Earth Day
Earth Day was created by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin who had long been concerned about the deteriorating environmental conditions. He was inspired by the student anti-war movement along with activism during oil spills and wanted to merge that passion with concern for the environment. Senator Nelson was able to unite a variety of environmental groups who had been fighting oil spills, toxic chemical dumps and endangered wildlife to rally around the original Earth Day and 20 million Americans (10% of the US population) engaged in variety of activities. By the end of 1970 the first Earth Day had inspired a variety of Congressional actions including creating the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of several laws designed to protect the environment. Today Earth Day is marked by over a billion people world-wide using April 22nd as a day of action doing everything from picking up trash to planting flowers for the bees and even providing educational opportunities for youth. Let’s look at some ideas of ways you can help the environment this Earth Day and any other day throughout the year.
One of the easiest ways you can help the environment this week is to take a walk around your neighborhood, through a local park or even on your favorite walking trail and pick up trash. With the wind we have had lately, there is plenty of trash that has been blown around and even a few minutes picking up can make a big difference for the environment and the look of your yard. Be sure to wear gloves and bring a trash bag along for anything you might see. If possible try to recycle as much of the trash as you can. I would love to see the weirdest thing you find. You truly never know what will show up.
Along with picking up trash if you don’t already consider trying to recycle as much of your garbage as possible. It’s estimated that 75% of all of our trash could be recycled or composted, however in the US only about 30% is actually recycled. Earth Day is a great time to turn over a new leaf and start saving that stuff we throw out by creating a location to save and sort any recyclables that you might have. Even if your city doesn’t offer the option to have recyclables picked up with your trash there usually is a location where you can drop them off.
The third idea is to plant a garden, a tree or flowers for pollinators. I know almost all of you will be growing some form of garden this year, so this idea is probably the easiest to do. Spring offers so much promise with beautiful days to come and there is no better way to celebrate helping the environment than by adding new plants to nature. This spring we planted a new Sugar Maple tree to eventually replace the Sweet Gum in our front yard and my seedling starts are almost ready to go outside once the weather cooperates. Consider adding an extra plant or row of vegetables to donate to a local food pantry or senior center this summer. It’s a simple thing you can do that will mean so much to so many people.
The final idea today is to use Earth Day to start a composting bin in your back yard. It’s estimated that 30% of all the waste sent to the landfill could be composted instead of thrown away. While organic material will eventually break down in the landfill, those composted items could be improving your garden or flowerbeds instead. A simple compost bin can be created by using pallets in your backyard, you can purchase compost tumblers or you could create a worm composting system in your basement. No matter what method you chose try to keep your organic waste home so it can work for you.
Earth Day is a wonderful reminder that you can make a big impact in your local community with just a few hours’ worth of work.
