Earth Day Your Way: April 22nd

If you were a child of the ‘60s, you might have picked up roadside litter on the first Earth Day in 1970. If you were a child of the ‘70s or ‘80s, perhaps you made a commitment to recycle on Earth Day 1990. Last year, Earth Day celebrated its 40^th anniversary, and it has truly gone international with volunteer work days, parades and green festivals around the globe.

 

Earth Day was the brainchild of a U.S. Senator. According to the Earth Day Network, Gaylord Nelson was frustrated over pervasive environmental degradation. He knew people were concerned, but politicians were not.

 

Gaylord Nelson and Earth Day, a website produced by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Historical Society, notes that for several years, Nelson struggled with a way to give environmental problems a voice. Eventually, while contemplating the power of anti-Vietnam war demonstrations on college campuses which were called “teach-ins,” he came up with the idea of a grassroots protest to force a national agenda. A wire story covered his simple announcement that in the spring of 1970 there would be a “nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment.”

 

Telegrams, letters and phone calls – the social networking tools of the era – flooded his office. Senator Nelson dedicated two staff members, and then eventually a small army of college students and a coordinator, to track and document various events planned by ordinary citizens.

 

An estimated 20 million Americans participated in the inaugural Earth Day, a national day of observance regarding environmental problems as well as a day to demand action from elected officials…and all of society. Citizens young and old explored ecological problems in their communities and developed their own responses.

 

As for Senator Nelson, he enjoyed telling others that Earth Day “organized itself” and believed that American’s should honor the day "in any way they want."

Making small changes in the way we treat our natural resources can have a significant impact on the environment. Hold a family “teach-in” (outdoors!) and discuss things you can each work on to help the planet! Here are just a few ideas...

·         Water the yard less frequently, but water deeply in warm weather. Or consider NOT watering and letting your lawn go dormant. That means less mowing, too!

·         Contact your pharmacy or Council on Aging for medication disposal sites. Don’t flush them down the drain or toilet.

·         Don’t use fertilizers near streams, rivers, ponds or lakes.

·         Shut the faucet off as you brush your teeth.

 

·         Add live green plants, such as spider plants, inside your home to reduce indoor air toxins.

·         Consider an electric or reel mower.

·         Plant a tree!

·         Transporting food uses lots of smog-producing fuel. Buy locally-produced foods or grow your own.

 

·         Compost your yard waste.

·         Plant native perennials and shrubs. They require less watering and help important pollinators such as honeybees and birds.

·         Treat your lawn with organic and natural fertilizers to build soil.

 

·         Change an incandescent bulb to a compact fluorescent.

·         Turn off lights when you leave the room.

·         Get rid of that second refrigerator.

·         Curb vampire power. Don’t leave electronic chargers plugged in, which draw power. Instead, plug them into a power strip you can switch off.

 

·         Donate your gently used items to a non-profit organization.

·         Many women’s shelters will accept your old cell phones. Don’t send them to the landfill!

·         Learn the location of your community’s hazardous waste collection and what they accept.

·         Buy larger containers of food instead of individually packaged items.

·         Inventory your trash. What can you add to your recycling efforts?

 

·         Volunteer at a park or natural area to work on trails, clean bird houses or answer phones.

·         Participate in Citizen Science. From counting feeder birds to measuring precipitation, you can find a family friendly project at scienceforcitzens.net.

·         Raise awareness. Tell everyone what you plan to do on Facebook or Twitter.