up school there and a friend of mine and I got out of class and realized how much trash there was in just one parking lot and all along the road. I decided to grab some bags, including my reusable ones and picked up every single piece of trash including the small plastic wrappers, gum wrappers and cigarette butt's found in the grass. There was an entire bag of Taco Bell trash- a half eaten burrito, sauces, napkins, all used, open and thrown straight out of the window. The more I picked up, the more infuriated I became. Why couldn't these people just keep it in the car until they got somewhere to throw it away? Why were they so lazy? Why did they think it was okay to throw it out on the road, of all places? Ridiculous. It occurred to me that after picking it up and being so upset that I should be happy- I had done something great, it was clean and that was enough to feel accomplished about even if it didn't last. I later wrote a letter to the school about the littering problem- I never got a response back.
I picked up an extremely disgusting and disturbing pile (4 trash bags) worth of trash around the GTCC campus. I was finishing up school there and a friend of mine and I got out of class and realized how much trash there was in just one parking lot and all along the road. I decided to grab some bags, including my reusable ones and picked up every single piece of trash including the small plastic wrappers, gum wrappers and cigarette butt's found in the grass. There was an entire bag of Taco Bell trash- a half eaten burrito, sauces, napkins, all used, open and thrown straight out of the window. The more I picked up, the more infuriated I became. Why couldn't these people just keep it in the car until they got somewhere to throw it away? Why were they so lazy? Why did they think it was okay to throw it out on the road, of all places? Ridiculous. It occurred to me that after picking it up and being so upset that I should be happy- I had done something great, it was clean and that was enough to feel accomplished about even if it didn't last. I later wrote a letter to the school about the littering problem- I never got a response back.
Earth day 2011
Adriana, Ryland and I went on a hike and enjoyed the beautiful day- we explored nature and learned a lot about the different things we saw with our book, binoculars and magnifying glasses. We came home later that day and made organic sugar cookies and decorated them with natural dyed frosting to look like earth! I remember them being delicious. We ended our day with the lights off, by candle light and read books- there was not a more perfect way to end the day.
Adriana, Ryland and I went on a hike and enjoyed the beautiful day- we explored nature and learned a lot about the different things we saw with our book, binoculars and magnifying glasses. We came home later that day and made organic sugar cookies and decorated them with natural dyed frosting to look like earth! I remember them being delicious. We ended our day with the lights off, by candle light and read books- there was not a more perfect way to end the day.
Earth day 2012
We're keeping it simple. It's raining and will be all day- so we'll spend the day inside doing activities from our Earth day book. We'll explore the different possibilities of recycling, reusing and reducing! We've painted our piggy's with dragon tears & will probably make a yummy treat later. We may even try to do some crafts!
We're keeping it simple. It's raining and will be all day- so we'll spend the day inside doing activities from our Earth day book. We'll explore the different possibilities of recycling, reusing and reducing! We've painted our piggy's with dragon tears & will probably make a yummy treat later. We may even try to do some crafts!
here are some things I found
that you can take part in
that you can take part in
happy earth day
here's one I've tried
cereal box organizer
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