Tomorrow is Earth Day. Our planet, as most of us know, is in big trouble. With climate change, there is already, and will continue to be, more extreme weather: destructive storms, floods, droughts, heat-waves, cold spells, and so on. The pollution of the water, land and air will also result in more endangered and extinct species, and more life-threatening diseases. Unless humankind is able to more rapidly and radically change our destructive lifestyle, climate change will only worsen and threaten humankind’s very existence.
So on this Earth Day 2024, consider what you can do to make a difference. For example, here are some suggestions: instead of driving your vehicle, ride your bicycle or public transportation. Go for a walk in a park or by a lake. Enjoy watching birds and other wildlife. Write a song or hymn inspired by God’s creation. Have a picnic, but don’t leave garbage behind. Clean up the garbage on a beach, or a street, or a roadway ditch. Make an effort to purchase and use less plastic. Sign a petition and/or write a letter or make a phone call to your elected politicians. Make a concerted effort to use less water and electricity. Of course all of these suggestions and more can become part of your lifestyle.
You can also educate yourself by reading books and/or articles about the environment. Here are some informative links.
*Earthday.org: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2024/ This website is full of information—everything from quizes, to press releases, to fact sheets, petitions, reports, and much more.
*Earth Day 2024 Google Doodles: https://doodles.google/doodle/earth-day-2024/Includes aerial photos of the planet’s beauty and biodiversity, and an explanation on how the Doodle was created.
*Earth Day Canada: https://earthday.ca/ Includes information on municipalities receiving electric charging stations, news on their blog, an offer to subscribe to their newsletter, etc. One annoying thing about this website is their insistence on accepting cookies.
*BBC article “What is Earth Day, when is it and what has it achieved?”:https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68610073 An informative article, which traces the origins of Earth Day back to 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a US senator and environmentalist, and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard University.
*Earth Day-Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day Plenty of information here on the history of Earth Day, with a lot of references. It mentions that the first Earth Day in Canada wasn’t until 1980.
*There are also a number of videos if you do a search, for example, on YouTube. Here is a good one for children and adults: “Earth Day: How it started and why it matters-CBC Kids News”: https://youtu.be/qXK-2U9NylE
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