Counting Down to Earth Day 2013: 4.22.13

Earth Day is here!

Welcome to Day 13 of my Counting Down to Earth Day 2013 challenge. 

Today’s Tip: CELEBRATE THE EARTH TODAY 

You might start with Google’s interactive Earth Day doodle. This year Google published a “sightseeing checklist” so you don’t miss any of the doodle’s features. Once you are done controlling the weather and the seasons, be sure to click on the magnifying glass. Doing this will take you to the latest news for Earth Day 2013.

There are some fun things,

like this celebration of “Nature’s Engineers,” also from Google. 

And some beautiful things. 

Unfortunately, all the news is not good. 

The focus piece in today’s Christian Science Monitor reminds us that “planetary carbon dioxide concentrations are the highest they’ve been in the past 800,000 years.” On the plus side, this piece also points out how much progress has been made since the first Earth Day in 1970, the year Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River caught fire. 

Today is the last day to comment 

on the KXL Tar Sands Pipeline Project.

Natural Resources Defense Council president Frances Beinecke has a special Earth Day message on the subject. If you are inspired to take action, you can send a comment to President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry here. 

Don’t spend all of Earth Day on the computer.

Get outside if you can.

Perhaps it’s is a good day for a picnic…

Or at least for a walk or bike ride…

And for noticing the beauty all around you — the tiny spring flowers, the sweet bird songs, and the lush green colors bursting forth all over…

Tiny, vibrant “windflowers” come up each year in my backyard.

The Nature Conservancy has prepared a great Nature Treasure Hunt activity sheet for kids of all ages. 

When you are back inside, take a moment to reflect on how fragile our planet is, and on how much work there is to do to if we are to preserve it for future generations.

Make a promise to love your mother (Earth) today and every day.

The Earth Day Network site has many suggestions for ways to make a difference. You might want to add your image to their Face of Climate Change Photo Mosaic. 

Every day is Earth Day. Pass it on. 

Thanks for joining me on my countdown to Earth Day. I hope you will visit often as I continue on my “road to greenness.”

Together we can make a difference. Yes, we can!

Love Your Mother (Earth): It’s Earth Day Today

Happy Earth Day.

On April 22, 41 years ago, the first Earth Day celebration was observed as a day of environmental activism, spearheaded by Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin.  

While it is true that that the Earth still needs our help and love, let's remember the great strides which have been made since the first Earth Day. Particulates in our air are greatly reduced. Our rivers are cleaner. Municipalities recycle. One group which has been very influential in bringing about positive change is Clean Water Action, founded in 1972 by activist David Zwick with funding from two fishing tackle companies. Clean Water Action drafted many of the most important parts of the original 1972 Clean Water Act.

Clean Water Action now has offices around the country. While it still works to protect America’s waters, its issues now include:

• Global Warming and a New Energy Economy
• Healthy, Safer Families and Communities

and

• Making Democracy Work

At Wednesday night’s New Haven Green Drinks, Roger Smith from the Connecticut office gave a terrific rundown of all the current programs and initiatives in our state. Go to “Explore Your Community” at the Clean Water site to find the campaigns in your area.

How will you observe this Earth Day? Consider making a small action step. Check out “A Billion Acts of Green” or my last year’s post for some simple suggestions.

Or have an Earth Day picnic. [Be sure to bundle up.]

Or, if you live in New Haven, get in training for Rock to Rock. 

There are so many places to go and things to do that I’m thinking of giving Freebie Friday a break so I have time to write about new friends and outdoor adventures.

I’m not going to make you go cold turkey though. In the spirit of Earth Day, here is a link to a slide show at the Nature Conservancy. 

Now, get outside! 

Happy Earth Day. Love your mother and your mother Earth.