Earth Day April 22nd

Earth Day April 22nd

As its name suggests, Earth Day is time to sit back and appreciate our planet.  For some it may just be a moment to aware of the richness of our environment, for others it may trigger a modification to their life-style.

Earth Day April 22nd

• Earth Day Origins
• Earth Day Flags
• How Earth Day Heightens Awareness
• Will and Guy's Top Ten Facts to Ponder This Earth Day
• Humour for Earth Day

Treat the Earth well.  It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. - Kenyan proverb

Earth Day Origins

It was John McConnell back in 1969 who first proposed an Earth Day.  The backdrop was the peace movement, hippies and flower power.  However, John McConnell was older, wiser and more experienced than most of those calling for give peace a chance.  One of his earlier slogans was 'Peace for Minute', but in 1969 he put forward the idea a holiday to celebrate the Earth's life and beauty.

Earth Day Flags

Rarely can a movement have spawned so many different flags in such a short time.

1. Above we have the famous life magazine image of our planet from space. 
2. Here to the right we have the Greek letter theta, suitably drawn in green because theta is a symbol of peace.
3. We even have an Earth Day flag.

How Earth Day Heightens Awareness

Entering into the spirit of Earth Day generates different feelings from celebrating special days that merely bring back memories.  April 22nd could be a day when you reflect on the wonderment of our planet, and that may lead to small changes in behaviour which will help to preserve it.  People who embrace these values want is win-win concepts.  Eat a healthier diet, which in turn could lead to less methane or carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.  Choosing local produce mean fewer lorry miles, and eating more vegetables and less meat means fewer animals hence less methane emission.

Nutrition

April is an ideal time to re-assess one's diet; the longer days and warmer weather encourage thoughts of salads.  Just as there are so many different but healthy diets, so there are a whole range of ways that people can absorb, celebrate, and embrace Earth Day.

Re-cycling

In England schemes to re-cycle waste are gaining strength, we now have a bin for paper and glass, a bin for general rubbish and third bin for food waste.

Will and Guy's Top Ten Facts to Ponder This Earth Day

1. We each use approx 12,000 gallons of water every year
2. The energy we save when we recycle one glass bottle is enough to light a traditional light bulb for about four hours
3. Every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees.
4. Each gallon of fuel releases 20lbs of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
5. Many families throw away about 88lbs of plastic every year.
6. The rubbish dumped in a landfill site stays for a for about 30 years.
7. Each person throws away approximately four pounds of rubbish every day.
8. One bus carries as many people as 40 cars.
9. More than one third of all energy is used by people at home.
10. Approximately 5 million tons of oil produced in the world each year ends up in the ocean.

Do You Know?

The Water We Use Every Day [all amounts are approximate]:

a. 3 - 7 gallons for the lavatory
b. 25 - 30 gallons for the bath
c. 50 - 70 gallons for a ten minute shower
d. One washing machine load uses 25 - 40 gallons
e. One dishwasher load uses 9 - 12 gallons

The Amount Of Time Needed For Things To Decompose:

a. plastics can take 500 years
b. aluminium cans may take 500 years
c. organic materials usually take 6 months
d. cotton, rags, paper all take 6 months

The Worldwatch Institute

This organisation is based in Washington DC, USA, and it has issued an "Earth Day Report" which details some of its concerns which we share with you:

• One in four vertebrate species [birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish] is on the verge of extinction or is now extinct.
• The Earth's population has almost doubled since 1970, and in the same period the share of cropland per person has almost halved.
• One person in six alive today is chronically hungry.
• Between 1751 and 1970, 110 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere; between 1970 and today 160 billion tonnes have been released.

Humour for Earth Day

Bush Appreciates Global Warming

At a press conference, former President George W. Bush announced that he is surprised at how quickly global warming is happening.

Then one of his aides pulled him aside and explained that it was just the beginning of spring.

Amusing Earth Anagrams

• Global Warming is an anagram of:
  'Ball going warm'
• The causes of global warming is an anagram of:
  'Foul gases gleam with carbon'
• Greenhouse effect is an anagram of:
  'Huge trees offence'

An Environmentalist Dies

An environmentalist dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, 'Ah, you're an environmentalist - you're in the wrong place.' Thinking that heaven could never make an error, the environmentalist reports to the gates of hell and is let in.

Pretty soon, the environmentalist gets dissatisfied with the environment in hell, and starts implementing eco-friendly improvements. After a while, global warming, air and water pollution are under control. The landscape is covered with grass and plants, the food is organic and the people are happy. The environmentalist has become a pretty popular guy.

One day God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, 'So, how's it going down there in hell?'
Satan replies, 'Hey, things are going great. We've clean air and water, the temperature is better and the food tastes better, and there's no telling what this environmentalist is going to fix next.'

God replies, 'What? You've got an environmentalist? That's a mistake; he should never have gotten down there, send him up here.'

Satan says, 'No way. I like having an environmentalist on the staff, and I'm keeping him.'

God says, 'Send him back up here or I'll sue.'

Satan laughs uproariously and answers, 'Yeah, right. And just where are you going to get a lawyer?'

Self-sufficiency

Footnote:
Please send us your Earth Day stories

See more about our planet earth:

• Earth Day   • View from space   • View from space at night   • Hubble images   • Pretty planet

• May Day   • Lady Day   • Midsummer's Day   • Remembrance Day

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