Earth Day
What is Earth Day?
What’s all this jab and who-ha about saving the environment? And are we experiencing a global environmental crisis?
Earth Day is a global environmental call to action!
Earth Day is celebrated every year on the 22nd of April and aims to raise awareness about the earth and the importance of taking action to save our environment. Thousands of events and environmental campaigns are held world wide throughout Earth Week to develop sustainable climate change solutions, promote environmental education, and encourage civic participation.
This year, Earth Day 2009 will kick start the Green Generation Campaign which aims to encourage civic action and participation in global green efforts. Green Generation hopes to achieve carbon free solutions that will change our impact on the environment by targeting renewable energy resources and ending our reliance on fossil fuel and coal consumption.
Why is Earth Day important?
The importance of Earth Day (learn more here) is to counteract the threatening effects of global warming.
What is global warming?
Global warming is bad. Global warming occurs when excessive CO2 gasses (produced from vehicle emissions, deforestation, and the burning of coal, oil, and gas) get trapped in the earth’s atmosphere and cause a greenhouse effect which heats up the earth to not so cozy temps.
The National Resource Defense Council reports that the earth’s temperatures have drastically risen at a record breaking rate ever to be marked in history. They estimate that every year 2.5 billion tons of C02 are produced and released into the earth’s atmosphere by coal burning power plants and over 1.5 billion tons annually in automobile pollutants. Yikes.
The NRDC warns that if we don’t stop global warming and change our negative consumer impact on the earth, we should expect the effects of global warming to be devastating in as early as over the next century:
Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. Disease-carrying mosquitoes will expand their range. And species will be pushed to extinction. -NRDC
Now that we’ve probably scared your pants off it’s time to celebrate the earth on April 22nd and get out there and do something on Earth Day to save the environment. Together we can stop global warming and better the environment, but doing so requires colloborative action and initiative! We encourage you to get involved during Earth Week, as we’ve only got one Earth and she deserves to be treated with a little TLC.
Tell us what you think about Earth Day?
- Have you ever participated in any previous Earth Day events or activities? If so, tell us what you did…
- Do you feel that global warming is as serious as environmentalists hype it up to be?
- What are some ways that you leave your carbon footprint on the earth?
21. April 2009 at 1:01 am :
Tell us what you think about Earth Day?
* Have you ever participated in any previous Earth Day events or activities? If so, tell us what you did…
Not on an official level. There are few activities in my area that are focused on earth/green activities. Amy and I make a regular habit of cleaning up trash around the free public spring where people can get water…basically we practice earth day every day and not just one day in April.
* Do you feel that global warming is as serious as environmentalists hype it up to be?
Yes! There is in my mind more than enough evidence in a shift in the world related to waters rising and the only reason waters are rising is because our temperatures are rising. We are losing land, wildlife and vegetation sources showing a world becoming depleted of that which sustains us.
* What are some ways that you leave your carbon footprint on the earth?
I leave my footprint by living in a home built out of chemically treated products that were not reclaimed. I drive a vehicle that is rarely in good condition, cannot afford to eat organic as much as our family wishes to, and contrary to my wishes we use convenience appliances such as a household dryer which is vented outside.
I am however proud that our carbon footprint is waaay below the US average for a family of 4 and is just below the world average. I would love to drop lower but for now I think I am doing all I can….unless I’m missing something and if I am I will sure work on it.
21. April 2009 at 1:04 am :
Oh gosh… its empty in here…. but YES earth day is important b/c gobal warming is REAL! But we take advantage of our earth by far. I dont think we really mean too.We just need to be made more aware by paying more attention..uhem….:)
21. April 2009 at 1:35 am :
[...] original here: Earth Day Share and [...]
21. April 2009 at 1:51 am :
I agree Sheri, we don’t mean to, just many don’t know their true impact on the earth. We don’t think of it as a living, breathing thing but rather a big ball of endless dirt that we can just build on. Once you are reminded the planet is a living thing, you start to realize that like all living things health is important. If you don’t want the planet to die off too soon, you have to take care of it’s health. A healthy planet takes care of you in return.
21. April 2009 at 6:09 am :
Interesting Topic.
Global warming is a an issue that lots of us keep ignoring, Every day this situation grows more dangerous over the years you can definately see changes in the atmosphere.
Study by scientist have proven that there are definately changes in the atmosphere.
I honestly think the ozone is so polluted it affect the life span of People Animals Forest and our wild life speeches.
All nation have to join forces fast to protect the world from a major catastrophe one of these days.
Global warming need more attention world wide before its too late.
21. April 2009 at 1:33 pm :
We are taking advantage of the very place we live and breath with no reguard to the fact that once its gone its gone forever. We have to change or habits now tomorrow may be too late. My family has planted a tree every earth day (well my son does it because if I touch a plant it will die) and we are doing so this year too. I found out that this year the community was giving out trees to plant, so we picked one up. We will be planting the tree and doing the other things we do on a daily basis. We as a family have traded in our grocery bags for the cloth bags, we don’t make 50 trips in the car a day only necessary trips and as often as possible we do everything in one trip, we don’t use areosol can (when there is an alternative)we use the spray bottles, We have stopped using plastic and paper plates, and we are recycling. We have a long way to go but we are trying very hard to do our part on a daily basis to help our environment.
21. April 2009 at 3:32 pm :
I was just thinking about this and wondering. What if everyone just stopped caring about global warming? I mean really where would we be? We can’t just leave it to one day say this is Earth day and I will do something good this day. That is a total cop out. You have to do it every day or its not going to matter. We have to be energy efficient every day, go green everyday, plant trees, make a difference in what is going on in our world every single day. We have to leave the footprints now for the rest of the world to follow tomorrow. If not what message are we leaving for our children and grand children?? I wouldn’t think a good one.
21. April 2009 at 8:08 pm :
Yep..Michie its not a good one and I am just as guilty!!!…We all need to try harder huh?
22. April 2009 at 3:20 am :
Last year, a group of friends and I turned off all of our electricity for the entire day to save energy. We refrained from using any appliances to cook our food. We packed all of our refrigerator items in ice. And didn’t engage in any activities that required electricity (ie. Television, computer, etc). It was hard…
22. April 2009 at 3:40 am :
[...] By aprstewart What exactly is Earth Day and are we experiencing a global environmental [...]
22. April 2009 at 3:45 pm :
I don’t think I ever participated in any Earth Day activities.Honestly, I didn’t even know when Earty Day was. ( Sorry ) I guess you could say that I’m like a gopher, who sticks his head in the sand. I just go by day by day, and think everything is going to be okay. Knowing in the back of my mind, it’s not. Global warming is very serious. We keep driving cars. As the people ratio increases, so does vehicles. Here where I live. Yes, the redneck area, we burn coal for electric. On the other hand, a lot of people are employed though the power plant. That’s something to think about. Heck, even our cows are polluting the air. If your not familiar with the cows, cows go to bathroom, which puts methane gas in our air. On the other hand, I love beef. I’m very guilty on adding to global environment.
Okay, I’ll pledge today. I’ll drive less, use less paper, and try to use less electric. Now, I don’t know about getting rid of my paper plates. Looking on the other side, I won’t use my diswasher to do the dishes as much. I’ll be saving electric.My family will know that were leaving a carbon footprint. I’ll pull my head out of the sand and takes responsibility. This will be good to teach my child on my new ways. I promise that I’ll get my act together.
22. April 2009 at 4:18 pm :
Yes we are facing a global environmental problem and if we dont do more, I think we will have a natural disaster that will be so severe it will cause a major disruption world wide. I think we still have some time to fix this problem.
Eath day is just one day to show the world that global warming is real and a very serious situation. And must be taken more seriously to protect the earth and the ozone.
I think we need more than one day to show the world the severity of global warming and for awareness to people to protect this precious earth from further national disaster.
It seem like we need ( Earth Month ) to get the message out for more awareness to people.
22. April 2009 at 9:05 pm :
My girlfriend said,” It’s not Earty.” It’s Earth. She wants to tell ya. I left the lights on.She is just messing with me
22. April 2009 at 9:53 pm :
[...] Earth Day [...]
22. April 2009 at 9:59 pm :
When I really stated paying attention is a few months ago there was a news article about the volcano that was showing signs of activity … I wished I could remember then name of the state…but it was talking about when it does go off it had the power to cause an ice age…. well how stupid did I feel… when I didnt really even know what they fully meant..so I researched it…
It was also talking about it was being caused by glocbal warming.. the volcana starnge that is… in what it was doing.. not the ice age..
But that was some eye opening stuff!
I was fasinated with it though in researching it…and learning all about it…I guess I was day dreaming that day in school back many moons ago when it was being taught.
23. April 2009 at 2:48 am :
This is true, but it’s mostly due to factory or large scale farming. You can reduce your contribution by either cutting red meats or if you choose not to cut red meats (which by the way nearly all doctors agree is one of the best health choices) You can pledge to only eat certified organic or locally grown red meats. Same goes for other meat eaters, you can choose certified organic or local meats. This pledge if you actually stick to it will reduce your meat consumption because healthy meat is expensive. That wasn’t always true…some of us can still remember when it was safe to eat raw burger and bloody steaks, but now common meats do little more than please your taste buds and lead to obesity.
If we work to reduce large scale and factory farms we give the local farmers the chance to reduce their costs and give us healthy meats and dairy products.
Electric companies do indeed employ people, but so do solar panel companies, battery manufacturers, farmers who grow crops for biofuels and the growing green businesses could employ more and actually reduce their product costs if more people were using their products.
Paper products are sold as ecofriendly too. Why do you use paper though? You can recycle many types of packaging materials that serve nicely as plates, bowls and cups. The more you recycle the more you save on buying paper plates and the less contribution to the destruction of trees and landfill. I don’t even own a tableware set, haven’t in many years but I still feed a family of four plus a houseful of pets.
Recognizing your contributions to the growing crisis of the earth’s failing health is one MAJOR step in the right direction. You don’t have to be fancy or uncomfortable to reduce your negative impact..LOL…just learn to live below level materialistically and use the money you save towards healthier food, cleaner auto fuel and engine fluids. Once you actually get into you you find you do save money and the planet at the same time.
23. April 2009 at 2:16 pm :
I just got done watching, ” Who wants to be a Millionaire.” The contestant was asked,” What month is Earth Day in?” The contestant went to the audience for help. Only seventy-two percent knew it. Here’ s a plan. Work on an Awareness of Earth Day program.
23. April 2009 at 5:00 pm :
Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. Disease-carrying mosquitoes will expand their range. And species will be pushed to extinction. -NRDC
Living in South Louisiana till just recently, I have been a witness to the erosion and misquitoes. Plaquemines Parish is fighting erosion on a daily basis, Houma is almost gone. The mosquitoes are getting worse and worse every year. I was raised in St. Bernard Parish in a town called Yclosky and it was horrible after Katrina the effects from the storms getting bigger and bigger due to global warming is tremendous on the parishes. Some will never recover and the ones who have are fighting off illnesses and disease due to the homes that were not rebuilt and the mold. The 9th ward in New Orleans smells of mold and death when you drive by and people are still in fema trailers breathing in this toxic mold. I believe this all a sign of whats to come if something isn’t done about global warming now. The future with storms worse than Katrina is a very scary one.
23. April 2009 at 5:01 pm :
Wow Christy that is really sad. I think your right we need to work on awareness. This should be a huge event that is known world wide and the date etched into everyones minds. I also think we need to remember its not about one day its about everyday.
27. April 2009 at 12:42 am :
I just had to share this… last night my youngest daughter and I were playing school…ofcourse she was the teacher …and she made me up some work. She handed it to me and it was ALL about Earth Day! Then I had to answer 1o questions on things I can do to help the earth…so I was so glad I had just read this blog…I got an A too LOL ..thanks MG!! winkedy wink
27. April 2009 at 1:47 pm :
Sheri – hahah – thats great! Thanks for sharing that with us!
5. May 2009 at 8:04 pm :
I am hopeful that this year when we return to Haiti, I will be packing a few sun ovens with me. Sun Oven International donated several sun ovens the first year I ever travelled to Haiti. If you have never seen one, you are not alone – I had not either, but the idea behind them is really wonderful, and has great potential for any area, not just third world countries. The ovens look like a box covered inside with tinfoil! Basically it is a lightweight box lined with heat reflecting material that captures the heat of the sun, and produces enough heat to bake a turkey! We tried this my first year, and it worked. We brought these oven in to Haiti with the hope that we could persuade the local ladies to try them – for a couple reasons, the most important being to eliminate the need for open flame charcoal fires, which is how 90% of the people cook and heat their homes. The homes are no more than huts with no ventilation or windows, and the result is an incredibly unhealthy atmosphere that is creating devastating health issues in the Haitian people. The use of charcoal is the main cause of the severe deforestation occuring there, and it has created a cycle of destruction that needs desperately to be stopped. The trees are cut to produce charcoal, needed for heat and cooking, which reduces the forests, stripping the land bare, removing any means of retaining soil. Flooding and hurricanes are absolutely devastating – look at any news report and you can see the utter destruction. Add to that the health issues caused by the constant inhalation of charcoal smoke, and you have a serious situation. Sun ovens certainly cannot eliminate that, but it is a small scale solution. Another plus, is that it can provide a means of income for families. We baked bread, cakes – the ladies were elated at that! A simple chocolate cake mix is a luxury that costs close to $20 Haitian – huge when you figure the average Haitian earns less than $1 per day. They brought their breads to the local market and immediately sold everything they had! We were very encouraged, and I am really hoping I can introduce this concept to the remote villages of Derac and Faitot this year.
Alright, I’m done rambling on for awhile!! I just tend to get all excited about stuff like this!!!!
5. May 2009 at 10:59 pm :
Keryl, that sounds great. I never seen a sun oven but it sounds like something I really would like to have. And it get hot enough to cook a turkey that is great!!!! I am learning something here everyday. and enjoying it too. It is worth getting excited about!!!
6. May 2009 at 3:47 pm :
Keryl – in regard to the Sun Oven you mentioned – that is soooo neat!
8. May 2009 at 12:28 pm :
Hi Elaine!!
It is really cool how they work – I was a skeptic for sure, but I couldn’t believe it!! We had a meat thermometer, and it was crazy how well it worked! It was funny, because we all seem a little crazy when we go down there and I think they all enjoy us just for entertainment, but one of the ladies that was with us that year got so excited and we all kind of caught the bug, and these little ladies who stood off to the side all dignified watching us, finally couldn’t take it, and they were singing and clapping their hands!! It was very cool – ok, enough rambling,….(I tend to do that sometimes!!!) go check out their website, it is really fascinating. Have a great day – YAY it’s Friday!!!