Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. Senator Nelson chose the date in order to maximize participation on college campuses for what he conceived as an “environmental teach-in”.
Our earth is in far more dire need of help from its inhabitants now than it was in 1970. This year, Earth Day‘s theme is named “A Billion Acts of Green”, a people-powered campaign to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy. The question is how can each of us make our carbon footprint smaller in order to make the planet more sustainable?
Consider the following small acts of green:
Plant a tree or shrub.
Change your home’s lightbulbs to LEDs.
Get a home energy audit done.
Borrow the library’s Watt’s Up! killowatt meter.
Stop buying bottled water.
Replace old energy-guzzling appliances with new Energy Star ones.
Stop using pesticides and toxic cleaning products.
Wash your clothes in cold water and hang them on a clothesline to dry.
Recycle everything you can.
Avoid buying products with excessive, non-biodegradable packaging.
Buy local – it saves energy.
Walk or bike more – leave your car at home.
Plant a garden at home (when it stops being winter).
Write your legislator about going “Green.”
Organize an Earth Day event in your neighborhood or at your school.
Take out books from our collection on “sustainability” to learn more.
Here are some Earth Day heroes – try to become one yourself!