Earth Day 2014

I have a bias, to me, Every day is Earth Day.  So I kind of rankle at the volume of websites and images and activities.  It does not have to be festive or commercial. T-shirts and signed pledges are OK, if you need a new shirt and want to print out a pledge.  It can be so much simpler though.  Why not just think about the Earth at least once a day, and then.... do something about it?  Apparently we need to be reminded. 

That is the focus of the vast website of earthday.org.  This is from their FAQ: 

Why do we need an Earth Day?
Because it works!  Earth Day broadens the base of support for environmental programs, rekindles public commitment and builds community activism around the world through a broad range of events and activities.  Earth Day is the largest civic event in the world, celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities.  More than a billion people participate in our campaigns every year.

So, raising awareness Worldwide is a very good thing.  I can’t argue with the folks who do it.  There is a plethora of good questions and answers on the FAQ page, which can be found here: http://www.earthday.org/frequently-asked-questions. 

I was also very impressed with the number of partners on display here: http://www.earthday.org/our-partners .  You could actually learn a lot by familiarizing yourself with a different one of these groups daily.  

But, it still bothers me that so much emphasis is on saving the World.  I prefer my challenges in more manageable doses.  This is why I garden for wildlife and why I support groups like http://www.wildones.org/ whose motto says it all: “Healing The Earth one yard at a time." 

To me, that means gardening for wildlife; restoring native plant communities; removing invasive plant species; eliminating pesticides, insecticides and lawn products that pollute our ground water.  Heck I am even considering getting rid of the lawn period. 

These are all topics I will be exploring in the coming weeks.  And of course, there will be those reminders about Frost and Freezes, I am pretty sure that we have one more in the near future. 

So, please join with me.  Pledge to be open to thinking globally but acting in your own yard.  Consider the Monarchs, and other species that we cannot afford to lose.  Do it for the Earth.  Do it for yourself.  Do it for your children.  Or my children.  Or all our neighborhood children.  As Nike campaigned, “Just Do It” 

I would love to read your pledges and plans for Earth Day 2014.  Leave a message. 
One of the nice things about electronic media is it makes it ever so easy to share. 

Please, do it.