OK, so this is the second “Earth Day” blog this week, but the event is too important to just be observed for one day then put away like holiday decorations until next year. In yesterday's blog, Editor Drew Whitney asked how you would participate in Earth Day. She points out several practical ways to help our planet. I'm continuing this theme with a few sources for more activities.
Did you know this observance has been around for nearly 40 years? In 1969, Peace activist John McConnell chose the Spring Equinox for the United Nations to celebrate Earth Day. A second Earth Day on April 22 was founded by U.S. politician Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in the late 1960s.
This year, as more companies jump on the “green” bandwagon, it seemed Earth Day was in the forefront of the media. Good news! I'm glad to see the acknowledgement of environmental concerns move from the venue of “crackpot” hippies to a respectable position within the corporate structure. Search engine Google is running a picture of trees, a river and a waterfall, and Yahoo is running “10 Ideas To Improve The Earth’s Health.” Many of the events around the world are listed at the Earth Day website.
There were, of course, dozens of ideas, not only on how to celebrate the auspicious day, but to continue with practices to mitigate some of the destruction we—I mean the collective human “we"—are wreaking upon our only home. Inside Self-Storage parent company Virgo Publishing has participated in “Change a Light, Change the World,” a program to encourage people to commit to using CFEs.
Press Display has this practical offer to encourage people to read digital newspapers instead of printed copies and reduce reliance on paper. The offer lets you access more than 600 newspapers from 74 countries in 38 languages free for one month.
And it’s never too young to begin. Children can be raised to become concerned stewards of Mother Earth. Check out activities to educate and involve the kids.
Many self-storage facilities are doing their own part to help the environment, from planting xeriscapes in the desert Southwest to using higher R-value insulation. Since so much information is now available, I’m leaving it up to you to become the activist. I’m not going to inundate you with practical suggestions on how to improve your immediate environment and thus contribute to saving our planet. I just want to leave you with this message:
Many of our detrimental environmental effects won’t be seen until our children’s children are adults. By then it will be too late. Do you want to be leaving them that legacy? Get active now.