Tomorrow, April 22, 2021 is the 51st anniversary of celebrating Earth Day. Even after 51 years, Earth Day is more pivotal than ever. Every year, Earth Day represents a global desire to protect our planet and inspire sustainable action. It creates awareness and serves as a reminder that collective action can truly make an impact. Fittingly, this year’s theme is Restore Our Earth. As the world is transitioning back to normal, people are thoughtfully looking at the natural world around them and the consequences of both human action as well as inaction.
Did you know?
The first-ever Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. United States Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin organized Earth Day to raise awareness about environmental issues. On that first Earth Day, 20 million Americans took to the streets, college campuses, towns, and cities across the country to launch a wave of action. Due to this, the U.S. government created the EPA as well as the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. This inspired other countries to adopt similar laws. By the year 1990, Earth Day was celebrated by people in 140+ countries.
Three Simple Actions You Can Start Today
- Stop Drinking Out of Single-Use Plastic Bottles
Replace plastic water bottles with a glass or stainless steel reusable bottle. A reusable water bottle takes less oil to produce, replaces all the plastics that you would have used, and thereby reduces both your carbon footprint and helps reduce the plastic burden on landfills, oceans, streams, and other places that plastic waste ends up.
- Turn Off the Lights When You Leave a Room
Make your home more energy-efficient by turning the lights off when you are not using them. A bonus is you can save money by reducing your electricity bills as well as extend the life of your light bulbs. According to Boston University, “If you turn off the lights whenever you leave a room, you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 0.15 pounds per hour.”
- Save Water! Turn Off the Faucet and Take Shorter Showers
We can all help reduce the waste of this precious resource by making simple changes in our daily routines. Don’t let the water run while brushing your teeth and washing your hands. Conserving water helps conserve energy and reduce carbon pollution. An average shower uses about 5 gallons of water per minute. If you shorten your shower by 2 minutes, you can cut your water use by 10 gallons.
Bottom Line
Remember to treat our planet with extra love as if it’s Earth Day every day! The Earth is what we all have in common.
Happy Earth Day!
