Reenita's Wisdom

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When Is the Earth Day Celebration?

April 22 continues to be the most popular date for the celebration of Earth Day in the U.S.

Arbor Day and the Earth Day Celebration

The reason for the association between Arbor Day and Earth Day is fairly transparent. Both Arbor Day and Earth Day are environmental statements, although the former is less politicized in nature than is Earth Day and targeted at a specific part of our environment: trees. Also like Earth Day, the history of Arbor Day isn’t long compared to traditional holidays, although Arbor Day is about one hundred years older than Earth Day. Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday in April, so the two holidays are celebrated within one week of each other in the U.S. — when much of the country is exulting in its first stretch of warm weather after a long winter. However, Earth Day is celebrated in many countries, in some of which its date falls on the spring equinox (ca. March 21).

In landscaping your yard, there are plenty of environmentally friendly actions you can take to honor Earth Day — all year round, not just on Earth Day itself! Below are links to resources I’ve assembled to steer you in the right direction:

Getting Personal With the Earth Day Celebration: 10 Ways to Save the Planet

Think of so-called “green living” as a two-pronged approach. One of its tenets is not to squander natural resources that aren’t always readily available: thus the movements for energy conservation and water conservation. Another tenet is to avoid environmental pollution. I provide practical tips for both in the following resource:

Energy Conservation and Water Conservation — Green Living Ideas

Make Every Day “Earth Day”: Recycle!

Do you wonder what you can do to cut back on waste from the holiday season? Or perhaps you’re interested in ideas for recycling leaves, grass clippings and other yard waste? Please consult the following resource to see how you can make every day “Earth Day”:

What I love about Earth Day is the inspiration. The opportunity to love the planet by bonding with it, writing about it and getting back into my garden. Not that this is something that I cannot do any other day of the year, quite frankly….but I love the excuse.  And the very idea of being a Treehugger of sorts.

As a previous business owner, and as editor of the Inspired Economist, it occurs to me that any new venture undertaken in what I am calling the Green Revival Era, hardly has much meaning if it does not positively impact the community. Which is why, i want to encourage you to think about what great idea you can possibly come up with to benefit the planet, this Earth Day. Your idea might just be exactly what your community needs.  If so, consider submitting it to Green Effect.

What’s that?

SunChips, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division’s popular line of multigrain snacks, and National Geographic have just launched Green Effect, a national initiative that encourages consumers to take their own small steps toward helping the planet. Starting today, Earth Day 2009, you can submit your ideas on how to make your community greener, for the chance to win one of five $20,000 grants that will help turn your green ideas into reality. Just upload your ideas to www.GreenEffect.com from April 22 to June 8, 2009 in an essay that describes your green idea, its impact on the local community and how the grant money will be used.

Ten finalists will be selected in early July 2009 by a panel of judges including National Geographic’s Boyd Matson. Ultimately, five winners will be selected – four by a second panel of prestigious judges and one by consumers through online voting. Each of the five winners will receive a $20,000 grant to fund their green project. Additionally, the winners and their earth-friendly ideas will be profiled in National Geographic magazine and will travel to Washington, DC to share their projects with environmental leaders.

“Can one person make a difference? Absolutely,” says Boyd Matson, National Geographic Weekend host and Green Effect judge. “The power of small steps is that every step counts; they build on each other so that eventually you can make a big difference. Not only do we want to challenge consumers to submit their ideas, but we also want to inspire them – even if it’s just to listen and learn about something they hadn’t thought of before – so that the Green Effect takes on a life of its own.”

Want to see how small and simple steps to help green the community can translate to successful business?

Then check out “Garbage Moguls,” a new National Geographic show that premieres today at 9 PM ET/PT. The show focuses on Terracycle, a company that successfully “up-cycles” garbage into attractive and high quality consumer products that are then retailed at top stores like Walmart and Officemax. I watched a preview of the recently, it is a hilarious reality show that follows the Terracycle team’s unorthodox creative process ― the brain-racking and stress, the silliness and infighting ―all working to build a profitable business with products composed entirely of trash. Read more about Garbage Moguls here.

And if you still need inspiration, then just read about the history of the very first Earth Day, a 1970s event that gave birth to the modern environmental movement and spurred the establishment of the EPA and the Clean Air Act.  As a matter of fact, this great green day began right here in San Francisco…..are you surprised?

Have a wonderful Earth Day!