Earth Day 2012: Five Ways To Make Every Day Earth Day…
“There is hope, if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet.” Brooke Medicine Eagle
Earth Day: Five Ways To Make Every Day Earth Day... Earth Day Flag
Water
1. Use only the water you need, and reuse when possible.
2. Help keep water clean by using biodegradable and environmentally friendly cleaning products.
3. Dispose of solid and liquid wastes and medications safely.
4. Protect your local water source from pollutants, excess pesticides and garbage. via EPA
By the time you read this post, Earth Day will be an afterthought, a fading celebration, or hopefully, a reawakening of the critical need for all of us to acknowledge our role in sustaining or destroying our planet. Every year Earth Day arrives, I find myself wondering out loud why our planet which nourishes us every day, 24/7, gets one day of recognition. Why not every day? This year, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a pick5 program to help us celebrate the earth daily, and is offering us many ways to commit to protecting our global environment this Earth Day and beyond. This is exciting news because we can make a sincere commitment to be proactive in our relationship with the earth.
“Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values…. God made life simple. It is man who complicates it.” Charles A. Lindbergh
Earth Day: Five Ways To Make It Earth Day Every Day... Reduce and Recycle.
Air
1. Use human powered modes of transportation to get from place to place! Walk, jog, skip, ride a bike instead.
2. Pass on gas! Take public transportation, carpool, plan your day to reduce trips and vehicle emissions.
3. Make sure your home’s air is healthy. Tip! Test, Fix and Save a Life from Radon, a colorless odorless gas.
4. Buy locally, or grow your own! Reduce air pollution caused by food and goods transport.
5. Reduce your potential for exposure to mercury.
6. Plant a tree. Or plant many trees!
7. Prevent additional air pollution by finding alternatives to burning your waste.via EPA
To continue our efforts to honor Mother Earth, we can choose to do certain earth sustaining, carbon reducing actions, and we have five areas to choose from: Water, Air, Land, Energy, Waste, and then there is a sixth area, Advocacy. The information in block quotes, above and below, are suggested activities from the EPA that we can perform in each of the six areas of the environment. What are you doing on a regular basis to protect our environment? What would you add to the suggestions ? More below.
“Humanity is on the march, earth itself is left behind.” David Ehrenfeld
Earth Day 2012: Five Ways To Make Every Day Earth Day... Sustain all points on earth
Land
1. Use pesticides safely! Reduce or eliminate where possible.
2. Learn about composting, try it out!
3. Learn about ‘Greenscaping’! Try it out at home and promote it in your community.
4. Learn about the native species and the negative effects of non native plants and animals in the environment. Plant native species in your gardens, encourage important pollinators such as bees and birds by planting gardens full of their favorite plants. Join a team in your community that removes non-native species.via EPA
Land is a priced commodity and as desertification, population explosion, and general pollution claim more of it in certain parts of the world, we will all feel the impact in some way; over-crowding, disease, fewer resources and so on. We can become change makers by managing our carbon footprint, supporting the environment, and contributing to efforts that will help us all.
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” Cree Indian Proverb
Earth Day 2012: Five Ways To Make Every Day Earth Day... Consume less energy
Energy
1. Save energy at home. Choose energy-saving appliances if they’re available. Look for Energy Star!
2. Go renewable! Create your own power from wind, the sun, water, or biofuels.
3. Find alternate ways to reduce use of diesel and other fuels for transportation, production and energy.
4. Find out how much of your home’s energy is supplied by renewable sources, seek to increase it. Research or contact your local power provider.via EPA
Every thing is energy. Everything we do consumes energy. Even as I write this post, I can see how we use energy in both beneficial and wasteful ways. The seemingly simple act of turning off extra lights in our homes can save us and our planet a bundle. Every time we use a power tool, make coffee, or take a hot shower, our consumption footprint increases; mindfulness and rethinking our usage is imperative.
“Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another.” Juvenal
Earth Day 2012: Five Ways To Make Every Day Earth Day... Manage waste
Waste
1. Reduce. Cut back on the amount of ‘stuff’ that could later end up as waste.
2. Reuse. Upcycle! Take something that is disposable and transform it into something of greater use and value.
3. Recycle metals, plastics and paper.
4. E-cycle. Recycle and/or properly dispose of electronic waste such as computers and other gadgets.
5. Don’t litter! Properly dispose of trash and waste.
6. When purchasing goods, opt for sustainable, recycled or reused resources. Choose items in less packaging. via EPA
Do we wonder where all our garbage and plastics go? Do we take time to recycle what we use so we won’t add to the ever growing landfills and sewage dumps around the world? If we stop to consider just the waste we gather in our individual homes, we can then imagine what it would look like billions of times over. When it is not managed properly, the end result is pollution, disease, contamination, death and destruction.
“Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.” Motto of the Baltimore Grotto
Earth Day 2012: Five Ways To Make Every Day Earth Day... curb pollution
Advocacy
1. Participate in a local environmental festival or event.
2. Organize a local event!
Start a recycling competition at work
Organize a cleanup day in your community, share the before and after photos with Pick5!
3. Establish a Green Award program in your community.
4. Talk to a friend about Pick5!
5. Find a ‘Green Mate’ across the globe, double up to make a difference. Pair up through Pick5 on Twitter, Facebook, let us know how you found each other!
6. Share your commitment on social networking sites.
7. Join or start a green club in your community.
8. Bring environmental education to your local schools and community.
9. Raise Awareness! Talk to others about the state of the environment, locally or globally.via EPA
In the final analysis, Mother Earth needs our input as much as we need her to nurture us. Every small effort we make will contribute to the larger effort globally; it will make a difference to the whole. Happy Earth Day Every Day! What are your thoughts? What are you doing for Earth Day? What are your suggestions on reducing waste and conserving energy? What else would you recommend? Do share! Thank you. 😉
Positive Motivation Tip: Become committed to sustaining the Earth by picking 5 things to do daily and treating every day as an Earth Day
*Please bear with me as I continue to catch up on your blogs and commenting… Thank you all for your patience! 🙂
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All photos Earth Day Flag, Earth Day Kelly Poster, Furthest point, Times Square, Ago box, Smokestakes, via Wikipedia and/or via Flickr
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
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Very well written 🙂
TY for your feedback! 😉
Would you mind if i published this on my website http://www.minerva-m.com(Credits will be all yours) under our Save the Earth section? We could really use such articles 🙂
No problem… Thank you for asking! 🙂
This is such a wonderful post and so full of good information, I am happy I got to read it. Thank you so much for the pingback, it was so kind of you and very much appreciated! Every day should be Earth Day! 🙂
Great post you have Gabby! Thanks for stopping by… yes, every day is earth day. 😉
Wonderful information/suggestions! I have to reblog. Thanks for opening our eyes a little wider.
TY for your comment… and for your patience… I’ll be by soon. 😉
Reblogged this on newfoundlandtraveller and commented:
Opening our eyes to even greater possibilities! Suggestions that we can all use. Happy Earth Day and I agree that it should be every day!
TY for the re-blog too… Much appreciated. 😉
I made a quotation with a link to you…
I enjoyed it… Good job! 😉
Very good info…We cn all do something…~mkg
Yes we can, thank you! 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
Oh TY! too! 🙂
What a wonderful post. I’d expect no less from you, though. I can proudly say that I’ve always recylced, composted, and tried to conserve energy. I am a hemorrhoid around others when it comes to our enviroment (removing fruit rinds from the trash and throwing them outdoors, and such). If everyone of us would honor and cherish our Earth, as it should be cherished, we could make a major impact on her health overall. Thanks for all of these tips. I hope people will read and heed. 🙂
TY for your kind words… The EPA site is rich with tons of information and I was happy to share some of their efforts. 🙂
Great post, every day should be earth day and we need to change things now, not by 2021 as our politicians want to do.
I concur! TY! 🙂
Thanks for these great green tips. Earth Day should be every day! People don’t realize that simple efforts like turning off lights and appliances (when not in use) and conserving water go a long way to reducing the carbon footprint.
TY and we could all do more… I agree with you as it is easy to forget as we scramble around doing out thing. 😉
I really cannot believe that bottled water has not been banned except for to supply people in emergencies. Great post to get one thinking!
TY for your feedback… It’s a multimillion dollar industry… Some are making Eco-friendly bottles . 😉
Thank you for pulling together the important information shared by the EPA and reminding us of how easy it is to do something for earth conservation. Another post to bookmark. Have a great week!
B
TY too… It was an exercise close to my heart so I was very excited about doing this post. 🙂
Excellent post, informative and I will tweet it! All the best and happy Monday!
TY Petchary… will be by soon! TY for the re-tweet too. 😉
Good suggestions.
Merci! 🙂
It is shameful that every time I turn around it seems someone else has dumped another load of their trash in the desert by our tract. It is someone else’s problem becomes everyone’s problem.
What a shame and you are right, that is the prevailing attitude… it’s someone else’s problem! TY!
We save water as much as we can, we sort our rubbish, we try not to waste food we try to do everything in moderation! 😀
Good for you… doing your bit for the planet. 😉
Every time I visit you I am amazed. I have also tweeted this one 🙂
Ty Gilly… I appreciate the comment and TY for the re-tweet! 🙂
Great post! Thank you. Love the Charles Lindbergh quote.
Me too… deep with meaning.. TY! 🙂
Elizabeth…what an amazing post…of course, your posts are always amazing. 🙂 But this one shines the spotlight on our planet and you give such simple tips to preserve and protect the environment!
I’ve reblogged this and plan to print out a copy and hang it on my fridge so I can read it every day. 🙂
Earth Day should be Every Day!
Have an awesome week!
TY so much… as I work my way over to your blog!
Have an awesome week too! 🙂
I have enjoyed immensely reading your blog. As a writer I know you will understand if I am absent from making comments for a couple of months. I have two books I’m writing and the push is on to get them finished…so with only 24 hours in the day, I am going to continue to read and like, but my comments will be limited to replies for those who comment on my blog…thanks for the grace.
Be encouraged!
TY! I understand and will be doing same soon. I just have to respond to the current saved posts and then move with grace on a more feasible approach. Best wishes!
BTW, your blog is private so I’m not sure how to access it.
The Earth and Mother Nature deserve our respect at all times. Good thoughts Elizabeth on how to do our share.
TY Margie for your comment and patience… will be there soon. 🙂
An excellent post.
That poster for the first Earth Day is really powerful.
Happy Birthday to Mother Earth! It’s time to give back, to take part in preserving the very planet we live in. Wonderful tips that will prove useful. We all need to join hands to make sure that the next generation will have the chance to enjoy nature and all that is around them. Thanks. Take care.
Very useful, practical tips in this post ( and awesome photos). Also, if each household committed to flipping the main switch in our homes for 24 hours once a week, we could save an awful lot of energy. Those who have medical issues may not be able to do so, but the rest of us could plan to live without electricity for a day, surely?
Let’s sprinkle some love; congrats
For details check this link: http://divinerhythm.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/baskets-of-love/
Thank you for speaking out on this subject. We should be better stewards of this earth as our children will inherit the earth.
Great article! You and I certainly agree on this topic! We just consume, consume, consume with no thought of the future.
I was in high school student government when the first Earth Day happened. I remember we were such idealized students. Then reality got hold of us.
Yeah, I hear you… BTW, I’m still catching up and will do a marathon like of the thousands of posts in my mailbox and then start afresh. TY for your patience.
This was so amazing. I’m sorry it took so long for me to read it. Thank you for including a link to my blog on your post here. That is really awesome. I really look forward to following your posts. 😀
TY and I enjoy your blog too! 🙂
Walking to all places within 5-6 miles of home and consuming far, far less and building up heat resistance to avoid running AC at home and promoting growth of as much shrubbery and trees possible on home grounds are ways I honor the earth and its resources every day, all year!
I am using public transportation or riding my bike the 3 miles to work.
Good for you. It’s a great way to stay in shape too. 🙂