Earth Day – is this the only day we appreciate our Earth? Uh uh, we should appreciate EARTH every single day!

Some Earth Day Facts you might want to know…

Earth Day Milestone
1969: The U. S Senator, Gaylord Nelson first floated the idea of Earth Day to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment.
First Earth Day:  22/4/1970: Over 20 million demonstrators and thousands of schools and local communities participate in Earth Day events. Gaylord Nelson directly credited the first Earth Day with persuading U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial, lasting constituency. Many important laws were passed by Congress in the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, wild lands and the ocean, and the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Why it’s international?
Earth Day is now observed in 175 countries, and coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day Network, according to whom Earth Day is now “the largest secular holiday in the world, celebrated by more than a half billion people every year. “ Environmental groups have sought to make Earth Day into a day of action which changes human behavior, help to contribute to the billion acts of green themes and provokes policy changes.

Earth Day 2010
The 40th anniversary of Earth Day 2010 will coincide with the World People’s Conference on Climate Change, to be held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and with the International Year of Biodiversity.

The Earth’s Challenge
The age of the Earth is around 4.54 billion years. A variety of environmental problems now affect the earth.  As globalization persists and the earth’s natural processes transform local problems into international issues. Some of the largest problems now affecting the world are Acid Rain, Air Pollution, Global Warming, Hazardous Waste, Ozone Depletion, Smog, Water Pollution, Overpopulation, and Rain Forest Destruction.

So what can we do to appreciate Mother Earth?

• Support your local government in their Go Green activities
• Don’t use polysterene materials anymore!
• Hang your laundry under the sun.
• Reduce air conditioning and use fans to keep cool.
• Use mass transit, try car pools, bike or rethink your mode of transportation.
• Try your best to go paperless – Buy digital storage solutions to cut down on paper.
• Turn everything off when not in use.
• Don’t throw away leftovers! Try to re-cooked and recycled older meals into tasty newer meals.
• Compost the kitchen trash and makes a great natural fertilizer.
• Consider energy efficient alternatives, e.g.: energy-efficient light bulbs.
• Buy local products to reduces pollution and fuel use.
• Plant trees and other foliage.