In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed that April 22nd be set aside as a day to celebrate the planet we rely on. The first Earth Day was a massive movement of American citizens young and old who were fed up with dirty air, polluted water and generally trashed America. The outpouring of enthusiasm for Earth Day and the public disgust with the sad state of the American environment resulted in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) being created shortly thereafter, by Republican President Richard Nixon.
Today Earth Day is a global day of action and education celebrated in 192 countries by 100's of millions of people that calls to awareness our dependence on our Earth, and our responsibilities as stewards of the environment.
What will you do today for Earth Day? Will you celebrate for one day, or will everyday be an Earth day in your life? I am going to share Earth Day with the 3rd graders at Middlesex Elementary, where we are going to think about how kids affect the environment, what we can do smarter and better to be more sustainable. Here are some of the ideas I am sharing today:
1. DON'T LITTER- There is an epidemic of trash on our roadsides right now, go pick it up!!! Don't put it there in the first place!
2. REDUCE- Buy products with limited packaging, recyclable packaging, or best- no packaging. Buy less in general, studies show it is not stuff that makes people happy, it is doing and being together.
3. REUSE- Buy products that have multiple uses, tupperware instead of plastic bags, resusable grocery bags, a steel water bottle, a travel coffee mug- all of these things cut down on waste production! Send unwanted clothes, toys, household items to a thrift store.
4. RECYCLE- When you do use stuff, recycle it! Newspapers, old school papers, soda cans/bottles, milk jugs, cardboard, and on and on. Please recycle batteries appropriately!
5. BUY GREEN PRODUCTS- My favorite green product are our rechargeable batteries!!! You can literally use them for years! This saves tons of money and the toxic chemicals that go into batteries don't end up in landfills.
6. FIND GREEN OPTIONS- Our family buys green energy from the electric company for just a little extra each month.
7. BE CONSERVATIVE- Turn off the lights! Take short showers! Always do a full load of laundry!
8. START A COMPOST PILE- This is so easy and reduces the number of trips to the dump. Place veggie scraps, coffee grounds, stale bread, leaves, grass clippings in a compost pile for great soil.
9. EAT LOCAL & SUSTAINABLE- Food is our greatest environmental threat because we all eat and we eat so much. Buy local and support your farmers, when you can buy organic. Eat low on the food chain- veggies and fruit keep you and the planet healthy. Avoid foods from harmful, unsustainable sources like PALM OIL and farmed shrimp.
10. CARE- The simple act of caring will make you a better citizen of Planet Earth. When you care, you act, you think about your choices, their impacts and your responsibility as a steward of this Earth.
Juvenile Spadefish
I took this picture this summer
