On April 23, we will celebrate our home planet globally for Earth Day. Why is Earth Day important? It is an opportunity to take a moment and reflect on our wonderful planet, from our oceans to our mountains. Planet Earth is our home, and we should probably appreciate it more than just once a year! To help us keep the Earth top of mind every day, I have compiled some ways to lower your impact as an individual!
Why Earth Day Is Important
The planet earth is the only planet we have as a species. To survive and continue, we need to take care of our home and respect the beauty and resources it provides us. After a significant ecological disaster in California in the 1970s, the global community realized we needed to provide education and awareness that our home needs to be respected and restored from our impact. Through initiatives like Earth Day, it raises global attention to our efforts as a species to bring education, resources, initiatives, and policy to the public eye as global warming, resource depletion, and ocean desecration continues on our watch.
History of Earth Day
Earth Day first started in the 1970s as a call for environmental education, and reflection, in response to an oil spill in California.
Every year Earth Day has a theme. Previous themes have focused on sustainability, education, self-reflection and growth, and corporate responsibility. This year the theme for Earth Day 2022 is “Invest In Our Planet.” Earth Day organizers describe the theme as a time to “preserve and protect our health, families, and livelihoods. 2022 is the time to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably). Earth Day 2022 hopes to use this message to engage with more than 1 billion people, governments, institutions, and businesses to participate in Earth Day and recognize our collective responsibility to accelerate our efforts towards a green economy for all.
Earth Day Around The World
Earth Day is celebrated in many ways across the globe! s This year, in New York residents are encouraged to celebrate Car-Free Day, a day where residents of Manhattan are asked to bike to work, as main roads on the island are shut down. Instead of using the main roads for endless hours of idling cars in traffic, residents have a chance to celebrate the open space the roads provide to host classes, concerts, and family-friendly games without the fear of cars travelling through.
More locally in BC, a parade will be taking place on Commercial Drive as well as a “Party for the Planet” in Surrey. In Calgary, a cleanup of Nose Hill Park has been organized to give back to nature On the East Coast, Toronto is hosting an earth day celebration at the Botanical Garden, In Nova Scotia, our BlueCommunities partner, Scotian Shores is hosting “TrashStock”, a community clean-up with educational presentations and events for kids is being hosted in Yarmouth.
What You Can Do To Celebrate Planet Earth!
As we celebrate the themes of investing in our planet, there are some things we can individually invest in for ourselves to make a difference! If we all start small with some of our daily habits we can add it up to create greater change for the future of the planet. Earth Day is a day for us to reflect on these small changes, and see what we can do for our planet.
Some products you can invest in for individual change are small things are a reusable water bottle, a set of cutlery and a metallic straw for lunch, even something as small as bringing your own bags to the grocery store! These small individual items can significantly impact if we all switch to our own items.
Want to make an individual impact with your wardrobe and make a real fashion statement? Buying clothing from used shops or local shops reduces the amount of fossil fuels burned to move said product around; once you find that perfect new article remember to wash it in cold water and air dry to continue saving electricity!
Some alternative practices you can also do to help relieve your impact on our planet around the kitchen is to try and compost your food waste, avoid buying in bulk, try to buy meat alternatives, or run the dishwasher only when it is absolutely full. These small changes in just the kitchen add up to the greater overall good.
So with Earth Day around the corner, what will YOU be doing this year to reflect on our planet? Will you reconnect with nature via a local park? Give back by attending a clean-up event? Or just a small gesture like holding oneself accountable for things like cleaner consuming and breaking some bad electricity use habits. Any and all of these will help change the future of our planet and keep its beauty for everyone to enjoy!
