Earth Day 2009
Next month, on April 22, the world will be celebrating Earth Day 2009. I’m writing about it early enough so that you can really think about and commit to what YOU want to do to be the change you like to see in the world.
Earth Day 2009 is really easy to join, as there are many things you can do to participate, that day, that week, that month, that year…. … from now on.
Here are some Earth Day Ideas:
REDUCE
* use nil electricity. Try some candle light and be clever using electricity in smarter ways
* replace your old-fashioned light bulks with the new energy saving versions
* take the bus, walk or bike, instead of using your car
* get your car tuned.
RECYCLE / CLEAN UP
* clean up your neighborhood that day
(for a no-drama approach: take 2 recycled plastic bags and going for a walk, picking up with a plastic-gloved hand and putting the rubbish in another bag.)
REUSE
* make a game of having virtually ‘no garbage’ that day. It is amazing how many items can be re-purposed or given away to the less fortunate, instead of being trashed.
* be an ‘inventor’; use what you have as tools to get done what you need done, rather than buying yet another, expensive, non-durable gadget.
* get artsy. Want to be inspired? Have a look at this really gorgeous visual art created from … photographs of garbage!
I truly hope you get to participate this year in this annual worldwide event of synergistic effort. Never forget: intend matters.
2010, Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary
Next year, 2010 will be the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Perhaps you can step it up (a lot) and organize a Earth Day initiative for your entire local community. You and your children deserve this!
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
~ Henri David Thoreau
Year Round Inspiration for Earth Celebration & Conservation
Things you could do include:
* holding a talk or a demo at your local schools;
* hold a child cloth swap meet in your neighborhood.
* If you’re not that way inclined, do any of your 2009 activities again in 2010, but now for a whole month.
* Year-round turn the light switches off in rooms where you are not.
* Or if you’re artsy, design ‘Green Generation’ t-shirts, sell them in your neighborhood and donate the funds to a green cause.
* Plant trees and take pictures of their growth over time, so you develop a bond with nature.
* Learn about a green issue close to your heart, and get behind a petition of governmental policy change.
It’s actually really cool to participate in “Green Generation” campaign by the Earth Day Network. This campaign is a two-year initiative that will launch in 2009 and culminate on the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. Similar to “The Greatest Generation” that confronted the challenge of World War II, who inspired the major societal changes that followed, the Green Generation includes ordinary people who are engaged in individual and collective activities to improve their health, to improve their schools, to participate in building a solution to urgent national and global issues, such as climate change or the world’s water crises.
For more info about Earth Day 2009, check www.earthday.net.