Earth Day is April 22 2010 (40th Anniversary)

**IntlMom** · 04-07-2010, 03:52 PM

Earth Day Network

Ok. I admit it. It's only been the past few years I even paid attention to this little date on the calendar. For too many years, the day came and went like any other one and I didn't even give it a thought. But about 8 years ago, something began to shift in my thinking. Just what was in all that food that I was giving to my young children (and it was years later that I realized all the plastic and melamine plates that I had been putting inthe microwave to warm the food up was a SERIOUS no-no)........ And I really DID care about our planet and what we were doing to it for us for our children and our childrens' children.

What about you? Do you have any thoughts about Earth Day? Is it good? Does it do any good? Is it a waste of time?

I think it's great! It's a day in many schools where emphasis is shifted to the environment and gives a great platform for teaching our kids. Hopefully these kids will be able to grow up making a difference, because they have been taught about the importance of the enviroment from an early age.

How about you?

**Palooka** · 04-08-2010, 01:16 AM

I think it's awesome. I love that my kids have been taught about taking care of the planet in school.

**nuisance26** · 04-08-2010, 09:04 AM

~I certainly don't think it's a waste of time and I agree that it's a great teaching day for educators. But I really doubt how much good it does as just a day. I think the things we really learn and make an impact with are things that become habits and those things happen mostly at home through our parents. Sure the plant a tree, clean up the park and recycle the plastic days are important but the biggest impact will come from a daily practice of conservative measures in homes as led by parents.
Earth day was just about everyday for me growing up. We played outside the majority of the time instead of sitting in front of the tv. We worked in the garden. We hung out the laundry on the lines. We recycled aluminum and scrap. We cleaned up the marsh areas behind our house. My dad fished in the creek behind our house(yum!), hunted locally and raised pigs for awhile. I grew up on hand-me-downs and shopped yard sales and thrift stores. We made gifts for each other. We all learned to make do with whatever materials we had on hand. We ate what was served for dinner and cleaned out plates. It goes on and on.
I really believe it's the little things everyday that really send the message about conserving resources.~

**Russ** · 04-08-2010, 09:20 AM

I like it. Every little bit helps.

We just use it as another excuse to buy and plant trees.

**IntlMom** · 04-08-2010, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by nuisance26

.............biggest impact will come from a daily practice of conservative measures in homes as led by parents.
Earth day was just about everyday for me growing up. We played outside the majority of the time instead of sitting in front of the tv. We worked in the garden. We hung out the laundry on the lines. We recycled aluminum and scrap. We cleaned up the marsh areas behind our house. My dad fished in the creek behind our house(yum!), hunted locally and raised pigs for awhile. I grew up on hand-me-downs and shopped yard sales and thrift stores. We made gifts for each other. We all learned to make do with whatever materials we had on hand. We ate what was served for dinner and cleaned out plates. It goes on and on.
I really believe it's the little things everyday that really send the message about conserving resources.~

See, that's where I was at a disadvantage. I grew up in a home with no emphasis whatsoever on the enviroment. No garden, no recycling, you the picture. In fact, I grew up in "spotted owl territory" during the 80s when then logging industry was fighting to stay alive. I was brought up in a house that fought on the side of the logging industry and slamming the "environmentalist wackos" that were trying to destroy their way of life.

So, I've made a complete turnaround in my thinking and way of life. But it's been a hard fought battle. My husband is very much not a "tree hugger" and he can make things difficult at times.

I'm determined to have my kids grow up with respect for the environment!

**Russ** · 04-08-2010, 10:40 AM

I don't think you need to be a "tree hugger" to do something, anything, to help the environment. We walk a lot on state lands in the winter and always carry a trash bag to pick up the garbage people leave in the woods. We are far from tree hugger status, it's just the garbage pisses me off so I do something about it.

**IntlMom** · 04-08-2010, 10:48 AM

I know Russ. I've said it before, but I'll put it here too.

My husband works in an industry that is always fighting against the enviromentalist movement. He works in agriculture as a Pest Control Advisor. What that means is that he is essentially a "plant doctor". He walks fields, finds problems, and then prescribes whatever chemical, pesticides, fungicides, insectisides, the farmer needs to take care of the "problem". So that's how we make our money, from the very industry that much of the green movement is trying to supress. So it is a delicate balance I walk, I understand that. I really am limited at what I can do outside of my home as far as activism is concerned. However, I do quietly make better choices for my family and am trying my darndest to teach my kids to respect the environment.

The other day I actually got my dh to sit down and watch Food, Inc. When it was over, it agreed that much of it was true and sad..... but in the end, he maintains that even though what Monsanto is doing is wrong - ppl still need to eat, and so what do they expect us to do...... yadda yadda yadda

~oops, there I go "rabbit trailing" again~

**Russ** · 04-08-2010, 10:54 AM

(Rock) Traci (hard place)

I understand what you're saying now.

**cheles2kids** · 04-15-2010, 11:33 AM

Traci, I'm kind of the same mindset as yourself. I hadn't given "Earth Day" much thought up until the past several years, but I think it's a really great idea.

Bringing awareness to our planet, getting conversations going, minds thinking, is a good thing, for the younger generation but also for the older generation as well.

I know for me growing up, we always kept a garden, but when we needed pest control, it was a trip to the local Co-op to buy some kind of pesticide to kill the critters.
But now, I look at & consider other options that will be safer for our environmment.

Recycling is a win-win for everybody, but I will say, that this is something that I grew up with too, 'cept it wasn't called recycling, it was called helping you're neighbor or wearing 'hand-me-down' clothes~lol.

But my teens know what organic means, why it's better for our bodies and our land, why we carry cloth bags to the grocery store, why I always try to shop 'in season', etc.

I think a movement like this needs to start somewhere, and if they can pick up only a few things to take into their adult lives to pass on to friends, or eventually their own children, then it's worth it.

**KeithBC** · 04-21-2010, 09:21 PM

I am going to feel really guilty doing my heaviest driving and shopping on Earth Day, but that's just the way our schedule worked out. Tomorrow is our bi-weekly shopping trip to town.

I think it is great that more people are becoming aware of Earth Day and the need to change our lifestyles. I worry, though, that people will congratulate themselves on little symbolic gestures and overlook that elephants in the living room of how we live. A few CFLs are only going to make a trivial difference. What the Earth needs is gasoline that costs $50 a gallon.

When I see how our political leaders don't have the guts to show leadership (thinking about the Copenhagen conference, for example) it is easy to despair of avoiding a catastrophe.