Have a Meaningful Earth Day with These 10 Ways to Get Involved on April 22 ...
By Chelsie
By Chelsie
Following Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring, which discussed the negative impact of pesticides on the environment, people began being much more concerned about the environment, the modern environmental movement began, and Earth Day was created. Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day in 1970 as a way to promote awareness about the health of the environment. It was celebrated on April 22, and over 20 million Americans demonstrated across the nation. It became clear that the environment was a huge concern of many people, and in December of 1970 Congress established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was tasked with repairing damage to the environment. Environmental protection is still as important today as it was over 40 years ago, and there are many ways you can get involved in Earth Day, which is still celebrated on April 22.
When you are looking to get involved in an important cause like Earth Day, it is important to educate yourself. There are many different issues surrounding the health of the environment that you can learn about, including pollution, endangered species, climate change, water shortages, water pollution, and recycling. Learning about a few of these issues will help you be informed. It will also help you find something you are passionate about and would like to get involved in.
Aside from educating yourself, a great way to get involved in Earth Day is to recycle. If you don’t already recycle Earth Day is the perfect day to start recycling. When you do start recycling, remember that you can recycle many more things than just cans. Paper products, glass containers, and some plastic items can even be recycled. Different recycling companies accept different products. So, call your local recycling company to find out what you can recycle. You may be surprised at how many different things you can recycle.
On Earth Day, get together with a group of friends and clean up the litter around your neighborhood. This is a fun way to get involved and spend time with your friends. You will probably be amazed at how much litter you find in your own neighborhood. As you pick up litter, remember to recycle the items that can be recycled. Also, please stay in a safe area. Being environmentally responsible is wonderful, but you want to be safe.
Another great way to celebrate Earth Day is to clean up your neighborhood park. You can get together with friends and neighbors to make your local park cleaner and more kid friendly. While you are cleaning up the park, you can pick up litter, pick up debris from the winter, and even repaint areas that have been vandalized. If you have a Parks and Recreation Department that takes care of your park, there may not be too much to clean up. However, if you do not, there may be quite a bit of work to be done, including fixing playground equipment.
Many of the cleaning products that are used in homes are actually quite bad for the environment. Aerosol cans emit greenhouse gases, and detergents often have ingredients that are toxic to aquatic life. The Environmental Working Group has put together an extensive list of cleaning products that are both good and bad for the environment and your health. Each product received a grade, and those with an A are considered the best. You can find this list at ewg.org. Using this list to guide your cleaning product purchases is a great way to make environmentally friendly choices. Of course, you can always just use baking soda and vinegar to clean. They work great and are very friendly to the environment and your health.
Usually there are a variety of Earth Day events that take place and that you can get involved in by volunteering. Volunteering for one of these events is a great way to get involved if you are unsure of where to start. Often, these events are geared toward cleaning up waterways and cleaning up parks. Sometimes there are even organized protests that you get involved in. To find out if there are any events in your community that need volunteers, you can go to earthday.org.
Earth Day is a great day to decrease your carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouses gases that your daily activities emit. One of the best ways to decrease your carbon footprint is to go without your car. On Earth Day, ride your bike or walk to wherever you need to go. Not only will this help the environment, but you will be getting exercise and fresh air! If a car is absolutely necessary, try carpooling. Carpooling is another wonderful way to reduce your carbon footprint. Perhaps you will even decide you want to go without a car or carpool long term, which would be really great for the environment!
It’s one thing to pronounce that you are environmentally friendly and care for the earth, but it’s another when you actually take the time to get out their and nourish your soul in natural greatness. It is vitally important to take tours through nature as often as you can, especially if you are somebody who lives in a built up urban area. Being in the great outdoors and hearing the natural sounds of animals is one of the most amazing free experiences that we are given on this earth, so make the effort to get out there.
Take a trip down to your local hardware or gardening store and pick up plenty of packets of mixed seeds. Make sure that the seeds you buy will turn in to plants that are able to flourish in your local area, but once you have that simple task completed, you are free to scatter them wherever you please. This kind of ‘urban gardening’ is becoming more and more popular, and if all of us start to take an interest in the flora situation of our public areas, we could really have a wonderful sight on our hands when things start to bloom.
If you are looking in to introducing a pet in to your family, then please, please adopt one from a shelter rather than going to a pet store or contacting a breeder. There are already too many animals without homes on this earth for you to be ignoring them in favor of a specially-bred puppy. The joy and fulfilment of giving a shelter animal a home is one that never goes away, and you will be doing a real service to the earth by having it neutered to avoid more extraneous animals from joining the queue.
Celebrating Earth Day is a wonderful way to get involved in helping the environment. Promoting environmental awareness, taking steps to clean up litter, or reducing your carbon footprint are all excellent ways to become involved in Earth Day. However you choose to celebrate, you can feel good knowing you are taking steps to make a difference. How do you celebrate Earth Day?