Earth Day is coming April 22, and is one of the most important service days of the year. With the endless stream of bad news related to climate change, it's nice to know there truly are things that can be done to improve the health of the planet and we can do those things easily in our own communities.
Community Fairs and Earth Day Festivals are a great place to get started and learn what actions you and your family can take to make a genuine difference. One which I always found quite daunting, was creating a compost heap in the back yard -- I worried about The Smell, and The Mess, and The Critters. By attending an Earth Day environmental fair, I actually got to see compost heaps in action and learned that by decomposing our waste naturally, it actually helps reduce greenhouse gases (and is incredibly good for your yard!). So now I have 2 compost heaps, and practice has helped to eliminate all the fears I had.
Other great Earth Day events include park cleanups and recycling drives. Kids often want to join in and help make a difference and may be looking for projects of their own, such as: planting trees, picking up trash, hand painting reusable grocery bags, donating toys for reuse.
If you're planning to spearhead your own community action, or staff up an environmental fair, VolunteerSpot can making managing the task far easier. Just take ten minutes to set up all the jobs, supplies and schedules you need in VolunteerSpot, and then send out an announcement email to interested friends and neighbors - they can click to the schedule directly from your email and choose an action they want to be responsible for. Or, if you have a community listserv or a web site or blog, you can also post a URL link to your event so anyone can just click in and choose a job. Makes saving the planet pretty convenient. VolunteerSpot will also send out reminder emails so everyone gets there on time and well prepared.
Earth Day was created out of a genuine, heart-felt desire to draw attention to environmental threats and protect the planet. So when we go out to join in a local community action, let's remember to pack a waste-free picnic. The creative earth stewards at Wishes For the Sky, an Earth Day festival in St. Paul, MN, have put together these guidelines. Last year, with almost 2,000 participants, they generated only 5 pounds of trash!:
- Please do your part by thinking carefully about the impacts of items that you bring
- Bring beverages in reusable mugs and/or reusable water bottles
- Use cloth napkins, real silverware, and washable dishes from home. Even plastic utensils can be packed out and reused (Zoo Pals utensils for kids are great for this!)
- If you need to wrap something, use tin foil (which can be recycled) or wax paper (which can be composted)
- Avoid single serving and over-packaged foods
- If you are getting take-out from a restaurant or deli, bring your own reusable Tupperware for them to fill!
- In general, avoid plastic and Styrofoam.
April 22 was chosen for Earth Day because it's generally a great weather day all over the country, So plan now to get out there and make a difference for a day, and then keep making a difference!
